[robM]

Tom, I played with a SPOT one time. I remember that there was some kind of feedback to let you know the message was successfully sent or something. Something to do with lights blinking -- they blinked until it was sent, or something. I don't remember how long it would keep trying, though.

[Dayhike Mike]

[steve435]

Hey Gang, Steve Howe here, Backpacker Editor who's tested the SPOT almost daily since last October when beta units went out. I was the guy who accidentally triggered the SPOT alert on Denali. (see above for link to a blog of that incident by Jon Dorn.) You'll find my post-mortem on that same incident here: http://www.backpacker.com/blogs/273 It explains exactly what happened, and why, and the follow-up. Basically, the unit was triggered when we set down packs to dig a cache at Washburn's Thumb (16,600) on the West Buttress. Most of the chaos in Jon Dorn's blog dispatch concerned my hometown phone and internet lines being down at the time of the incident....A separate problem. I did an extensive review of the SPOT for a blog called "Saved by Satellite, Part 3 of 3" On the Backpacker website, but I can no longer find that particular post in the archives. It explained the entire satellite constellation, signal and SPOT services layout. Wikipedia has excellent information on LEO satellites, Globalstar's constellation, the different signal repeaters in those satellites (data vs. two-way transmission), and the SPOT itself. --I've sent at least 400 test OK messages with my unit. The SPOT connects very well in most conditions, including surprisingly tight slot canyons. However, it can require a waiting period for a LEO satellite to clear the horizon...like a sat phone. Since initially testing the unit by sending OK messages from test locations to my personal e-mail, I estimate that of the last 200 messages I've sent (usually on trail runs), 199 have successfully connected. Yes, sometimes you have to choose a decent location to give it a chance. Big surprise. --The unit does have to be 'face up.' That is clearly spelled out in the user manual, as are most other operation details. --SPOT transmission is far more reliable than sat phones, which I've used for twice-daily blogs from the Sierra High Route. SPOTS are not quite as reliable as a 5-watt PLB. But it has more communication potential with the OK, tracking, help and 911 modes. Besides, most people only ASSUME PLBs work reliably. They're tough for the average user to test. --Being a 7oz unit talking with satellites roughly 900 miles in space does require some tradeoffs. No, SPOTs won't always work under thick tree cover, but they usually do. I've sent numerous OK messages from 500-foot-deep sandstone canyons with less than a 20-degree view of the sky. --If you're watching the unit, you can actually see it connect to a satellite. The relevant LED light goes solid for 5 seconds. However, the blinking confirmation patterns can be confusing--especially if the owner never reads the manual, or practices with the unit, which is typical of gadgets like gps as well. --As in most SAR incidents, family angst can be a bigger problem than the technical aspects of the signalling gear. I don't have to tell you guys how many SAR events get triggered prematurely at 5:01pm on trail's end day by drama queen spouses. One of the major advantages of SPOT is the OK transmission, which can allay that angst. --I had zero problem with SPOT's battery power even at -20F (the unit requires lithium AAs, and that's marked on the batt compartment). On Denali, I purposefully left the unit hanging outside my tent overnight to freeze it down for testing. No problems. --The ONLY beefs I have with the unit are that the Help and 911 buttons are too easy to activate accidentally, and the LED confirmation patterns are confusing. That said, SPOTs have been used to track Primal Quest adventure racers for several big events now, with no accidental triggers. But with day-in day-out backpacking the potential is higher. SPOT did, however, receive a lot of, uh, input about the LED patterns. Most PQ racers taped the units to the top of the shoulder strap on their hydration packs. --SPOT will be changing the LED blink-confirmation patterns, and capping the buttons, in future incarnations. They also know the belt clip is insecure, and will be including a molded ring or slot for straps and/or biners. --But overall, these things are a revelation, just like sat phones and plbs were when they first emerged. --And yes, contrary to many comments I see on message boards, I find the SPOT transmission very reliable. In the future, it would be great to see reliable, lightweight, inexpensive two-way satellite text messeger units, but no one's invented one yet. Hope that helps clear up some points. I find the discussion about SPOTs to be healthy, but there is a lot of knee-jerk misinformation being circulated about them.

[steve435]

Sorry, this bit got deleted by a random key stroke. I usually use the SPOT in normal mode, meaning that I simply carry the unit "off," then power up, place it face up, and hit OK or Help. In that mode, the chance for accidental alerts is minimal at best. However, if it's set to (optional $50/year) tracking mode, accidental alerts are potentially easy. 911 alerts are not handled by SPOT customer service. They're handled by a Houston-based corporate security company. Their facilities, and corporate operations, are quite impressive.

[Tom]

[Good Ag]

Thanks Steve. Always enjoy your articles in Backpacker. Your write up provides some good information on performance. We've only had SPOT a few months and so far we're at about 99% of OK messages being received. The 1% that weren't received were due to location of where the message was sent from. My husband has experimented with placement for transmission and now I get all the messages. We haven't experienced any accidental alerts, but we also use SPOT in the normal mode - not tracking. Really nice to know about where the 911 calls go. I had been wondering. I find SPOT to be a useful tool for the emergency contact person, but it's only one part of the puzzle. You still need to leave detailed plans on where you are going and when you are due back. You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket.

