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 Product Catalog > Bicycle Accessories > Global Position System (GPS) SPOT Personal Tracker By: Spot Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 107 Features:
Dimensions: Length: 8.1" Width: 6.1" Height: 2.6" Product Description: The SPOT Satellite Messenger, the worlds first satellite messenger, uses both the GPS satellite network to determine a customers location and the SPOT network to transmit that information to friends, family or an emergency service center. SPOT is a revolutionary product that is designed to raise the safety factor for hundreds of millions of people around the world. Where to Buy
Reviews Basically worthless...so much so that it's maddening.  by: on: 22-Jul 2010 Let me avoid generalities and provide instead a very specific anecdote about my experience with this product: I purchased the Spot before a trip to Venezuela to see Angel Falls (which is deep in the backcountry). I frequently go places that are off the grid, and this seemed like a great way to give my wife peace of mind. She gets a message a couple times a day saying I'm okay and I'm located at X-location...great right? Here's the problem, the Spot only worked when I was in urban areas. As soon as I got into the backcountry, no dice. I followed the instructions explicitly and yet zero messages got through. I'm no novice at GPS communication--and the Spot could not get messages out in many situations when a normal GPS navigation device would have had no problem getting satellite signals. I could have just used my cell phone to keep in touch with my wife and it would have been equally effective to the Spot. The Spot actually created a very bad situation in which I thought my wife was getting frequent "All Okay" messages, when in fact she was hearing nothing. The only feedback you get that your transmission is working is the blinking green lights, but you never know for sure that your transmission goes through. So there I was with false peace of mind thinking my messages were going through, when my wife was worried sick. I would have been better off without the Spot entirely--then I could have at least told her to not expect any communication from me for 4 days. I firmly believe that the Spot is more of a liability than an asset. First Time I Used a Spot I Had to Use it - And Was Rescued!  by: on: 16-Jun 2010 I was on a motorcycle trip in a remote area of Oregon and the owner of the BearCat Lodge lent me a Spot "just in case" when I headed out on a daytrip. I ended up hitting a deer and totalling my motorcycle. Fortunately I was not seriously injured, but it was a remote location. I hit the help button and the service called the lodge and gave them my location. I was rescued within the hour. This isn't just for mountain climbers, its also for anyone who travels to remote locations where cell phone signals don't reach. I am buying one for myself and one for my Dad for father's day. When my kid starts school next year, one is going in his backpack. Should name this SPOTTY from the GPS information that comes in.  by: on: 13-Jun 2010 I bought this item for my daughter to use on her trip to Spain. She was hiking across the countryside with no cell phone coverage and little towns with no internet access. I wanted her to have a fall back plan in case of emergencies. So I had read about the SPOT and thought it was the coolest thing next to slice bread from the brochures. But after reading some of the other reviews I was a little Leary. I decided to try it out and like they said it's update information is SPOTTY at best. I tested it before I gave it to her one week before her trip. I put it out in my backyard with a clear view of the sky. I let it run for 2 days and it was supposed to send a tracking update out every 10 minutes, but instead it was more like 20 or 30 minutes sometimes missing up to and hours tracking info, and this was from a stationary position. So I tried it out on the dash of my car, which got even worse tracking information. I paid for the extra tracking site and while it was cool to see it on the maps and share it, this was a waste of money. Since most of the time it didn't track well and it only gives you 7 days of tracking and then deletes the others, so if you have a 3 week adventure as my daughter did you only have the last 7 days showing. She also had a hard time determining which was going through and which wasn't on the "Ok" signal or the tracking signal. It is kind of confusing. While it did work kind of spotty so I am glad to have seen that, I don't know if I would have done this again for all the money I spent on the SPOT and the website that you HAVE TO SIGN UP FOR to use the product. If you don't pay the yearly fees it becomes a expensive paperweight!!!! Luckily she did not have to use the HELP tracking, and I am glad because if it worked like the others I don't know if it would have sent out the proper information or not. Good luck if you buy one of these if they don't fix these issues soon. GREAT Product - 955nm flight by: on: 09-Jun 2010 I bought a SPOT because the 121.5 mhz ELT in the aircraft I fly will now take hours to activate for SAR help, and the 406 MHZ ELTs are very expensive.! I tested it before my flight from KMYV, near Sacramento, CA to KLRU, Las Cruces , NM. It powered up and had acquired satellites within 4 minutes. My test checkins, in 2 places, was within 30 ft of the position shown on Google Earth.! I used it for tracking my 10 hr flight over the CA, AZ and NM desert. Friends said that the tracking page showed our exact location within minutes of our cell call to them at our fuel stops. SPOT sent 60 position reports on the 955nm, 1100 statute miles, trip , every 10 minutes, as advertised. When I got home I downloaded the tracking data and opened it in Google Earth....at was amazingly accurate. At each of our 3 refuel stops, the location points were all within 20-30 ft of where the aircraft was on the ground - taxiing and parked at the FBO. The data also showed our altitude and ground speed averaged over the 10 minute interval. It showed our speed surges as we flew over dry lake thermals and got a 20 kt speed push... I will always fly with SPOT , along with a Garmin GPS . that way my family and friends AND SAR will know where I am, and where to find me if I have to make an emergency landing, off airport. You can see my trip on the SPOT Adventures page.... [...] View All ReviewsView All Global Position System (GPS) |
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