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Old Not Bold Hiker



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Old Not Bold Hiker
PostThu Aug 28, 2014 9:02 am 
Delorme is working from me, albeit I feel its fairly primitive. Others seem to be OK with SPOT, such as it is. I just think its a good thing there are at least 2 companies being competitive in this service, to goad each other into advancing the technology, hardware, and Plans. Otherwise it would be like Garmin in the GPS market... No reasonable competition, so they don't bother to significantly advance their hardware or software, other than forcing people to buy new and not-really-improved hardware just to get a software tweak or patch.

friluftsliv
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dla
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PostThu Aug 28, 2014 10:05 am 
All 3 systems, (COSPAS-SARSAT, SPOT, InReach), require that you be able to see the sky to get a signal to a satellite. And they all will handle a moderate amount of canopy and still hit a satellite. But if you are in a ravine, then the slice of the sky you can see could be quite narrow - add canopy to that and you've created an impossible signaling situation. Let's imagine you tumbled down into a canopy-covered ravine and broke both legs. With COSPAS-SARSAT you may or may not be able to hit a satellite. If you can't, nobody knows where you are. With SPOT and InReach, people can see where you were, (within 10 minutes), when message transmission stopped. When they decide to come looking for you, it won't take a nuclear rocket-scientist to figure out they should take a peek in the ravine next to where your messaging stopped. Since all the systems will continue to send SOS messages until the batteries die, it is possible that things line up just perfectly that a message finally gets through (see case below). So in my opinion, SPOT and InReach have better usage models than COSPAS-SARSAT. And InReach has a better usage model than SPOT. Here's a case where SPOT shouldn't have worked, but it did: http://kigsblog-allapa.blogspot.com/2013/04/accident-in-sluicebox.html and here is some general SPOT info: https://sites.google.com/site/hobbyhintstricksideas/Home/spot-messenger-information

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dla
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PostThu Aug 28, 2014 10:10 am 
boot up wrote:
I just think its a good thing there are at least 2 companies being competitive in this service, to goad each other into advancing the technology, hardware, and Plans.
I agree. We wanderers have some great options nowadays. I really hope that InReach succeeds, because it has the best potential and it will put the competitive pressure on the other two.

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tigermn
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PostThu Aug 28, 2014 12:41 pm 
Well so far Garmin hasn't even seemed to sniff this type of device. Maybe sticking to what they are good at (mostly anyway).

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Doppelganger





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PostThu Aug 28, 2014 2:02 pm 

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dla
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PostThu Aug 28, 2014 2:19 pm 
Doppelganger wrote:
dla wrote:
So in my opinion, SPOT and InReach have better usage models than COSPAS-SARSAT.
I think we may be getting back to the old argument (missed it, didn't you? smile.gif ) - while SPOT and InReach do offer tracking options if the user pays for it, the overall reliability and quality of the satellite and response systems in place for each of the primary options (406 beacons, SPOT, InReach) shows a wide gap where the COSPAS-SARSAT system is literally decades ahead in established technology and experience. Yes, the breadcrumb trail could be useful (if wildly inaccurate at times, but that's another discussion I guess) to people trying to recover your body. I'd rather be confident that something is happening when I hit the help button though biggrin.gif
Funny smile.gif The only truth you posted is that the COSPAS-SARSAT is an older system with more experience. I don't know why people have such unfaltering faith in a system they've never used, never researched, and never measured. And yet loathe a system used by 1000's successfully that is tested constantly and lays bare for all to see. But to each his own. I'm just glad we have options today whether it be COSPAS-SARSAT, SPOT or InReach.

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HitTheTrail
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PostThu Aug 28, 2014 5:52 pm 
Ranger Rock wrote:
Oh and I got double charged for a message if I sent it both to my spouses email and his phone at the same time.. lesson learned..
Interesting. I always send to both my wife's email and cell number to increase the chances she will be near one of them. I rarely go over the message limit so double charges to the same person never occurred to me. On all my excursions this summer I have only sent one free form message and that was more or less to test out pairing my iphone with the delorme via the EarthMate app to see how it worked(great BTW). I have been getting by all summer with just pre-set messages and a few prearranged instructions concerning how I would be using them. I am still happy with the Delorme unit but take special effort to protect it from any shocks. Especially to the screen.

