Spot Gen3?

[Tim Taylor]

Tracking down to 2.5 minutes. Prices for the Gen3 and is there extra
cost for the better tracking? Couldn't find anything on the website.




From SPOT:

Having initiated over 2,300 rescues around the world, SPOT is
solidifying its place as a leader in satellite communication
technologies by introducing two new products that will continue to
keep outdoor enthusiasts connected while off the grid:
SPOT Global Phone and SPOT Gen3.

SPOT Global Phone, the first satellite phone to be sold at major
retailers nationwide, provides industry-leading, crystal-clear voice
quality and works where cell phones don't. SPOT Global Phone offers
two-way satellite voice communication so adventurers can stay
connected to friends, family and business contacts wherever their
adventures take them.



COMING SOON!
SPOT Gen3, smaller than previous SPOT messenger devices, offers a
variety of updated features and functions:
Unlimited Tracking - Pre-set your SPOT Gen3 to send tracks at the
speed of your adventures. Change your tracks to send every 5, 10, 30,
or 60 minutes. SPOT Gen3 will send tracks at your chosen rate for as
long as your device is turned on and moving. Tracking doesn't stop
until you do.
Extreme Tracking - Get all of the great features of Unlimited
Tracking, but with the added ability to vary your track rate down to
every 2½ minutes.

Perfect for pilots and ultra outdoor enthusiasts!
Longer Battery Life - approximately twice as long as SPOT 2 with
average use, new power options include 4 AAA Energizer® Ultimate
Lithium 8x batteries (L92), 4 AAA Energizer® NiMH rechargeable
batteries (NH12), or Line Power with a 5v USB connection.

[Eric Greenwell]

This ad
(http://www.rei.com/product/860469/spot-gen3-satellite-gps-messenger) says:

"$149.99 yearly subscription covers basic service and tracking. Add
unlimited tracking for an additional $50 per year, or unlimited tracking
at 2.5 min. intervals for an additional $150 per year."

It sounds more expensive than the inReach, and is one-way only - no
receiving messages. It might still be a good value when we know more
details, but I think I'll still prefer the inReach - wish they'd start
delivering it.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)

[kirk.stant]

Well, my ego is perfectly satisfied with only being stroked every 10 minutes. And no altitude keeps 'em guessing - or thinking that I'm always nice and high...

Jeez, do you guys link your flights to Facebook in real time?

Amused,

Kirk
66

[JS]

Thought the $500 Global Phone sounded more interesting than the Gen3...
But it's monthly or annual subscription, not prepaid.
Having a SPOT 2 on the parachute harness and APRS in the glider pretty much covers tracking for me.
Jim

[bumper]

Q - How much does Spot charge for truly reliable service?

A - Sorry, not available.

InReach is the better solution, though more expensive.

I have the original InReach (smartphone version). When Delorme came out with the newer, smaller InReach SE with LCD screen (the one Eric says they are not shipping yet), I considered upgrading. However, the SE uses an internal lithium battery while my older InReach uses 2 AA batteries (lithium, alkaline, or NiMH). I prefer the ability to swap batteries on longer trips, as I use the InReach in power planes, including week long camping trips in the Idaho back country, where the ability to send and recieve text messages via the InReach is appreciated by wife and family.

Note: My original InReach was defective. It would shut down and/or lock-up for no apparent reason. The replacement works flawlessly, even after dropping it and sending it flying even higher and into the concrete after my attempt to catch it only made matters worse (I had my hands full).

bumper

[Frank Whiteley]

Was watching F2's InReach today on the 18M task, highlighted in red rather than yellow for SPOT. Having the altitude in the data was interesting. Plus lots more fixes.

Frank Whiteley

[Eric Greenwell]

Paul Remde told me the inReach SE units were to ship to him Monday, so
expects to begin deliveries to his customers next week. I'm looking
forward to testing it.

