Got a SPOT last week and brought it with me to Florida. We drove across the state to deliver oldest kid to college in Daytona Beach. Four hour trip both ways, SPOT activated and sitting on dash right at base of windshield. The SPOT people tell us a position report will be transmitted every 10 minutes. Looking at my SPOT page a message was transmitted 10 minutes after the last one 10 of 21 transmissions for just under 50%. Two times it was 40 minutes between successful transmissions, 3 times it was 30 minutes and 5 times it was 20 minutes. The first time I tried to send an OK message it didn't go thru, even though the LED stopped blinking like it's supposed to. Second try worked fine. What is everybody else seeing?

I consistently get 10 minute intervals on my Spot. You might check the location of placement to insure it's always getting a clear view of the sky.

I'm pretty darn close to 10 minutes.

Don't throw it on the dash of a Maule. If it sits on top of the defroster when it is on it will warp the heck out of the battery cover. Don't ask me how I know.

Rob

RobBurson wrote:I'm pretty darn close to 10 minutes.

Don't throw it on the dash of a Maule. If it sits on top of the defroster when it is on it will warp the heck out of the battery cover. Don't ask me how I know.

Rob

See, it's always good to learn from others mistakes . Thanks for the heads up.

Bonanza Man wrote:Got a SPOT last week and brought it with me to Florida. We drove across the state to deliver oldest kid to college in Daytona Beach. Four hour trip both ways, SPOT activated and sitting on dash right at base of windshield. The SPOT people tell us a position report will be transmitted every 10 minutes. Looking at my SPOT page a message was transmitted 10 minutes after the last one 10 of 21 transmissions for just under 50%. Two times it was 40 minutes between successful transmissions, 3 times it was 30 minutes and 5 times it was 20 minutes. The first time I tried to send an OK message it didn't go thru, even though the LED stopped blinking like it's supposed to. Second try worked fine. What is everybody else seeing?

I have tried my SPOT tracking in the car and in the plane on several trips. It has only missed the 10 minute time interval a couple of times. My wife has monitored it closely when I made a trip this summer from Nampa to McCall. The heading was almost due north. She reported that it not report until I was on the ground in McCall. I know the communication satellite is geostationary at the equator. Being on a northerly heading, the 180 degree view to the south was blocked. So, I think it stored the fixes until it could communicate with the communications satellite. If you look at the coverage page, there is spotty to no service in far north.

But you were in Florida, so it is either the unit, low batteries, or the unit was blocked from a clear view of the sky. Some auto windshields have a metallic film as part of the tint that can interfere with GPS communications.

I've got a spot. It rides on a non-skid pad on the dash of my Savannah, pushed forward as far as it will go. This gives it an unobstructed view of about 2/3 of the sky. I didn't spring for the tracking service, so I have to push the OK button when I want to send my location. I typically press the okay button anytime I land, change course, or every 20 to 30 minutes, as I think of it. I've probably pressed that button 100 times so far. I'd say that it sends successfully about 2/3 of the time.

I'm happy with the results. My wife likes to see my progress. So far every time I've landed the message has gotten through. I can imagine that some deep canyons might not have good enough sky coverage to allow transmission, but so far, at Johnson Creek, John Day (Chukar Flat), and Owahee Airstrip it has worked okay.

tom

I've been intrigued by the SPOT tracker. Has anyone tried out APRS? Or is the coverage in the back country areas to sparse?

I do most of my flying in the Copper River basin and the Matanuska Valley here in Alaska, and have found the tracking to be "spotty."

I flew from the Nizina (south of McCarthy) to Palmer yesterday (a two hour flight), and five of the twelve transmissions did not come through. I always keep the unit on a rubber friction pad on the dash of my Husky with an unobstructed view of the sky. Some days it makes all transmissions just fine, but on most long flights I can expect it to miss a few. NTL, it is a great device, and I even have my passwords filed with Kenai Flight service in my Master Flight Plan. (...now of course I don't always use my MFP).

Nizina

I just sprung for the ACR Microfix. It has no subscription and it will cover me world wide, if I go to S Africa in the future.
I tracked one of our guys on an Alaska trip with the SPOT, and it seem very good.

John

Clear veiw of the southern sky is the downfall of the Globalstar satellites, the further north you go, the worse it gets. Point your aircraft due north, especially in northern latitudes, and SPOT will be SPOTTY! Spoke with a friend who is a dealer for SPOT, and he said it would not be the only device he would have for emergencies. He said he would still carry a 406 PLB. Globalstar has a good idea here, unfortunately their satellite system being based nearer the equator -as opposed to Iridiums complete global coverage- means poor or non-existant service the further north you go. I'm betting Iridium will come out with a similar competing device, and it will work anywhere anytime just like their phones.

Actually, Spot has recently announced expansion of their coverage to include "all" of Alaska. See their July 23, 2008 press release in the following URL:

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRel ... NW20080723

Nevertheless, I have still found their coverage in my neck of the woods to be, well,spotty -- but the unit is well worth my investment.

Nizina

Globalstar (SPOT) announced their "new" Alaska gateway for sat phone service in 2006.

http://www.globalstarusa.com/en/about/n ... pressId=72

Over two years later, try to get a signal on a globalstar phone in Alaska, or anywhere else for that matter. Globalstar is notorious for big promises not delivered. Point being, don't believe a word that Globalstar(SPOT) says. SPOT is a great idea, and a good backup, I wouldn't bet my life on it working when I need it to work. I would treat it as a cell phone, may or may not work when needed.

I'll admit that my first attempts to get SPOT to work was frustrating. However once I learned that as part of preflight turn on spot and sit it on the dash. The bottom line it takes sometimes 20 minutes before making a connection to the satellite. Just before you go to runup hold the OK button down for a long count of 10 seconds. Mine has consistently tracked since I implemented this procedure. As for just OK I arrived just add your own cell # to the contact list and you will know that the SPOT has made contact with the satellite.
It is all in the process
For the price it is a good tool!! The odds are that if your life is put in jeopardy it won't be spot's fault!

Actually, there is a relatively new Iridium based tracking system available: http://spidertracks.com/

It's marketed by Artex, the ELT folks.

It is quite a bit more expensive than SPOT, but looks to be basically a full out Automated Flight Following System, but portable (ie: movable between aircraft).

It does not have many of the features of the SPOT, such as 911 or the "OK" feature, it's more of a straight flight following system.

MTV

I have found that with my spot, it is absolutely necessary for it to have a good clear view of the sky with no obstructions, then it works flawless. Even hand holding it in an RV-4, your head can block the signal, doesn't take much.

Whoa!!! I guess that depends on how big a head you have, eh???



Sorry, couldn't resist an opening like that.

MTV

mtv wrote:Whoa!!! I guess that depends on how big a head you have, eh???

That reminds of the Seinfeld where someone told Elaine she had a big head, and then while sitting in the park a bird flew into it. This bystander guy said "it's almost as if he couldn't avoid it."

Probably was the cowboy hat, those cowboys never take off their boots or their hats.

I have found that most signals can't get through a lead head.

Registered my Spot last night and just for the hell of it hit the OK button while sitting at my desk, in my house. Sure enough, 5 minutes later my girlfriend's phone beeps with the OK message. Very surprised that it worked from indoors, not something I would count on obviously.

Threw it in my pack for a mountain bike ride today on Donner Pass and set it to track. On a two hour ride, it managed two track hits from inside the pack through lots of foliage - pretty good portion of northern aspect terrain too.

Pretty satisfying trial, looking forward to using it in the plane...