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SPOT vs. 406 EPIRB/PLB

If I'm going to the true boonies, I'll be taking one of each, otherwise, Spot works fine for my purposes now.

Same here.

PLB only will work if you're conscious and able to press both buttons. With the PLB, I like the idea of the Calvary riding over the hill to the rescue. SPOT works well for family tracking and sending a non-emergency trouble message. If I'm out of cell range and I don't send an I'm OK, they have an idea of where I'm at.

I got the PLB first. I decided to get a SPOT for the tracking feature after I read the threads on various m/c boards about the search for Donald Masters. Went missing August 31st 2009 on a road trip heading back home to Denver. Was found three weeks later by some hunters. Covered by brush and not visible from the road. They had his last credit card gas purchase and had him on a traffic cam, but after that nothing. The tracking feature of SPOT may not have saved his life, but it would have allowed narrowing the search. Might have been a lot less grief for his family. That's what swayed me.
 
Covered by brush and not visible from the road. The tracking feature of SPOT may not have saved his life.

Three have been too many reports by owners that their signal never made it through when under tree cover. That is pretty bad and not a chance I'd be willing to take.

Sure, you have to be able to activate a PLB. If I can't activate it because I am down and out, chances are I'll be dead long before help arrives. I'd sooner reply on a unit with better coverage and signal strength for the signal to actually make it through to a monitoring station not monitored by Ma and Pa Kettle.
 
Obviously if you are seeing a location in Zimbabwe when you know the lost person was in Wyoming 2 hours ago, there will be some question about the accuracy of the data.

When I said I did my homework, I actually spoke with both SPOT and SARSAT people, the latter with a guy at the monitoring station.

I wasn't in the least impressed with the SPOT conversation I had when asking for some hard numbers (specifications) and how the system works.

The guy at the SARSAT monitoring station was as bored as a Maytag repairman and was happy to chat with someone...for 40 minutes.

With a PLB, your personal data is entered in the system and kept on file with numbers to contact as well. They also insist that you call in and update information as often as possible, for example, if you are heading to Iceland for a month, call that in and they will note it on file.
 
Three have been too many reports by owners that their signal never made it through when under tree cover. That is pretty bad and not a chance I'd be willing to take.

Sure, you have to be able to activate a PLB. If I can't activate it because I am down and out, chances are I'll be dead long before help arrives. I'd sooner reply on a unit with better coverage and signal strength for the signal to actually make it through to a monitoring station not monitored by Ma and Pa Kettle.

Good points. I'm only depending on SPOT to post the tracks to the website every 10 minutes. I'm depending on my family to let the authorities know where my last track was. A 10 minute or 20 minute travel area should be easier to search than an 8 or 10 hour travel area.
 
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I would prefer that freighter be watch'n as well as your friends and family on that IP 380 then relying on SPOT.

Oh, it was only going to come along as a toy. Besides, there is very limited coverage at sea.

Seriously, I'd have a ship mounted EPIRB, a PLB on my jacket as well as a sat phone on board. I'd be solo...and on a harness.
 
AIS Class B is the latest rage for the non-commercial..though it's been mandatory Class A for the 300 ton and up for a number of years...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Identification_System

I would prefer that freighter be watch'n as well as your friends and family on that IP 380 then relying on SPOT..

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/

AIS only works when both vessels have it.

It is very handy to have as it give you the heading, speed and CPA (closest point of approach) of the other vessel.

In the 08 Bermuda Race I contacted a container ship over 30 miles away as AIS indicated our CPA was inside .5 miles. He was aware of us, we were of him and after a quick chat on the radio he was kind enough to cross our stern rather than ahead which if you're on a sailboat race is a nice favor, plus he opened up the CPA a bit as neither of us was comfortable with the spread.

322855423_vh4cc-L.jpg
 
Same here.

PLB only will work if you're conscious and able to press both buttons. With the PLB, I like the idea of the Calvary riding over the hill to the rescue. SPOT works well for family tracking and sending a non-emergency trouble message. If I'm out of cell range and I don't send an I'm OK, they have an idea of where I'm at.

I got the PLB first. I decided to get a SPOT for the tracking feature after I read the threads on various m/c boards about the search for Donald Masters. Went missing August 31st 2009 on a road trip heading back home to Denver. Was found three weeks later by some hunters. Covered by brush and not visible from the road. They had his last credit card gas purchase and had him on a traffic cam, but after that nothing. The tracking feature of SPOT may not have saved his life, but it would have allowed narrowing the search. Might have been a lot less grief for his family. That's what swayed me.

