Well, no help from the last two raffles, so it's time to buy a SPOT. I just need to decide if I want the regular one or that bluetoothed one, and then the best place to get it.

Shortfield.com or Jomac at Action Motor Sports?

Not sure which one to get. But my regular one I have works perfectly. I never had an issue with mine.

I had the original one, and never had an issue with it.

I picked up the new Connect at the AK Airman's Show this spring, and like it so far. Its a little buggy in the connection between the unit and my iPhone, but just a quick re-pairing solves it. One thing that I haven't been able to do yet is send the custom type messages out. I can send my predefined messages, but cant type out the custom ones, the button is greyed out. I'm hopeful that they will continually update their app/firmware and fix some of their issues. I sent in an email to Spot, and haven't heard back in a couple weeks. I'll fire off another one soon and see what they say...

I like the versatility of the Connect, and being able to send predetermined status messages is valuable in my opinion. Instead of just a "Help, I crashed" message, I have more specific messages ready to go out, like "Send a new prop", or "Send a new gear leg", "Bring a pizza", etc... If I wasn't worried about that sort of communication, and wanted to carry just a "panic button" style communicator, I would either get a true PLB, or stick with the original Spot and not have to worry about having additional devices charged/working/etc...

Good luck!

Bob K.
Anchorage, AK

I have had the Connect for a couple of months now, and not had any troubles sending custom messages. Another handy feature is the ability to change addressees on the fly also. I've had a glitch in trying to send an OK message while tracking and then track again, but that is probably operator error. Since, I have turn the unit off and started tracking again without a problem. I find that I have to pair the phone to the connect every time I turn my phone back on, or come back to the vicinity of the Spot after being away from it. A minor inconvenience while trying to save the phone battery.

When I see you guys with the webpage that shows your track and updates it as you fly...is that included in the basic service or is that the extra tracking service you pay extra for?

It's extra for the tracking. I have had an original spot for 3 or 4 years but I let it sit inactive for the last two years. I just re-activated it last week before heading down to JC and I think it was $100 for the basic service and another $40 for the tracking and another $12 for SAR insurance. Don't quote me on the exact prices but it was somewhere around there. When flying alone it's nice to have.

Spot is a great product but be careful if you call them for anything. I called to tell them I didn't want to renew my service a while back since I knew I wouldn't be using it for a while. No problem they said and that was the last I heard of it. About a year later I called back to reactivate it and they said I owed for the entire last year of service - my old card expired so they couldn't bill it automatically but they didn't send me a bill either. I explained that I had called to cancel the renewal and they told me that wasn't possible - in the fine print somewhere it says you have to send them a letter and so on, they just wanted to make it difficult. Then they asked who I had spoken to and for some proof that I had even called them - really pissed me off.

I argued with the guy for a while and got him to knock the bill down. I wish there was an alternative product so that I could have told them where to stuff it but I really wanted to get the service back. The whole conversation was like talking to a sleazy telemarketer. So very satisfied with the product, just the customer service and billing policies are lacking.

And yeah, have to pay an extra $40-50 to get the tracking service, very worth it.

I just had the EXACT same problem last week when I called to reactivate mine after a couple years of not using the unit. They called a couple years back to say it was renewal time but since my credit card had changed they needed the new info. I declined to continue service and asked them to cancel and they said no problem. When I called last week to reactivate they informed me it was already active however I owed them $340 in back chargers. I politly told him there wasn't a snowballs chance they were getting a nickel in back charges but I would be happy to commit to another year and pay now. They didn't hesitate and renewed my subscription for 15 months for the 12 month cost. Not the best service but the price is reasonable.

I recently got the SPOT Connect, together with a new Iphone 4 and I couldn't be happier. I don't need the SPOT for tracking right now, but it sends both the pre-set messages and custom made messages without a problem. Seems to have great signal reception/transmission. My custom made check-in message posted to my Facebook and to some friend's email and as SMS within a couple minutes of initial sending. For $100 a year, a great deal for what it actually does.

I've got the original mark 1 version that works well from North Slope to South America . I've looked at the latest SPOT with text capabilities and that may well be the next SPOT . I've looked at the 406 mhz ELT for airplane> (800-1000 bucks) PLB for hikers or Boat drivers.Last few days been talking to and flying with Coast Guard Pilot and they will get moving for PLB for boats or ships ONLY ! --- but send the local county mounties to check for PLB from land. 406 ELT's for airplanes will go to CAP and county Mountie--- Only place PLB will take folks looking for you is in Boat or ship as far as the Coast Guard is concerned . For now until first of next year I'm staying with what I got.

182 STOL driver wrote:I've got the original mark 1 version that works well from North Slope to South America . I've looked at the latest SPOT with text capabilities and that may well be the next SPOT . I've looked at the 406 mhz ELT for airplane> (800-1000 bucks) PLB for hikers or Boat drivers.Last few days been talking to and flying with Coast Guard Pilot and they will get moving for PLB for boats or ships ONLY ! --- but send the local county mounties to check for PLB from land. 406 ELT's for airplanes will go to CAP and county Mountie--- Only place PLB will take folks looking for you is in Boat or ship as far as the Coast Guard is concerned . For now until first of next year I'm staying with what I got.

