Forum Index > Gear Talk > Satellite messengers have upgraded!
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
ranger rock
One of the boys



Joined: 14 Dec 2011
Posts: 2550 | TRs | Pics
ranger rock
One of the boys
PostSun Oct 20, 2013 8:17 am 
LadyÆsa wrote:
Thanks for the real-world feedback on the Delorme! I ended up following a brand-new Delorme inReach SE on eBay - the guy is in Colorado and won it at a raffle and will never use it, so I got it cheaper than list price. Won it this morning. I'll update as to how it works when I use it!
Nice! I'm so tempted to get the Delorme.. but hate the idea of a one year contract and monthly billing.. They offered me a "pro discount" but it's only $50 off the unit and no savings on the service.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
LadyÆsa
Surefooted Spitfire



Joined: 16 Oct 2012
Posts: 671 | TRs | Pics
Location: Custer, Whatcom County, WA
LadyÆsa
Surefooted Spitfire
PostSun Oct 20, 2013 8:27 am 
Ranger Rock wrote:
LadyÆsa wrote:
Thanks for the real-world feedback on the Delorme! I ended up following a brand-new Delorme inReach SE on eBay - the guy is in Colorado and won it at a raffle and will never use it, so I got it cheaper than list price. Won it this morning. I'll update as to how it works when I use it!
Nice! I'm so tempted to get the Delorme.. but hate the idea of a one year contract and monthly billing.. They offered me a "pro discount" but it's only $50 off the unit and no savings on the service.
Yeah, I sorta hate it, too, especially since I spend so much elsewhere with bills, cell service, and other necessities, but I'm a single mom, Lauren's 6, and I have absolutely no one to hike with. Even hiking a smaller trail in the Chucakanuts or up Blanchard or Baker is a whole new monster between summer (when the trail will be better maintained and I can expect lots of people to be there too) and winter (when snow and ice make a trail nasty, and I may be the only one there that day), and I can't take the risk of not being in contact if something happens. I figure I'm not going to communicate much, only if something's wrong, plus any friends or family I'm going to communicate with are pretty tech illiterate (texting is a newfangled contraption they barely grasp), so tracking and tons of messages aren't necessary. $10 a month is worth it to me to have a safety net.

"We have one chance, one chance, to get everything right. We have one chance, one chance, and if we're lucky we might." One Chance, Modest Mouse
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
boot up
Old Not Bold Hiker



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 4745 | TRs | Pics
Location: Bend Oregon
boot up
Old Not Bold Hiker
PostSun Oct 20, 2013 11:08 am 
This is a very helpful thread. My PLB is reaching battery replacement time, which costs a big chunk towards a new unit that would be half the size and weight. Now I am seriously considering the DeLorme instead of just getting my brick of an ACR refurbed or buying the smaller lighter ACR. Both an upgraded (smaller) ACR and the DeLorme are pretty much the same price, but the PLB is a one time purchase instead of the monthly fees for the multi-purpose unit. I am starting to rationalize the cost... Assuming you have a cell phone of course. My wife just needs a "safe at trailhead, heading home" messsage to set her mind at ease. We have Team Mobile coverage for our cell phones, which is by far the cheapest coverage with 4G data capability. Unfortunately their motto is "If you aren't in a Mall, why do you need a damn phone?" Heck it requires wifi to work in my house in Kirkland. A recent panic was my phone wouldn't even pick up in downtown Leavenworth, which is one of my "I will text, at least in Leavenworth", and the hike was running late. So I showed up home with my wife on the verge of calling out SAR at 10pm due to no contact. To up my coverage to a "real" phone company would add $30 to $50 a month to our bill, and it would only slightly improve my trailhead texting capability. So if I use the DeLorme to fill that gap and continue to muddle along with Team Mobile for daily use, it pays for itself. Sounds like a number of different plans on Delorme that would keep me saving money and even give me backcountry "Running Late, I am OK" to say nothing about being able to send message "car trouble" when stuck on some remote roads. I bet the folks that crashed into the guard rails on highway 20 due to black ice yesterday could have used that , since it was a no reception area. Spot is just too spotty reliability for me. This seems to be a chunk of gear that would be better to avoid "might or might not work" reliability. Any thoughts on the different plans available from DeLorme, especially from people that have used the plans?