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ranger rock
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PostThu Aug 28, 2014 10:00 pm 
I wonder if the satellite messengers fry their circuits sending messages.. maybe they were not made to sent out more that 100 or so messages before the circuits fry? I'm going to get or make some sort of shock proof case for my Delorme and I'll keep it in the bottom of my pack. When one of my SPOT 3 units failed I was told that it it failed because I used it within 15 feet of my friend's SPOT unit. Strange devices indeed. Tracking costs money and battery life so I don't use it. The Delorme battery does not last nearly as long as I was hoping so I leave it off when ever I am not sending messages if I am on a multi day trip. I'm concerned about the mini USB port on the Delorme, it is the only way to charge it and it seems fragile. Also there are so many software upgrades that the Delorme wants. About every other time I sync it, it says it won't sync unless I do a software upgrade, sometimes the upgrades go smoothly, sometimes not. I had to reboot twice to get the port my Delorme was on to work again after I upgraded it last time. The new unit came and the transfer of my account the the new unit was fast and easy anyway.

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Doppelganger





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PostFri Aug 29, 2014 8:39 am 

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HitTheTrail
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PostThu Sep 04, 2014 7:58 pm 
I was checking out my Delorme inReach SE for an upcoming trip and it was completely dead. Nothing I could do or plug-in could make it respond in any way. Finally I did a "soft reset" by simultaneously depressing the X button and the Down button for 60 seconds. That made it come back to life as good as new. It even had the same level of charge as before it became unresponsive. The soft reset did change some of my settings back to default but that was no big deal. It is a good fix to know if things stop working.

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DIYSteve
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PostFri Sep 05, 2014 7:04 am 
Thanks for the tip. So far I'm happy with my inReach SE. A couple weeks ago on a week-long high route with my buds I checked in with Hone via preset message each evening. Nice getting a response from her each time. Heading out for 8 days with Honey tomorrow and will send the preset messages to a couple buds, who I've asked to confirm receipt and send a brief weather forecast. I have the Freedom Safety Plan. So far no extra charges. Battery life not an issue because I have been using it only to check in at camp and check for responses.

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Old Not Bold Hiker
PostFri Sep 05, 2014 7:32 am 
HitTheTrail wrote:
I was checking out my Delorme inReach SE for an upcoming trip and it was completely dead. Nothing I could do or plug-in could make it respond in any way. Finally I did a "soft reset" by simultaneously depressing the X button and the Down button for 60 seconds. That made it come back to life as good as new. It even had the same level of charge as before it became unresponsive. The soft reset did change some of my settings back to default but that was no big deal. It is a good fix to know if things stop working.
Definitely a good tip! Thanks! This seems to be the most common problem with the Delormes, in my research. I need to write this somewhere on the unit or on a label or something handy, so I can remember this simple but obscure procedure, should I ever need it. No way I will successfully commit it to memory. The DeLorme continues to serve my needs, and I am happy with it. Is it perfect? No. Is it The New Thing in Social Media....No. Can I use it to pound in my tent stakes... No. Does it beat the heck out of relying on my iphone teamed with T-Mobile in the backcountry...or even front country? Hellya. smile.gif

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HitTheTrail
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PostFri Sep 05, 2014 7:46 am 
I got the tip from the Delorme trouble shooting site. You might want to bookmark the site.

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ranger rock
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PostFri Sep 05, 2014 4:10 pm 
One time when I was hiking my Delorme lost all of my preset messages, perhaps I had accidentally done a soft reset in the field.

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wolffie
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PostMon Sep 08, 2014 12:00 pm 
I got a SPOT Gen3 and almost needed it the first time I carried it. It allowed me to vastly change my plans in mid-trip without feeling like I was screwing the poor SAR sods who have to go looking for my sorry carcass. I mostly kept it OFF to save battery life (9 day trip), sending occasional "check-in" messages. When I was off-trail, I used "tracking" mode. Had I not had it in "tracking" mode when I broke my rib, the GPS error caused by proximity to the cliff would not have been obvious if I'd hit the SOS button, and SAR would've been looking for me at 6450' on that east buttress of S. McCartney Peak, instead of 5250' on that north-facing cliff along my track. Note how waypoint 19 (where I broke my rib) is off by over 3/4 mile: EDIT 1/26/15. I now believe this was due to operator error: poor positioning of the unit (because of the excitement/confusion going on). Twice since then, I've found the unit unexpectedly OFF. To conserve batteries, it shuts down automatically after 60 minutes of motionlessness (it has a vibration sensor), and I think 60 minutes of blocked GPS signal will also make it shut down (the instructions say "60 minutes of inactivity"). I've been carrying it on my pack's top pocket -- trying to keep it facing the sky -- but it's getting mis-positioned. I think I need to sew little custom pockets on the top of my packs (I don't think it's secure enough if strapped on the outside).
BTW, of those 4 larger lakes shown along my track by Gurgle Maps, only Lake Lillian exists; the others are just flattish places. Also: when you have a broken rib, you do not want to have to open a Bear Vault, cough (drink carefully!), or take a crap. And you do not want to be alone in a remote place in bad weather; a very simple cracked rib can be surprisingly debilitating.

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