"SPOT" Personal GPS Tracking Device.........

[nursepwdr]

My husband (Dobir) and I purchased a device called the" spot"... prior to our last trip to Revy , now for anyone who has been paying attention this device was of great service to others in their hour or need.......This device for a nominal fee allows you to keep your loved one's up to date and worry free while you are out sledding......It has several features allowing you to periodically send confirmation emails to wife, children , (anyone you specifically chose) and let them know you are safe at the end of the day or also has the ability to track progress via google earth maps for ongoing progress, it also allows you to have someone sent for assistance when not in a emergency situation or if god forbid... you need emergency assistance , help will be sent within minutes of your signal!! It is a high tech GPS tracking device and sends location with every signal.It allows you to change settings easily via the net and is very user freindly!!It does require a yearly fee but we think for active people like us , it can be used for hiking, hunting , camping, quadding anything which may require some type of help that radios may not always have the range to assist when needed.It also gives you $100,000 worth of search and rescue insurance and it works all over the world as it is a satellite signal!..........Our experience was it is well worth the money to have some peace of mind for your loved ones!! I know others have also purchased this same device and would like their thoughts on the matter !! Take care,
Safe Sledding......

This device in our opinion has many, many uses and could save yours or somone else's life!! Please consider one ........and no I don't sell them or have shares in the company, Just good sense!!

 

[Dobir]

Your right..it was a good investment...this device has saved a few lives close to home just this year...maybe we should be selling these..

 

[catmando]

There are a couple threads on here dealing with the pros and cons of the spot,dont get me wrong as I have one and they are great.They are not perfect but do what they are intended for a great price.Too bad you didnt catch one of the earlier thread as there was a link for a full year free subscription,search spot with the search tab at the top of your home page and check out the threads,some good info!
catmando!

 

[qvperformance]

Yes very good item to have, I know in Red Deer you can pick one up @
Cellutel (403)346-2355 ask for Tim.

 

[bbtoys]

I am currently tracking one of our guest's spot. This is an all day test and so far the jury is out. It doesn't seem to be sending a 10 min. track like it is supposed to but each time the ok button is pushed I get the position. Have checked to make sure she has that function and she does so don't know why not working. Have sent e to spot to see if they can correct the problem. Cool new gadget.
We did a S and R in Valemount and we think it safed the poor soul at least 3 hours and possibly the nite on the hill because the copter was able to go directly to his location and not wait for ground crew to get to him and relay GPS back.

 

[Summiteer]

We did the same sort of thing past Blue River (near Vavenby) this past Dec. The 'breadcrumb' function didn't seem to work that well(sent about 6 location updates in five hours) and only half of the manually sent 'ok' updates were received.
That being said, my Garmin Rino 530 had no signal from the time we left the truck until we got back. So there are a few holes in the satellite system out there.

 

[bbtoys]

I'm wondering if she didn't activate the spot to track. The ok signal works fine so that could be the problem. Will have to wait until she gets back to see if this is what has happened.

 

[catmando]

I did the same thing,there should be more indicator lights on it to tell you what it is doing and to let you know how it is set up.The one thing I know for sure is it has ti be in open air,will not track in you backpack or tunnelbag.One guy on here sewed a mesh pocket on top of his backpack and said that worked good although tree cover and deep valleys are also an issue!
Likely wouldnt work well on the way in to Blackwater
catmando!

 

[Can-Do]

I dont have one myself, sounds like a good enough product out of the box for its intended use. i cant help but think future models will "track" sequentialy as they should and have more features or something added to benifit the end user. so for now il hang tight and see what happens with the SPOT in days to come

 

[milton]

Hey is that an idea or what, maybe design our own Dobir.lolol

 

[catmando]

Barry please post what you find out when your guest get back!
Thx catmando!

 

[bbtoys]

She hit the OK button then tossed it in her backpack. Needs to have clear view to sky to transmit, took it outside in my hand and it works fine. Will try it tomorrow again attached to the riser bar on sled, should work. Cool deal though, will be my next purchase for sure.

 

[Dobir]

you have to disable the okay function for it to track...I think the instructions are to hold the okay down for five seconds instead of the usual three..it then starts to track...

 

[OVERKILL 19]

Sounds like another tool to have in the shed! How much are they?