[Tom]

[car68]

Steve wrote, "--If you're watching the unit, you can actually see it connect to a satellite. The relevant LED light goes solid for 5 seconds. However, the blinking confirmation patterns can be confusing--especially if the owner never reads the manual, or practices with the unit, which is typical of gadgets like gps as well." Does that mean it receives an acknowledgement from the satellite? If so then how hard would a 2 way device be to make?

[robM]

[steve435]

As far as sat phone vs. SPOT communications on the Globalstar satellite constellation, the two use different transmitters located within the same satelite. It's L-band vs S-band. You'll find good info on Wikipedia - Globalstar, L-band, Simplex band. I'm kinda busy now to chase all this down, but the simplex-band transmitter/receivers on the satellites are regularly used for one-way communications like remote river gauges, etc. Their L?-band (two way sat phone) transmitters fried earlier than expected due to solar radiation. Hence the problems with Globalstar sat phone communications. All satellites degenerate due to high-radiation frying. These just died sooner than anticipated, and relaunches have been underway for a while. The Simplex band transmitter/receivers were unaffected. If you guys have specific questions about SPOTs procedures and wish to talk to them directly (I'm not affiliated with SPOT, or any other outdoor manufacturer, in any way) I'd recommend going onto their website and looking in the "news" tab. It's got Derek Moore's contact info. He's the spot public relations guy, and a decent, articulate sort. He'd be happy to field questions from SAR types, and perhaps set up a visit to GEOS Alliance's operations center. As to whether my non-sent transmissions never connected, or a failure occurred after sending to the satellite....I don't know. I'd assume the satellite never connected. But I don't always stare at the LED lights to make sure a transmission went out. Once it goes out three times, the relevant LED light turns back off. But I'm usually out training, and have a schedule to keep, so I just give it a decent amount of time, then power down and move on...a good 'real world' test. Generally, however, the transmissions go out in 5 minutes or less. I've seen the unit power up, self-locate, and contact a satellite within a minute. It's slower in tighter, more restricted view situations.

[SteveC]

Not sure what Steve435 means about reading the buttons. All you can do is stand there and stare at the unit and see if it lights up solid for 5 seconds. That is when a message is being sent out. Then it goes back to blinking every three seconds. NO indication that a message was sent except for the 5-second solid. I tested my unit this evening, turning it on and immediately sending a "help" message. (I made sure all my email contacts were removed except for my own cell phone and email). In about 45 seconds, (8:11PM) it sent a help message, and then the lights blinked alternately -- which indicates it sent a message with no location (actually longitude 0, lattitude 0). Watching it further, about 5 minutes later (8:15PM), it sent a second help message, and then the lights started blinking in unison, indicating it had sent the help WITH correct coordinates. I watched it further, and it sent yet another message exactly 5 minutes later, but that one did not come through. The SPOT handbook does say that it ignores duplicate messages, but it does not say how far apart the three messages are sent. I think the software passed through both my help messages since one was without, and then the next was WITH coordinates. The third help message was discarded since it had the same coordinates. I tried turning it off and sending more messages, both help and Check-in, and I observed that after I pressed the OK or Help buttons, it sent a message exactly 45 seconds (15 blinks) after activated, and then a second message exactly 5 minutes later. I will assume that the third message would be sent after another 5 minutes. None of them came through, though between 8:15 and 8:40, when I activated the Cancel Help button (press and hold help for over 5 seconds), the help light blinks red. 45 seconds later, the light goes solid red for 5 seconds, indicating the cancel help was sent. My cell phone immediately received the cancel message, "The help message has been cancelled". Two minutes later, I was able to sent an OK message by turning off and on, and sending. ...I would like to devise a way to send the help and check-in messages in some sort of Morse-code-like sequence that might be used to communicate more than "Help" or "OK". But the message forwarding service's filtering out duplicate or too-frequent messages kind of prevents it. I need to try a sequence of Help, cancel Help, check-in and see if they come through more frequently.

[tigermn]

[captain jack]

I think they should make one just for girls. Pick a nice pastel shade for the case. Make the buttons easy to use with long fingernails. Give it a trendy name like Apple products. The GSPOT

[Dayhike Mike]

[Bergschlawiner]

From all this reading, I come to the conclusion that accidental activations such as this one that resulted an a lot of volunteers going out all night, I would personally do one or all of the following: 1. Make some kind of hard cover case, maybe a water bottle of something like "tupperware" to protect the device if its stashed inside of a pack. Sooner or later some outfitters will come up with something to carry this device. Everyone protects their cameras why not their SPOT? or 2. Turn it off except for times when its actually used or needed. I can't think of any real reason to carry an active device unless you are someone like in those ads "help me, I've fallen and can't get up." Very unlikely for a trail hiker unless its a real old person! Like me! It all boils down to being responsible whenever packing these electronic devices because these accidents can and will continue to happen. Just like automatic fire alarms that go off all the time.