Two Ways to Reduce your Risk on Mt San Jacinto

[formerjarhead]

Jim, you are correct, I am referring to the "Spot". It is my understanding that it has an "OK" key that sends a "OK" message to any email address you program for such communications. My plan is to hit the OK button a number of times under various conditions (i.e. elevations, tree cover, et cetera) during my trek. I will keep a log of such transmitions. Then upon my return to civilization (and my computer), I will compare it to the messages received on the programed email address. In any event, it should provide a reasonable examination of the devices capabilities.

[Hikin_Jim]

OK, gotcha. That makes sense and sounds like a good test. I'd be interested in anything that you find out -- especially if it transmits reliably in heavy tree cover or in narrow, rocky canyons.

Looking forward to gettin' "the word."

[john m]

No need to wait for formerjarhead's upcoming test of a SPOT.

Look back in this thread to my post on Feb 6th. My friend received a SPOT for Christmas from his wife. She wanted to know that he was "OK" so they thought this would be a great way for him to let her know all was well. When you press the OK button on the SPOT, it is supposed to send transmit an email to whatever addresses you set up showing you are OK and your position. My friend set it up so the emails would go to his wife.

As we walked up the trail from Humber Park to about halfway to the summit, he would periodically press the OK button under all conditions of trial cover, canyons, etc.

After the hike, he called his wife who was upset he never pressed the button; she had received nothing. He called the SPOT service number and they told him there was a delay of up to 20 minutes between the time he pressed the button and the time the signal was emitted. So, he would press the button and put the unit back in his bag. Apparently the bag blocked the signal and/or the tree cover. I've used satellite phones before and had the same problem of tree cover. Driving a car through heavy woods in Yosemite will cause the satellite radio to go out. All in all, not real comforting.

My friend tested the SPOT with me in our local hills when he was mountain biking. I received the email showing he was near the bottom of the hill. When he came back, he told me he pressed the button at the top of the hill and the delay was why it showed him in a different position. This is another drawback insofar as the signal is so delayed he was in a completely different location by the time the device decided to emit the signal.

The real life test was a complete failure.

Personally, I like the true 406MHZ PLB.

[Hikin_Jim]

John:

I saw the earlier post, and it's consistent with what I've heard about SPOT. Still, I'm very interested to hear others' experiences of the SPOT.

That being said, yeah, it's looking like the SPOT isn't exactly reliable or accurate. The first time I read about SPOT, I suspected that the SPOT would be subject to the same issues as any other satellite phone. It looks like actual experience is bearing out my suspicions.

Those 406 MHz PLB's are starting to look better and better despite the ~$500 or more buy in. The SPOT actually costs more because of it's service fees over time (say a 5 year period), and doesn't seem to be as good. The TracMe is a just short of a fraud -- if it isn't an outright fraud. Don't get me started on the TracMe; I think it's reprehensible that anyone would portray a TracMe as in the same league as a PLB.

HJ

[Perry]

That's a good way to ruin an outdoor experience: having to press a button all the time so somebody else can keep track. The freeways and 2-lane roads are way more dangerous than the trails on Mt. San Jacinto.

[AlanK]

My friend received a SPOT for Christmas from his wife. She wanted to know that he was "OK" so they thought this would be a great way for him to let her know all was well. When you press the OK button on the SPOT, it is supposed to send transmit an email to whatever addresses you set up showing you are OK and your position. My friend set it up so the emails would go to his wife.

As we walked up the trail from Humber Park to about halfway to the summit, he would periodically press the OK button under all conditions of trial cover, canyons, etc.

After the hike, he called his wife who was upset he never pressed the button; she had received nothing. He called the SPOT service number and they told him there was a delay of up to 20 minutes between the time he pressed the button and the time the signal was emitted. So, he would press the button and put the unit back in his bag. Apparently the bag blocked the signal and/or the tree cover. I've used satellite phones before and had the same problem of tree cover. Driving a car through heavy woods in Yosemite will cause the satellite radio to go out. All in all, not real comforting.

My friend tested the SPOT with me in our local hills when he was mountain biking. I received the email showing he was near the bottom of the hill. When he came back, he told me he pressed the button at the top of the hill and the delay was why it showed him in a different position. This is another drawback insofar as the signal is so delayed he was in a completely different location by the time the device decided to emit the signal.

The real life test was a complete failure.

Personally, I like the true 406MHZ PLB.

I have seen a couple of less than glowing reviews of SPOT and John M's experience is pretty sobering. However, in the interest of fairness, I also saw this posted by Dave G. (www.dgioutdoors.com) on the WPS Message Board today:

Cori and I used her SPOT unit this past weekend in Anza Borrego http://www.flickr.com/photos/21042415@N ... 15/detail/ to send OK messgaes home and it worked perfectly. Each email (or text) message is sent with a link to your location on Google Maps and you can view that in map, sattelite or terrain mode. It displays your time in GMT, so be sure your recipients know that (+8 hrs to PST).

OK, it doesn't fail all of the time. But I need something better than that! Like John M, I lean towards the real PLBs.

[Dave G]

Hi Alan, I've read the negative reports as well. Admitedly, we were in ideal conditions: desert terrain, good weather, and Cori has hers attached to the outside of her pack which may help. The unit has an indicator that shows when/if the message has been sent. If you were to put the unit in your pack (or move to a covered location) before that happened, you would get a result like the guy above (no message sent).

I have another friend who bought one and had problems using it on an Independence Peak hike, but he has since determined that it was "operator error".

I'm not planning on buying one anytime soon, or recommending that anyone else does, but rather just sharing my experiences so far with the unit. It could be a nice adjunct if it can be shown to work reliably.

Dave

[KathyW]

Yes, I'd lean toward the real PLB's too. I really don't want to send my track while I'm out there hiking and I don't see any reason why I'd need to tell anyone that I'm okay, but it would be nice to be able to send out a distress signal with my location if something goes very wrong.

[AlanK]

One thing I find encouraging is that there is a bit of competition in this area. Prices are going down and features are expanding. Of course that means that more people will find them affordable. More lives will be saved in real emergencies and (unfortunately but likely) there will be even more calls for stubbed toes, trivial wrong turns, and doughnut shortages (ok, maybe that one is serious ).

I tend to agree with Kathy that I am more interested in an emergency beacon that would, in the best of worlds, never be employed. On the other hand, if my wife thought that there was a unit that could transmit my location regularly when I'm out in the backcountry, I sure know what I'd be getting for my next birthday.