 

[ferniesnow]

There is a RAM mount for sleds/quads available on the SPOT website. GPS Central probably has them in stock but I'm not 100% sure. A great device but just like a beacon; you have to know how to use it and practise....more in the next post

 

[trailthumper]

I bought mine right off there web site at Christmas and I have used it alot out sledding. The wife loves it because she knows all is well I would send her an OK to her cell phone every hour just to see if it would drive her nuts and she had no problems with that at all it gave her peace of mind. We may be even going to try using these at work for working alone
They run for about $169.00 make sur you buy the case to I strap mine to the chest stap on my pack and clip it to a d ring that I had added to the sholder strap so it's always in open view

HAPPY SLEDDING USE YOUR BRAIN AND PLAY SAFE

 

[ferniesnow]

For the record....I have a SPOT and use SPOT. I use it personally and on two different SnowCats/groomers. I use the 3 profiles that are available to notify contacts. Saying that, I have found that one needs to use it, keep records and compare at the end of the day to find out some of the short comings.

The 911 service should work excellent (pray to God that you don't have to use it). I was sceptical at first as reports of the signal going to various international call centers and the operators/dispatchers not knowing what was going on was a problem. This seems to have been corrected as evidenced in the Sparwood tradgedy. So I think this feature will and does work.

The HELP button works but....I have been in a situation where the HELP button was pressed and with this feature a signal is provided to your contacts every 5 minutes. A little bit of panic rumbled through the contact list (unecessary panic) and that resulted in a code being set up with the users. "If the HELP message only comes once there is a mechanical problem and it isn't of a serious nature but help is required." If the OKAY button is pressed after the HELP signal has been sent, SPOT resorts back to sending Okay messages.

The OKAY button has given me most of the problems. It is probably not the technology but the user(s)....for your information, these are some of the problems I have noticed and not everyone will or may experience the same.

Okay messages have been received 8 hours later than sent;
Okay messages have not been received.

On three occasions the last OKAY message (when I got back with the SnowCat at 2-3 am) was not received by anyone. The first time, I may have shut SPOT off too soon after sending the OKAY message; the second time, I waited until all the fancy insync blinking stopped but to no avail; and the third time, I waited for over an hour. So needless to say, I still haven't figured this one out yet!

By the way, SPOT support is awesome and responsive.

Getting to know your SPOT is a must. There are a lot of places in the mountains that it takes the signal a long time to get out because there are rocks in the way. If one has a clear view of the southern sky there should be no problem. The lighting system should alert you to what is going on but it only tells you that the message has been sent to the satellite and for the rest of the process you are in the hands of the Lord and/or technology....yes the more you use it and the more you compare notes the more confident you will become.

I have a few questions for the readers or users:
1. In Canada, why would one pay for the extra insurance? Isn't our S&R free to all users?
2. I would venture to say that if you have a SPOT, you travel with a GPS. Why would one want the tracking feature of SPOT?


A good thread and great information to be shared and disseminated.

 

[teeroy]

I have a few questions for the readers or users:
1. In Canada, why would one pay for the extra insurance ($49.00 US). Isn't our S&R free to all users?
2. I would venture to say that if you have a SPOT, you travel with a GPS. Why would one want the tracking feature of SPOT?


A good thread and great information to be shared and disseminated.

the rescue insurance was $7.99 when I activated my SPOT back in August, service contract (tracking included) was free for one year. I think you are mistaken on the initial rescue insurance fee, it is only $7.99 when activated, and $150/yr when you renew. the $49 is for the tracking feature. I won't be subscribing to the ins. once my free service expires.

The tracking feature is more of a "look at me" thing, and in my experience, not 100% reliable for sending out track points. I will not activate the tracking feature once my free service has expired. seems for the tracking to work, it must be mounted on your machine or somewhere with a view of the sky not blocked at anytime by your body (on top of my helmet?). I don't think mounting the SPOT to the machine is wise, especially during a burial event, it won't do anyone any good buried under the snow.

there is another thread here somewhere, a few people (myself included) dissected the crap outta this thing, there's a lot of useful info on usage and functions in that thread, as well as a few links to Q&A from one of the actual designers of the SPOT. I think it was catmando! or maybe SBR that started the thread. it should turn up in a search.

 

[teeroy]

here is the previous thread....lots of good stuff here.

https://www.snowandmud.com/forum/f14/spot-satelite-messenger-2496.html

 

[ferniesnow]

the rescue insurance was $7.99 when I activated my SPOT back in August, service contract (tracking included) was free for one year. I think you are mistaken on the initial rescue insurance fee, it is only $7.99 when activated, and $150/yr when you renew. the $49 is for the tracking feature. I won't be subscribing to the ins. once my free service expires.

Yes, you are correct! My error. Thanks.