[busha...@gmail.com]

I would like to encourage everyone to evaluate the tracking difference between SPOT and InReach. There is not better comparison than to watch the SSA Sailplane Contest Tracker at SSA.org. The 18 meter nationals are occurring this week and the action is live as well as archived at SSA.org. Go to "race results" and you will find the tracker archive in a column beside each day. Only on the race page will you also find the task defined (not to be confused with the general tracking map).

The current day is "live" and the past results are "archived" for ever and ever. There is also visible satellite imagery archived every thirty minutes. Swipe the timeline at the bottom to march the pilots around the course. Sean's InReach is much more reliable, consistent and shows altitude in the info block.

Lane
XF

[glen]

As I was watching the race today I came up with a great idea Lane, could you link up the live tracking with Condor so us at home could fly along with the pack!!
Glennnnnn

[Sean F (F2)]

Link to my Delorme tracking page: https://share.delorme.com/SeanFidler

This is my personal tracking page with Delorme InReach aviation data plan.

Delorme provides:

1 minute update cycles vs. 10 for spot :-(
Airspeed - spot nada
Altitude - spot nada
Heading - spot nada

Spot is really designed for people on hikes moving slowly along in remote area's.

Delorme is better suited for aviation. They have numerous plans based on the number of hours you plan to fly. You can also change to 10 min tracking if you want to save $$$ but still get altitude, etc.

The experience of following a flight with 1 minute updates, heading, altitude and airspeed is far more enjoyable, meaningful and FUN that watching spot. My experience is that very few people even bother watching spot tracking flights because it is so boring. If we all had InReach it would be much more fun to follow along.

Just sayin...

Sean

[Tony]

In flight tracking is just gravy for me. The only reason I got a satellite tracking device if any type is so the Leah can find me when I land out.

[Sean F (F2)]

If you crash the spot may break and the last "Spot" tracking point may be 20-30 minutes old. Unreliable. Delorme is far ahead.

[grider...@yahoo.com]

On Thursday, May 16, 2013 9:07:05 AM UTC-7, Sean F (F2) wrote:
> If you crash the spot may break and the last "Spot" tracking point may be 20-30 minutes old. Unreliable. Delorme is far ahead.

20 minutes old is fine with me. If I crash hard enough to break my SPOT, I don't think there will be any great hurry to find my remains. I don't know if it's just position, but I rarely miss in in-flight update.

[son_of_flubber]

On Thursday, May 9, 2013 7:54:05 PM UTC-4, glen wrote:

> As I was watching the race today I came up with a great idea Lane, could you link up the live tracking with Condor so us at home could fly along with the pack!!

Condor could model the same terrain, but the Condor weather would not match the actual conditions. But you could set your Condor conditions extremely favorable so that you keep up with the pack. It would be nice to have a "super glider" in Condor that has a flat polar.

[glen]

On Thursday, May 16, 2013 12:07:05 PM UTC-4, Sean F (F2) wrote:
> If you crash the spot may break and the last "Spot" tracking point may be 20-30 minutes old. Unreliable. Delorme is far ahead.

I have been using "Skyline" from my phone and it works great in Michigan!! So far?

[myt_zoos]

i'd wait till you read some in-depth reviews.

i just bought one these before leaving on current trip. i must be the only that's bought one because i fail to find a single review. my first experience with spot. perhaps, i bought a dud/lemon. so far, it sucks big time. what a piece of junk. how could they permit release. i called tech support twice in the first 12 hours. they were courteous. the thing locks/freezes all the time. i have to take out batteries and then it refuses to turn on again and then i remove batteries and wait. when i finally get it to turn on, it freezes again. did they test this thing. again what piece of crap. i'm on my trip and it's become a paper weight. let's pray, i won't have to summon it. i shall return it and try anther one. again, perhaps i received dud. i eagerly await hearing from someone else who has used this. i want to know that i purchased a dud. thanks for listening.

cheers.
-wil

[Jim]

My Spot works well, I have no complaints. I'm on my second one, the first one was dropped into Lake Powell with the battery door open on a week long kayak trip.

