How good is the spot gps?

[FullyLitLED]

SPOT Connect

I saw these last year and just decided to begin my research. It says that you can connect it to your smart phone and use it as if you had cell service. Definitely sounds good but how reliable is this unit? Is there a subscription fee per year? It definitely looks like a must have but wanted to ask opinions of everyone here on the board. I have had issues with blue tooth and reliability when you need it. This unit says you can even txt your loved ones if the certain off road area(hollister in particular) and tell them your location...definitely sounds too good to be true with all the features listed...

 

[BMThiker]

When they work, they seem pretty cool. I had a friend that drove a BMW GS up to Alaska a couple summers ago. He used it on his blog so that everybody could track his progress. Unfortunately, the unit kept blinking out. He had at least one replacement (maybe two) sent from the manufacturer during the expedition. When you've got that many people watching your progress and it doesn't show any movement, it freaks people out unnecessarily. I don't know if reliability has improved in the last 1.5yrs, but that's my only knowledge of them.

 

[FJ60Seth]

I have the Spot GPS Satellite Messenger. It sends out your location every 10 minutes or pushes a canned message on demand. It's worked great for me. You're referring to the SPOT Connect which I've had no experience with. You do have to buy a subscription. Mine costs $99/year.

 

[e9999]

looks like they are charging extra (as in beyond the usual yearly subscription) for the custom messages from the smartphone.
If so, how much?

 

[RobRed]

SPOT Connect

I saw these last year and just decided to begin my research. It says that you can connect it to your smart phone and use it as if you had cell service. Definitely sounds good but how reliable is this unit? Is there a subscription fee per year? It definitely looks like a must have but wanted to ask opinions of everyone here on the board. I have had issues with blue tooth and reliability when you need it. This unit says you can even txt your loved ones if the certain off road area(hollister in particular) and tell them your location...definitely sounds too good to be true with all the features listed...

ummmm LJ you can just pick up your phone and call someone from Hollister.

 

[FullyLitLED]

ummmm LJ you can just pick up your phone and call someone from Hollister.

Rob, was just up there last weekend, no signal! Not even on the top of the whatever camping area where people say there is signal...

Verizon people got service though..

 

[FullyLitLED]

I have the Spot GPS Satellite Messenger. It sends out your location every 10 minutes or pushes a canned message on demand. It's worked great for me. You're referring to the SPOT Connect which I've had no experience with. You do have to buy a subscription. Mine costs $99/year.

Thats the one that links to the smart phone right?

Not the normal spot?

 

[RobRed]

Rob, was just up there last weekend, no signal! Not even on the top of the whatever camping area where people say there is signal...

Verizon people got service though..

I was all over that place (north ranch) with Darin two weeks ago and we had cell coverage on AT&T all over the hills - the place is so small you could walk out pretty easily if you had to.

Universally there are a few options for truly emergency situations that require aid.

The Spot; 150 buy-in, 100-150 a year

Delorme InReach, 250 buy-in, 120-600 per year

Globalstar Sat Phone; 500 buy-in, 250 for the first year - Unlimited talk time and text.

Iridium 9555; $1200 buy-in $55mo for 30 minutes

InMarSatPro; $600 buy-in, $40mo for 20 mins

406Mhz Personal Locator Beacon(ResqLink etc); 250-600 buy-in $0 recurring but replace battery every 6 years @$140

 

[CycloSteve]

HAM Radio with APRS can do the same thing as SPOT. Send messages, etc. to the internet where family can follow, if they like. License is $15 plus some study materials and radios can be had for $150 upwards. My HT has GPS built-in, and I can activate tracking any time that I like. Plenty of repeaters out there with the ability to patch into the standard telephone network to make short calls (if you know the access codes). With the right antenna you can work satellites, and the ISS. Techno-geekery at its' best.



Steve

 

[RobRed]

HAM Radio with APRS can do the same thing as SPOT. Send messages, etc. to the internet where family can follow, if they like. License is $15 plus some study materials and radios can be had for $150 upwards. My HT has GPS built-in, and I can activate tracking any time that I like. Plenty of repeaters out there with the ability to patch into the standard telephone network to make short calls (if you know the access codes). With the right antenna you can work satellites, and the ISS. Techno-geekery at its' best.



Steve

That's all perfect until no repeater is within range for your aprs transmissions. If you want voice and SMS coverage, InMarSatPro covers everywhere your taking your land cruiser. EPLBs are the best in a situation when you need set and forget beaconing for help.

LJ was talking about getting his tech license... Did you do it?

Sent from my iPad 2 using IH8MUD

 

[Enigma]

SPOT works great. Gives my family some peace of mind when I'm out and they can track me and I can send out the OKAY messages to let them know.
Of course when I forget to turn it on is another matter entirely....

 

[RobRed]

SPOT works great. Gives my family some peace of mind when I'm out and they can track me and I can send out the OKAY messages to let them know.
Of course when I forget to turn it on is another matter entirely....

No question about piece of mind. Most SPOT owners I've talked to seem to like them with a few exceptions.

 

[sprocket3]

HAM Radio with APRS can do the same thing as SPOT. Send messages, etc. to the internet where family can follow, if they like. License is $15 plus some study materials and radios can be had for $150 upwards. My HT has GPS built-in, and I can activate tracking any time that I like. Plenty of repeaters out there with the ability to patch into the standard telephone network to make short calls (if you know the access codes). With the right antenna you can work satellites, and the ISS. Techno-geekery at its' best.