So, what if a plane ditches out in sea? Like flying between L.A. and Catalina for a small example? That doesn't sound right to me

58Skylane wrote:

182 STOL driver wrote:I've got the original mark 1 version that works well from North Slope to South America . I've looked at the latest SPOT with text capabilities and that may well be the next SPOT . I've looked at the 406 mhz ELT for airplane> (800-1000 bucks) PLB for hikers or Boat drivers.Last few days been talking to and flying with Coast Guard Pilot and they will get moving for PLB for boats or ships ONLY ! --- but send the local county mounties to check for PLB from land. 406 ELT's for airplanes will go to CAP and county Mountie--- Only place PLB will take folks looking for you is in Boat or ship as far as the Coast Guard is concerned . For now until first of next year I'm staying with what I got.

So, what if a plane ditches out in sea? Like flying between L.A. and Catalina for a small example? That doesn't sound right to me

PLB's are registered to a person or BOAT --- ELT's (406) are registered to the airplane there in . I think if you ditched your airplane in the ocean Coast Guard would be there . On land different story

182 STOL driver wrote:406 ELT's for airplanes will go to CAP and county Mountie--- )

Not in Montana. Montana Aeronautics runs search and rescue here.

I also checked out a 406 mhz satellite EPIRB while at REI. It was rather pricey, and had no ability to text details. But it is simple, and that may be a benefit to somebody who doesnt want to use a smartphone as an interface.

A benefit to the SPOT Connect (or Messenger) is that you can actually wear the gadget (I got an arm band for mine), so that if there is a catastrophic landing with injuries and interior objects get thrown out of the cockpit, at least your point of communication with the outside world is attached to you. More than that though, I see a benefit to being able to send details of your condition, what you need (medicine, parts, evac et etc).

182 STOL driver wrote:

58Skylane wrote:

182 STOL driver wrote:I've got the original mark 1 version that works well from North Slope to South America . I've looked at the latest SPOT with text capabilities and that may well be the next SPOT . I've looked at the 406 mhz ELT for airplane> (800-1000 bucks) PLB for hikers or Boat drivers.Last few days been talking to and flying with Coast Guard Pilot and they will get moving for PLB for boats or ships ONLY ! --- but send the local county mounties to check for PLB from land. 406 ELT's for airplanes will go to CAP and county Mountie--- Only place PLB will take folks looking for you is in Boat or ship as far as the Coast Guard is concerned . For now until first of next year I'm staying with what I got.

So, what if a plane ditches out in sea? Like flying between L.A. and Catalina for a small example? That doesn't sound right to me

PLB's are registered to a person or BOAT --- ELT's (406) are registered to the airplane there in . I think if you ditched your airplane in the ocean Coast Guard would be there . On land different story

Went flying this morning to HII for cheaper gas and on to Barstow ,CA. and return to my home base of Boulder City -Must have turned off SPOT after HII . Flew 3 hours on break in cruise average 14 gallons a hour . Cylinder head Temp is a little high for turbo charged 182 -even with rich mixture .Higher OAT is part of problem -even at high altitudes. Shallow climb from near sea level to 15 k .

Great stuff, Bill! Keep me posted

Got my SPOT Connect yesterday. Not the best written instructions for getting it connected to your phone but doable. You activate it online, that part is easy. I set up five separate groups for sending messages. Family, friends, etc. You can set up and populate these groups either thru your computer at home or your smartphone. I sent a message I composed on my phone to a couple of friends. They got it in less than two minutes from when I hit enter on my phone. One thing they don't make as clear as they should is the only thing you can't do without a smartphone is the SOS. All other functions require the phone. The unit is half the size of the original SPOT. Using the app on my Droid is simple and it connects easily.

58Skylane wrote:Great stuff, Bill! Keep me posted

Pat is it cool in Idaho ?? need to find cool spot to fly .It's 110 now outside. Even at 5 am takeoff it's 80 degrees -- by 9 am it's close to 100

182 STOL driver wrote:

58Skylane wrote:Great stuff, Bill! Keep me posted

Pat is it cool in Idaho ?? need to find cool spot to fly .It's 110 now outside. Even at 5 am takeoff it's 80 degrees -- by 9 am it's close to 100

Last weekend was perfect. Got hot (90's) Monday & Tuesday. Scattered showers Wed. Perfect today. I think the. Wx is going to be nice in Idaho this weekend. I'm hittin the asphalt Sat to Smiley Creek to meet up with DokMow then find me a small lake to kayak in

Bonanza Man wrote:One thing they don't make as clear as they should is the only thing you can't do without a smartphone is the SOS. All other functions require the phone. The unit is half the size of the original SPOT. Using the app on my Droid is simple and it connects easily.

TP, glad you started this thread. Since I won the Spot at JC, I wanted to get some info on the Connect. I talked to Jomac about exchanging it and am waiting to hear back from him.

BM, this is one question that I had. So just to verify, if your phone goes dead because you haven't been able to charge it, you can still activate the SOS from the unit itself (no phone required), right? I was thinking that is the only way it makes sense.

Thanks for the info guys!