I did some solo surf kiting on the weekend and the missus got a bit worried because she decided I had been gone too long. I have done some reading on the new SPOT 2 GPS Messenger and thought I would share what I have found.

For my purposes it seems to me the best thing is to have one of these things and to press the Check In/I'm OK button every half hour or so. That way people at home get regular text messages so they know not to get worried.

Live tracking seems a bit of overkill requiring people to log in to a web page and look at a map.

Other stuff:

- Overview www.findmespot.com/en-us/products-services/coverage-maps

- Costs between $180 and $280 depending on where you buy it (ebay from the US or a local shop)

- US$115 annual subscription fee.

- Uses 3xAAA lithium batteries. Rechargable not recommended. Works for 3 months on standby on one set of batteries. About a week in normal continuous use. 4 days in SOS mode.

- It's waterproof to 5 metres for 30 minutes (which means it's fine for paddling. Not fine for diving.) The unit doesn't float but the armband does.

- Has a GPS that works out the current location. All messages are sent with the GPS location attached.

- Check in function. Sends a message to a satellite which is forwarded to up to 10 people as email or text message saying I'm fine. No problems.

- Help function. Sends a message via satellite to the same 10 people saying you're not fine and want some help. ie. I'm stuck somewhere come and get me.

- SOS function. Sends message to emergency services saying help I really really need to be rescued. You can get insurance for about US$20 to cover the cost of coordinating rescue and false alarms. I don't think this covers the cost of actual rescue. Just calling emergency services and passing on information.

- Live Tracking. For an extra US$50 a year you can press the track me button and it will log your position every 10 minutes on a web site. Friends and family can log in and see what you're up to.

- There's all sorts of stuff to make sure the message gets through (Resending several times and hour etc).

- It cannot receive messages. There are status lights to tell you the message has got to the satellite but there's no way of knowing if the message got to the destination.

- If you are in a bad place with satellite coverage messages can take a couple of hours to get through. www.findmespot.com/en-us?cid=109

- There is a recall so you have to check your serial number to make sure you haven't got a dud. http://www.findmespot.com/exchange/

laceys lane said...

funny, i had a big read up too on sunday. i guess you have to weigh up a one off payment for something like mikeman got or pay a fee every year for the spot. tending to lean to other type
cheers

An epirb has one function, Help! Help! Help! Help! Rescue me now! Arguably it is best if that is what you need (because the batteries last for years and it is part of an international network and the devices are manufactured to international standards.)

A SPOT is possibly not so good for emergency rescue (because the batteries don't last as long and it is a proprietary system), but it gives you some functionality that will be useful more often. The I'm OK/Check In function lets you ping off a text message to the missus at the press of a button (saying I'm ok. I'm not dead. I'm still having fun.).

Similarly if you are in a difficult but not life threatening position you could send a text to friends instead of the emergency services.

If you were doing a downwinder with a bunch of people you could add them to the text message list and send them messages too.

Ideally you would have both depending on the type of adventures you want to have.

BTW. I owned an EPIRB for the past 15 years or so. I chucked it out recently when it became obsolete. I may get a SPOT because I still do stuff where needing assistance is a possibility. I doubt if I will get an EPIRB because I tend to be more conservative about the adventures I tackle.