Steve

No it doesn't.. I have tried many times to get anyone on the radio in eastern oregon and can't get anyhing. I don't consider HAM a viable method of support in remote areas. Better than nothing, but very limited once you get out of town.

Spot has worked great for me and gives you the options of a few different levels of messages you can send from the unit.

OK---with custom text message
Custom---with custom text message
Problem --with custom text message
Traking --tracks when on for extra money. Sorta pointless to me
SOS--- That's the one that spot takes over and send the support.

The first three you decide how to handle and what message gets sent when you program the account online. For instance I use ok just to check in and track my trip. Problem is set up to notify friends I'm "stuck, broken down, need gas" but not dying or in danger. Cutom to mark something I want to look at when i'm home and on a nice computer.

SOS is what gets spot involved and I hope to never need it.

My unit has worked perfectly for two years. I have had no issues with the battery life like some people complain. I replaced them after a year just to be safe, but they still worked fine. I don't use tracking, but send a lot of messages when i'm out on a trip. I have read the traking feature uses a lot of battery life up.

I think it is the best option on the market and would buy it again. When i activated mine they had a discount (20% off fees) I think. So i prepaid for a couple years and got the annual down pretty good.

Hope that helps. I have really liked having mine when solo 50 miles from a paved road in the middle of winter. I hunt in the in the winter when highs get up to the 30s and nights are close to zero. Trying to walk out after a breakdown would be very risky.

 

[1911]

No it doesn't.. I have tried many times to get anyone on the radio in eastern oregon and can't get anyhing. I don't consider HAM a viable method of support in remote areas. Better than nothing, but very limited once you get out of town.

You need a better antenna and/or radio then. Mine work great; I can beacon APRS from my 2 meter radio all over the western U.S. including from the remote back country such as Canyonlands N.P. , and can talk all over the world with my HF radio.

 

[sprocket3]

You need a better antenna and/or radio then. Mine work great; I can beacon APRS from my 2 meter radio all over the western U.S. including from the remote back country such as Canyonlands N.P. , and can talk all over the world with my HF radio.

I would put my butt on the line with SPOT, but not HAM. Also the fact that when I'm out doing stuff I don't want to waste time working the radio to send an ok message off some repeater that I have never hit before. If that's what you want to do with your vaction that is fine, but it's not a good option for me. I'm not out there to play with my radio.

HAM has it's place, but SPOT beats it here for the person that is mobile and not a total HAM master. Or the person who goes to areas that MIGHT have one single repeater in range and are very remote.

I don't want to mess with trying to beacon APRS and so on to let my family (none of which use HAM) know that i'm ok. I feel like the $500 investment in HAM equipment was a waste of money to be honest and I was told how great it is by HAM junkies. Look at the repeaters in SE Oregon for intance and see how much you want to count on that list. There is very little outside of Burn and Lakeview to work.

 

[1911]

It's totally your choice, just pointing out a few facts to help others make an informed decision. When it is set up correctly, APRS is completely hands-off and automatic - no need to find a repeater or know anything about it, it just works transparently wherever you are. Also, your family do not need to be hams to access it, they only have to know how to use the internet. They can track you in real time from several different public web sites.

 

[RobRed]

You guys are both right. Ham is not a waste of time for sure but not every radio has APRS capability, moreover there are times when you are not within range of a digipeater.

1911 It's great you have an HF option for voice but I would guess most guys are running 2M.

Sprocket, 1911 is correct in that if you have a 2M with APRS/GPS capability automatic mode is available. No need to touch the HAM to send continuous updates. What radio are you using?

The main question from LJ involves the SPOT which can be carried in the vehicle and on your person and at a touch of a button can summon SAR. The Ham is not quite as robust in that way. I listed several options at the top to achieve a "send-for-help-now" signal but unfortunately Ham doesn't have quite the coverage ubiquity that SAT Comms do. I'm aware there are SAT based APRS stations.

 

[CycloSteve]

RobRed hit the nail on the head.

Spot offers a very robust and easy to use way to let people know where you are or summons help in an emergency situation. No training required.

Ham offers to the techno-oriented a way to do many of the same things without any subscription fees. That was my point. Where many of us live and wheel Ham works fine for our needs. In the SF Bay Area through Tahoe, no worries about getting in touch with others and APRS hitting a digipeater. I just can't justify buying a Spot when I have had very good luck with my radio(s).

Different solutions for different folks; each with pros and cons.



Steve

 

[1911]

1911 It's great you have an HF option for voice but I would guess most guys are running 2M.

You are right; most wheelers are only running 2 meters, but he said "ham" not 2M, which could give unknowing readers the impression that no ham radio was capable of communicating beyond repeater range, which as you know is definitely not true.

 

[e9999]

I have a Ham radio which I got for trip commo and problems. Haven't had the couple of days I'm afraid it would take to figure out and get APRS running. I also don't want to depend just on the radio for a serious emergency though.
It's bad enough to try and connect with a repeater in the middle of nowhere when I have time to reread the manual and find the frequencies, but if I'm upside down in a ditch or hanging on a cliffside I want just a button to push for the cavalry to arrive.

So for Spot, the questions for me would be
- is the Spot system indeed robust enough? IIRC there is some disagreement on that.
- recent posts also seem to suggest their customer service is not the best