Another option that has appeared in this month's Motorcycle Consumer News..

www.gpso.us

..automatic activation of 911 with lat./lon. coordinates after a bike goes down and when the rider's cell phone is not answered
 
Another option that has appeared in this month's Motorcycle Consumer News..

www.gpso.us

..automatic activation of 911 with lat./lon. coordinates after a bike goes down and when the rider's cell phone is not answered

What a bunch of steaming poo.

First the main number on their website is disconnected.
Second, on their contact me page the key folks (CEO, COO, CIO, CTO etc) all have different area codes...

And the deal breaker...

It appears to use cellular to call in the "event", then someone from the service provider (yup the ones with a disconnected main number) calls you, if no answer they call 911.

I bet that will bring help "real quick".

Bottom line if you want SAR to come you need a 406 eprib or PLB (in my book they are the same, they transmit on 406) and the 125 for close in SAR.

Nothing else short of calling 911 yourself will get EMS dispatched faster.
 
A response from GPSO...

The BMW people are very important to us and for the past 2 weeks the 800
number has seen limited input due to a conflict with our other devices. I
took the chance to move the site number to the new 855 when traffic came
in.. go figure.

The J-peg website was done for us by an experienced site builder and to us
as the new GPSO looked good as it came on screen. Without knowing how the
site was created and the passwords to modify it... it has been a nightmare
to change things. We have not been able to reach the person who created it
for weeks to get changes made..

The product works. The product works wherever OnStar works. Where OnStar
does not work... GPSO will not work. We are on the same GlobalStar
Constellation of satellites.

I am personally working to extend the product into a much broader area. As
the product is viable as any on the market for vehicles of any type without
International cell phone charges, (a satellite phone like yachts use) those
who comment to the negative do not know what takes place when creating a
device.

The armchair quarterback bikers who criticize what someone else has taken
their life fortune to build in a couple of years of labor of love of the
biking world.. just sound off and hope everyone would agree with them that a
product does not work... and cause a good device to have problems because of
their jealousy that someone accomplished something, which they know nothing
about... just negative blab.


--
*Michael Botos, Sr.*
*Chief Operations Officer*
*ReconTrak/GPSO Tracking for Business*
*561-262-9917*

*Dealer News 2011 "#1 Product of the Year" *

Think'n outside the cube..here's an golden opportunity for these folks to show up at the Rally with their wares for a one-on-one... Someone please pass the juice!
 
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Yup, that's me an armchair qb who is completely envious of a startup where the COO can't get the website updated or the phone number correct but hey it won the #1 Dealers choice award at a trade show so buy now and save. :deal

Regardless this thread is about devices that can save your life and this may or may not be one of them.

The only potential benefit to this system is the tilt sensor and the auto call.

The downside is the auto call goes to a call center, the call center then contacts EMS who then decides what the appropriate response is. You've heard 911 tapes, now imagine the dispatcher getting a call from another dispatcher from a service she's never heard of with not much more than a set of coordinates to provide.

Compare this with a device where if you push a button your position is transmitted directly to emergency services who are required to find the signal and turn it off. No cellular, no call center and a real response.

Anything else is selling a false sense of security or other features that have nothing to do with safety, such as anti theft. A "Geo Fence" for my bike. Why? If I trust someone enough to loan them my bike I don't need to define where they can ride.

If you want to get a full appreciation of the short comings of non 406 services read this thread.


Here's a highlight, posted over 24hrs after the rider activated his SPOT in non emergency I need help mode.

I am his brother. I just talked to Int'l Emergency Response Center a few minutes ago. They have contacted three different county sherrifs. There ia arguement over whose area he is in. However two have sent officers to the coordinates and can't find him. IERC has now contacted state police who say they will go look. IERC has confidence in state police.
The mapping software shows him on CO Rd 19 4 miles south of Indian rd 7028.

IERC just called me again to inform me state police have officers enroute and promice they will find him.
I'll post if resolved

19 hours from pushing the button to being found.
 
The armchair quarterback bikers who criticize what someone else has taken their life fortune to build in a couple of years of labor of love of the biking world.. just sound off and hope everyone would agree with them that a product does not work... and cause a good device to have problems because of their jealousy that someone accomplished something, which they know nothing about... just negative blab.

--
*Michael Botos, Sr.*
*Chief Operations Officer*

Yes, some of us are so terribly jealous. :rolleyes Spoken like a true CEO with an agenda.

There is a reason why I would choose an Iridium sat phone over a Global Star sat phone...based on experiences of users that have used both.
 
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