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http://www.acrelectronics.com/faqs/spotvs.aspxI don't have a PLB, so why don't you start and tell us why you like it better, then let people chime in.
I have a spot and can tell you it is cheaper, has tracking capabilities, has non emergency message capability, is smaller and lighter than PLB's I have seen.
Mine is not so much for emergency rescue, although it would do that fine, it is to let the wife know I am alive and moving, for those times I am off alone riding. And if I was involved in an accident where I was not capable of activating a device, my location could still be tracked.
From my experience from my trip to remote regions of the Yukon and Alaska..I preferred having the PLB along.
Having done my homework, I plan to buy a PLB for an upcoming month-long tour into a remote area. I will also have a sat phone with me.
I'm not interested in having someone track my progress. I want a device when I have a serious emergency. Plus other than the upfront cost, I like the fact that the service is free.
There is an optional service for the PLB which can do about the same thing as SPOT.
http://406link.com/
But that uses up battery power. Even if it uses negligible power, that isn't a chance I'd like to take.
The batteries in a PLB are not user replaceable. The unit has to be sent in for that.
Correct..but the battery has to be replaced in 5yrs anyway.
If you're looking for a true emergency response no matter what you need a 406 EPIRB which is pretty much the same as a PLB.
A EPIRB transmits on two frequencies, one is the 406mhz for the satellites and the other is a UHF for search and rescue when they get close.
So if you're really going far off the beaten path you should at a minimum carry a PLB and as far as I'm concerned the only one to carry is one made by ACR.
Same system, except carting an EPIRP with you isn't very convenient. Thats why they made PLBs.
A PLB transmits a VHF of 121.5 MHz which is used for homing. The output is a mere 50 mW ?? 3 dB which is all that is needed for rescue to locate you those last few hundred meters.
Its not the "only one". Microwave Monolithics makes on that is more compact and has a 48 hour transmit time.
I have brought this up with a few sheriffs, fire chiefs, etc in rural locations and they are not even aware that LAT-LONG can be expressed in different formats.
The problem lies in the conversion from the GPS's decimal to the chart's deg./min./sec. format to include which datum the charts are in. I believe for example: the N/W Territories are still charted in the old British Admiralty datum and where not recently updated to the current WGS84 datum.The thinking goes like this: IF USAF responds to an ELT/PLB they have some experience and expertise available to understand the format of the received GPS location. They also have access to RDF's to pinpoint the secondary signal. I can 100% guarantee that local authorities DO NOT understand the possibilities of 'scrambling' a LAT-LONG set of numbers. I have brought this up with a few sheriffs, fire chiefs, etc in rural locations and they are not even aware that LAT-LONG can be expressed in different formats. Sorry, but I don't really want to be laying there leaking bodily fluids while Bubba searches 20 miles away because the person answering the emergency phone number in that county wrote down a period instead of a colon. Or can't use the internet well enough to go to my SPOT page.
I carry both.
The thinking goes like this: IF USAF responds to an ELT/PLB they have some experience and expertise available to understand the format of the received GPS location. They also have access to RDF's to pinpoint the secondary signal. I can 100% guarantee that local authorities DO NOT understand the possibilities of 'scrambling' a LAT-LONG set of numbers. I have brought this up with a few sheriffs, fire chiefs, etc in rural locations and they are not even aware that LAT-LONG can be expressed in different formats. Sorry, but I don't really want to be laying there leaking bodily fluids while Bubba searches 20 miles away because the person answering the emergency phone number in that county wrote down a period instead of a colon. Or can't use the internet well enough to go to my SPOT page.