I know a lot of you folks have these and are using them. I've been considering one, but frankly I don't know much about them.

Would anyone care to give a review or overview of the product and maybe some incite from a user's point of view rather than just another sales pitch.


Thanks.

Simple to use.

Does just what it says it will do. Use mine when backcountry flying or solo backpacking/hiking. I've had good results. So far I've not had an emergency. But comforts family when I check in at destination. Got mine with a $50 rebate last summer.

bob

Do a search. Tons of stuff here on the SPOT I like mine.

Cheers

Spot is not quite a PLB, but more of a messenger with 911 capability. I use mine all the time while flying and it is a great way to let family and friends know where I am.

However, it is NOT a PLB so be aware of its limitations - they are well documented on sites like http://www.equipped.org/blog/?p=114.

Also a new product with two-way messinging capability is about to be released so it may pay to wait and see how this offering from Delorme will be priced and when shipping will begin.

http://www.equipped.org/blog/?p=356

I use the SPOT and I know at lot of other BCPers do as well. It's a simple and effective device that gives you another option if SHTF. I have found it to be reliable and enjoy the simplicity of the SPOT messenger. I know the connect has more features, but an all in one unit is key for me.

The SPOT might be the cheapest option, but do not overlook the ACR PLB. They are effective and affordable. My wife sure enjoys the SPOT tracking feature though, for what it's worth.

My only complaint is their customer service (which may be better now than two years ago). Overall.... two thumbs up.

Av8r3400 wrote:give a review or overview of the product and maybe some incite from a user's point of view

What it does:
When tracking mode is turned on, it leaves an electronic breadcrumb trail of where you've been... a mark on a Google map w/GPS co-ords, every 10 minutes. SAR can get/see this (if you have your Spot URL on file) and the Google satellite view will show them exactly where you are in "the terrain". I like this! Tracking costs $150/yr. tho. Also, whomever you give your account info to can watch/see your progress via the 10 min. tracks.

If you push the "I'm OK" button, it sends an email w/GPS co-ords & Google map to whomever you put on your "list". (You custom write this one) Wife units love this. You haft'a switch off the tracking mode to send an "I'm OK" mess.
If you hit the 911 button, they call your home & ask "Is Av8er flying today?" If the answer is YES, they send the local cavalry right away. What I do if I'm gonna be late, is send TWO "I'm OK" mess's and the email recipients will call home (Mary) & tell her I'm gonna be late. (Mary doesn't "do" 'puters)

What it doesn't do:
It won't send a custom (texted) mess. You CAN buy other hardware that WILL text through your cell phone, if there's such thing as cell phones where you live/fly.
It won't automatically go off if you land hard (crash). You haft'a push a button.

It's just another good tool in your insurance bag. Spidertracks is a better system, but very spendy.
ELTs are undependable, & SAR doesn't get excited until LONG after they go off (IF they go off).
Sat phones are good tools, but are expensive both to buy & keep "online".
I think having 2 out'a 3 is a GoodThing.

Oh, and I've had mine nearly 2 years, turn it on every flight, sometimes forget to turn it off, and the batteries are still going strong!

mountainmatt wrote:I use the SPOT and I know at lot of other BCPers do as well. It's a simple and effective device that gives you another option if SHTF. I have found it to be reliable and enjoy the simplicity of the SPOT messenger. I know the connect has more features, but an all in one unit is key for me.

The SPOT might be the cheapest option, but do not overlook the ACR PLB. They are effective and affordable. My wife sure enjoys the SPOT tracking feature though, for what it's worth.

My only complaint is their customer service (which may be better now than two years ago). Overall.... two thumbs up.

Ditto. The tracking feature alone is worth the price of admission. Customer service will always piss you off with the first question: "Are the batteries in?"

I have a 406 ELT since June, 2009, been using the SPOT since February, 2006, and a Byonics MicroTrak RTG since Sept, 2010.

For search and rescue, I have seen the SPOT miss enough/be silent enough, that I upgraded my ELT to a 406 and I am almost swayed to add a portable PLB to my vest.

I am retiring my SPOT when its subscription runs out.

The Byonics MicroTrak RTG currently sets you back $220 if you have a HAM license. Otherwise, first buy an online study course ( I used Dauntless Software Five by Five - $30 or the itunes version now $20), and then take the test (http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-rad ... am-session) locally for a modest fee. ( I found it as painless as AOPA online wing safety courses.) I never have to pay anymore.

In a fair amount of the United States, it approaches spider tracks quality but at no cost. If you spend most of your time below 1000 AGL, in canyons, or towered above by mountains on all sides, it probably won't do much for you.

I tell anybody interested they can track my flights on aprs.fi. I can program the RTG and it automatically increases transmission frequency during changes in altitude and heading. This is free. It relies on the ham radio network which is rather pervasive. Check out the website - you can track me with N9951 and/or my buddy who turned me onto it N994W (http://aprs.fi/?call=N9951%2CN994W&mt=r ... ange=21600).

I have a very relaxed wife since buying a spot. She likes watching my track on the web, and she loves the messages that I am on the ground and ok when I make stops. The spot does what is says it will do.

Rich

NimpoCub wrote:

What it doesn't do:
It won't send a custom (texted) mess. You CAN buy other hardware that WILL text through your cell phone, if there's such thing as cell phones where you live/fly.


!

The SPOT Connect does exactly that. You can send a custom, as well as the pre planned messages like all other SPOT devices. You also can have several, I forget how many, preplanned messages, whereas the original and SPOT2 only allow 1 custom message. The phone is the interface. Unit works great. Downside is battery life is not good because of the blue tooth. You have to carry spare batteries.

I've used my SPOT Messenger 1 for many years without any problems. I've never been in an area that it wouldn't cover even in the mountains of Western NC. When they first came out, coverage was marginal in some parts of AK but I think they've fixed that now. At least mine worked when I took it to Denali Natl. Park in 2008.

The big benefit of SPOT over a PLB is that you can send customized non-emergency messages to multiple email addresses and cellphones. Emergency 911 messages are handled differently than a PLB but the theory is that you get the same result. I've never had to use that feature and hope I never will, but the subscription cost is minimal for the search and rescue services. I don't use the trip tracking feature since it can overwhelm an email box or cell phone with incoming traffic and it costs more to subscribe to this feature, but if you're going on a long trip it provides a good track of your movements to your family or friends in case something goes awry and you can't press the OK button. I think you can adjust the tracking interval.

I have an Artex ME406 ELT in my airplane but it's not foolproof. I can see how the unit might be disabled in a crash like the one that took Ted Stevens life in AK. The unit is mounted upside down on a tray in the tailcone of the airplane and held in place with a heavy duty elastic/velcro strap. There are four pins on the ELT housing that seat in depressions on the tray. If the installer doesn't seat the case properly in the depressions, even a hard landing could throw the ELT out of the tray and rip out the antenna and remote cables since it's pretty heavy. ELTs don't work well without an antenna. I think the reason for the upside-down mounting is to keep the unit and the antenna away from areas which might contain baggage if the airplane has one of those modifications, but it seems like a problem waiting to happen.

I think it's good to have both the SPOT and a 406ELT in your airplane, but check your ELT mounting thoroughly to make sure the ELT doesn't move in the tray.