SPOT Satellite Messenger
SPOT has been out since about November 2007 and sales are really taking off, especially in the Adventure and Dual Sport communities. It offers an affordable, reliable means of sending for emergency aid when you lost or injured, but unlike an expensive Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), it also allows you to manually check in with either an "I'm OK" message or an "I'm OK, but send assistance" message. A US$100 annual fee is charged for the service.
For an additional US$50 annually, you get real time tracking, where SPOT sends out a location message every 10 minutes, which is then displayed at your SPOT webpage. I especially wanted this feature, since a motorcycle rider might crash and lie unconscious for hours - in tracking mode there would be a good chance that signals would still go out and a worried spouse would be able to track you down by the trail of Track Points. Even if you were lying on top of SPOT, the latest transmission would give the SAR team a decent chance of finding the victim or... or the body ;(
I'm not going to go into details on the way it works and the service.... you can read about that online. I want to focus on the tracking feature.
Here is a very good SPOT thread with lots of technical information: Adventure Rider - Has anyone seen or bought a Spot Satellite Messenger yet? Yeah, the name is a bit clumsy - if I had known it would grow so large when I started it, I would have called it "The Official SPOT Thread".
Understanding how the signals go out, and the basic limitations of the satellite system, will help you to get the most from your SPOT. One of the most significant issues is antenna design. The antenna lies flat under the SPOT logo and is most effective when horizontal to the ground. This is MOST IMPORTANT! The best reception also occurs when the push buttons face the Equator1al region, where the satellites float in orbit. I posted a question asking why there was a belt clip that would orient the unit in a bad position for normal wearing... the best answer is that it was a marketing decision, and a very bad one! I'll get into that below....
Here's what I bought to carry and protect SPOT: Aerostich - Deuter Strap-on Pouches
The P/N 9100 pouch (4.5 in x 2.7 in x 1.6 in) works
great, either with or without the plastic SPOT belt clip in place. The rear of
the case has two horizontal velcro straps and a sewn belt loop at 90 degrees to
them. Removing the SPOT clip makes the package a little thinner, but would make
it impossible to remove and clip SPOT onto your belt. But why would you EVER
want to do that? ;( See below.
I first tried to carry SPOT attached vertically to my hydropack shoulder strap, opposite my cell phone pouch, and directly over my left nipple. This placed the antenna at 90 degrees to the sky, and it proved to be a real problem.
This Garmin capture shows a 5 hour, 100 mile farm ride with the SPOT track
points overlaid. Ideally SPOT would have sent 30 track messages in that time
period - 8 actually were received. The largest time gap was 1 hr 40 min. Ouch.
And this was in mostly wide open terrain with very little forest or visual
obstructions to the southern sky!
Here is a capture of the SPOT data log as it appeared on the website. Note the
very large time gaps. Ideally the track points should be 10 minutes apart.
After reading some more in that Adventure Rider thread, I decided that I would
try a different mounting position. I do NOT want to attach SPOT to my tank bag
or fender - when I come off the bike, I want SPOT to be on my person and not 20
feet away, so I strapped the Deuter case to the top "hang strap" of my Camelback
TransAlp pack, and added a 1/8 inch wide nylon tie for security. This keeps SPOT
"roughly" parallel to the ground while riding.
Here's how it looks with the case zipped up, SPOT operating, and ready to ride.
I positioned SPOT with the buttons toward the Deuter zipper, angled
slightly up.
A similar 100 mile farm ride, over nastier terrain with some scattered heavy
tree cover and easy canyons, with SPOT riding on top instead of on the pack
shoulder strap. Again, the SPOT track points are superimposed on the Garmin
track log. Much better!
The SPOT data log, showing 20 good signals in a little under 4 hours. The worst
time gap was 30 minutes, with several 20 minute gaps. I think that is a very
good performance, and even if it degrades by 75% in the deep, heavily forested
Idahoo canyons, hopefully some data will get out ... and some data is much
better than none!
Once the heavy snows melt and I can get back into the mountains I'll post a follow up report.
My recommendation at this point: check the coverage map at findmespot.com to see if you live where SPOT will work reliably. If so, BUY ONE today, subscribe to real time tracking, and CARRY SPOT HORIZONTALLY, as high as possible! Ride safely!
|
New April 28, 2008 |