friluftsliv
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
HitTheTrail
Member
Member


Joined: 30 Oct 2007
Posts: 5452 | TRs | Pics
Location: 509
HitTheTrail
Member
PostSun Oct 20, 2013 1:29 pm 
Here is a list of subscription plans(scroll down to read it all). Looks like the safety plan is going to be the cheapest. That's what I have and with tax it is just over $11/month. From my personal experience with the unit this summer I think the biggest advantage is that it actually seems to work as advertised.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
mike
Member
Member


Joined: 09 Jul 2004
Posts: 6389 | TRs | Pics
Location: SJIsl
mike
Member
PostSun Oct 20, 2013 1:59 pm 
Looks like there is an activation fee of $20 + tax. $25 to down-grade plans so start with the basic and upgrade

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Traildad
Member
Member


Joined: 25 Jan 2008
Posts: 754 | TRs | Pics
Location: Shoreline
Traildad
Member
PostSun Oct 20, 2013 5:42 pm 
I have used the seasonal (July-Oct) for the past two summers and then suspended service after October. But based on my usage this past season I think I am going to stick with the $10.95 per month plan and pay for the tracking and excess texts. I think that will end up being a bit more economical. This probably works for me but if you do a significant amount of winter backcountry travel it might not be the optimal solution for you. The good news is that this device and coverage works well in my experience over two years.

Life is short so live it well.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
HitTheTrail
Member
Member


Joined: 30 Oct 2007
Posts: 5452 | TRs | Pics
Location: 509
HitTheTrail
Member
PostSun Oct 20, 2013 6:31 pm 
Traildad wrote:
The good news is that this device and coverage works well in my experience over two years.
The SE just got released this spring. Do you have the older unit?

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
ranger rock
One of the boys



Joined: 14 Dec 2011
Posts: 2550 | TRs | Pics
ranger rock
One of the boys
PostSun Oct 20, 2013 7:50 pm 
Text messaging fees apply to incoming and outgoing messages. Hmmmm.....

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
boot up
Old Not Bold Hiker



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 4745 | TRs | Pics
Location: Bend Oregon
boot up
Old Not Bold Hiker
PostSun Oct 20, 2013 9:13 pm 
Ranger Rock wrote:
Text messaging fees apply to incoming and outgoing messages. Hmmmm.....
I figured that was likely from the comment about the "cute" messages coming from home, adding up to overage fees. Good to get that confirmed. Anyone with feedback on the "tracking" capability being practical for the non-techie back home to actually read the location and get some sort of idea of where you are on the route? My wife brought up an interesting point. With my PLB now, all I have is a panic button that brings on a full search or helicopter or whatever. My wife just goes along for the ride in the ensuing panic. But now with many more options and degrees of situations, she feels put on the spot about having to know who to call and what actions to take. e.g. "Car trouble, stranded" or "found person with broken ankle, helping to get person out". "need chopper, life in danger". She is not comfortable with this. I mentioned that maybe I can come up with some scenarios and who to call and actions to take. Anyone have experience with these concerns on the home front?

friluftsliv
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
ranger rock
One of the boys



Joined: 14 Dec 2011
Posts: 2550 | TRs | Pics
ranger rock
One of the boys
PostSun Oct 20, 2013 9:45 pm 
There is nothing my spouse could do if I sent a help or 9-11 message from my spot so I have other people on my help message list in case that ever happens. Maybe just an emergency PLB would work for me. The main thing I want is to not have my loved ones send SAR after me. If all I had was PLB they would / should know that I am okay even if I am late as long as I have not sent a distress signal. I know that my spouse likes the idea of being able to text me on a Delorme.. but I'm not sure if I like that. Hiking is an escape, I don't want a text message every time my spouse can not find their socks.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Canon Shooter
Member
Member