If we really want to be safe, maybe we could have a turbine helicopter with a paramedic follow us around in case we crash and need help.

Jim D

[msd...@bellsouth.net]

The new Spot Gen 3 may be perfect for pilots but if you plan on using it outside near water or in wet environments not so good.

Why?

Because of the flimsy rubber cover over the external USB connector port on the back of the unit. If it comes off during use or even has a slight gap water can leak inside. That's a big risk. Imagine being out in the rain trying to hit the SOS button only to find out the unit is water logged and inoperable.

The Spot User Guide clearly states the unit is NOT waterproof when using line power through the USB port.

You decide....

[triath...@gmail.com]

On Friday, August 16, 2013 6:33:33 AM UTC-7, msd...@bellsouth.net wrote:
> The new Spot Gen 3 may be perfect for pilots but if you plan on using it outside near water or in wet environments not so good.
>
>

> 5 cent freezer bag for extra waterproofing.....problem solved!

[Glidergeek]

Bumper how much does the Inreach cost per year for all the services? (alt, speed, location)

[bumper]

On Sunday, August 18, 2013 10:38:42 AM UTC-7, Glidergeek wrote:
> Bumper how much does the Inreach cost per year for all the services? (alt, speed, location)

It depends on which "plan" you opt for. Paul Remde has then listed on Cumulus Soaring.

The non-aviation plans typically include unlimited tracking, though only down to 10 minute intervals, and a set number of text messages a month - - there's even a season plan that it quite inexpensive.

The aviation plans offer a block of data to use each month and then charge for any extra used - though at IMO reasonable rates. They also allow tracking down to one a minute and allow you to change the tracking interval on-the-fly to conserve data usage if your activity doesn't require 1 minute intervals.

All the plans and tracking give the added info on tracking points, two way com, and better reliability than Spot.

Plan I'm using is $26 a month or there'bouts.

[Andy Blackburn]

Glidergeek <r.b...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Bumper how much does the Inreach cost per year for all the services? (alt, speed, location)

The cost is a function of the number of messages (including tracking
points) you want to send per month. All plans include Lon/Lat, altitude and
ground speed. The minimum plan is $12.95/mo. Tracking can be up to once per
minute, but you won't track for long without getting into overage charges.
For $35/mo you can cover a lot of flying at a high tracking rate. You can
also swap between plans for a small fee. Cumulus Soaring has a good
summary of the aviation plan options which are not well documented on the
Delorme site.

I don't think the Spot Gen 3 offers altitude reporting - which I can say
from personal experience makes trying to figure out whether a glider is
still flying or on the ground almost impossible. That's a pretty big deal
for people in the retreive office who are trying to understand whether to
get retrieves organized or not at the end of the day. More frequent and
more reliable tracking updates are helpful too.
--
9B

[Jim]

So, has anyone actually purchased and used a Spot GEN3 in a glider? I have read in the on-line manual that the thing turns itself off after 5 minutes if it is not jostled or senses vibration. I had a nice smooth wave flight this week that was so calm it wouldn't wake a sleeping baby...probably not a GEN3 either! Any PIREPS on the GEN3 in actual use?

[2KA]

I have one, but I haven't had a chance to fly it in the wave yet.

I did try some tests. I carried it very gently over a set of points separated by about 10 feet, letting it sit for 10 minutes in between each point. All the points were logged. Conversely, I let it sit at one point for an hour, shaking it every 10 minutes or so. Only one point was logged.

I think there may be some logic involved working in conjunction with the vibration sensor that checks to see if it has been moved.

By the way, it doesn't ever turn off. It just suppresses tracking messages when it thinks it isn't moving.

[Eric Greenwell]

inReach has a similar feature, allowing you to specify a circle size
that you have to move beyond before it resumes messages at the tracking
rate. As long as it's inside the circle, it will send messages at
"stopped" rate you can select. I like that - I can turn it on when I
start to assemble, without using up data allotments.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)

- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm
http://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl

[payn...@gmail.com]

That's what the non-emergency HELP button is for ;-)

TA