Joined: 20 Oct 2013
Posts: 68 | TRs | Pics
Location: Grays Harbor
Canon Shooter
Member
PostSun Oct 20, 2013 11:42 pm 
I have been lurking around this site for a year or so but this topic made me decide to join because of my recent experience with this device. Regarding the Delorme SE, I purchased one of the SE units in July for a multi day trip I was planning for September. I had planned on going to Idaho however due to the forest fire situation I ended up in the Pasayten Wilderness (Billygoat pass to Park pass and back). I wanted to go solo so emergency communications was important to me. I used the SE alot and it worked fine. The Delorme website was a little tedious but other than that no problems. I only wanted the SE for texting to cell phones anyways so the website issues didn't matter much to me. You have to add the contacts you want to communicate with that way you don't get all the spam texts. I used it with my Ipod and without my Ipod. It worked in my tent, on the seat of my car, and in the belt pouch of my backpack. I don't know how fast it worked in those locations it just worked fine. The nice thing about paring with the Ipod is that you can set the device up outside with a clear view of the sky and lay in your tent and text if you like. I use the $10 per month plan. I easily went over the 10 texts per month but that is fine since the device may not get used for a few months. The more expensive plans only make sense if you are using it all the time. You still have all the features it is just they cost more when you use them. The battery lasted fine but I turned it off when I wasn't using it. The device is also water proof. The device does everything I want it to do and I would recommend to anyone.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
dla
Member
Member


Joined: 13 May 2012
Posts: 185 | TRs | Pics
dla
Member
PostMon Oct 21, 2013 8:04 am 
boot_up wrote:
Spot is just too spotty reliability for me. This seems to be a chunk of gear that would be better to avoid "might or might not work" reliability.
Don't get negative on SPOT based on 3rd-hand information. Sometimes the noise on a forum can override common sense. SPOT is by far the most popular PLB and comes in at a competitive price point. InReach, SPOT and the vaunted cospas-sarsat PLB all have signaling issues under canopy and when used incorrectly - there's no magic. You have good choices now that offer different features at different price points. Features & price should be your selection criteria, not some old-wives tales. My SPOT subscription costs me $162/year for basic, tracking, and rescue insurance. The minimum service I can buy is 1 year. The unit's run $50 - $150 one time. And there are currently 2 versions available. So $13.50/month for the service. Unlimited one-way messaging. What is a comparable InReach plan?

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Traildad
Member
Member


Joined: 25 Jan 2008
Posts: 754 | TRs | Pics
Location: Shoreline
Traildad
Member
PostMon Oct 21, 2013 8:39 am 
HitTheTrail wrote:
Traildad wrote:
The good news is that this device and coverage works well in my experience over two years.
The SE just got released this spring. Do you have the older unit?
I had the original InReach which I used paired with my Android. I sold that earlier this spring and replaced it with the new SE model. Good experience with both models, the SE is more convenient to me as a standalone unit.

Life is short so live it well.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
ranger rock
One of the boys



Joined: 14 Dec 2011
Posts: 2550 | TRs | Pics
ranger rock
One of the boys
PostMon Oct 21, 2013 9:41 am 
Third hand? Old husbands tales??? What? Three years of first hand experience with SPOT here.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
dla
Member
Member


Joined: 13 May 2012
Posts: 185 | TRs | Pics
dla
Member
PostMon Oct 21, 2013 11:00 am 
Assuming you want to keep loved ones in the loop, here is what I've seen so far on this thread. $300 for the InReach, then $120 for very basic plan, $160/$300 for the mid plan, and $780/$600 for the top plan. SPOT is $50-$150 for the hardware. My plan is $162 for basic, tracking and rescue insurance. ACR ResQLink 406 GPS PLB is $280. The Plus version of the 406Link.com plan (the only one with GPS) is $60. Of course you only get a very limited number of messages. InReach has the best features in it's mid-tier plan. The basic plan is hard to know since they charge for tracking. A long trip with lots of track points would add up. Hard to keep it apples to apples with SPOT's tracking, but a 28 mile 4 day loop is about 160 track points with my SPOT (my average usage). That would be about $40 with the Inreach basic plan. SPOT and ResQLink are one-way messaging, so not the same features as InReach. SPOT has unlimited messages. Also has some specialty messages that allow you to communicate special instructions on a trip. ACR has a limited number of messages due to the non-user replaceable battery. Only the Plus plan allows you to send GPS coordinates. But you can at least give loved ones status and location (and the location gives SAR a starting point in case you can't activate the beacon). So there are obvious differences in the 5 year cost of ownership, and the only reason we use 5 years is because that is the rated lifetime of the ACR ResQLink (and technology changes faster than that anyway).

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Gear Talk > Satellite messengers have upgraded!
  Happy Birthday speyguy, Bandanabraids!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum