SPOT Satellite Messenger

[svizzerams]

Anyone considering this device?

Note to Woodsman: works on 2 AA alkaline batteries :-) Sounds also something useful for you while working in the woods and for me when I'm driving through all the cell phone dead zones in my region for work



SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker
The World’s First Satellite Messenger and Tracker
ONLY $149.99 after instant $20.00 rebate

The SPOT “Satellite Personal Tracker” unit has more features and services than other Emergency Handheld GPS Personal Location Beacon units selling for over $1000.00

Never be lost, stranded or be in potentially in life threatening situations in remote areas beyond the range of cellular phones.

Now, with Spot Satellite Messenger you can send a message for help or tell family members, friends or the emergency responders where to find you using GPS accuracy regardless of cellular coverage. Help is just a push button away!

SPOT’s message and tracking functions enable users to send messages to friends, family or emergency responders, based upon varying levels of need and to visually track the location of the SPOT Satellite Messenger:

* “Alert 911” button dispatches emergency responders to an exact location
* Ask for “Help” button sends a request for help to friends and family
* “Check In” button lets your contacts know where you are and that you are okay

“Track Progress” sends and saves your location and allows contacts to track your progress using Google Maps. See example:

* GPS location coordinates accurate to within 20 feet
* 99.4% Satellite Reliability Using a 48 Satellite Constellation
* Weight 7.37 ounces
* Dimensions 4.38 x 2.75 x 1.5 inches
* Waterproof
* Floats
* Shockproof
* Operating temperature range -40 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit
* Uses easy to replace AA lithium batteries
* Standby battery life approximately 12 months

This is an essential line of communication in emergency situations. There are over 64 million consumers in the United States that are outdoor enthusiasts. The National Association for Search and Rescue has participated in an estimated 50,000 or more search and rescue missions each year. These rescues usually begin and the rescuers have no inclination where the victim may be located. Not only can SPOT send messages to family, friends, or the authorities it also provides GPS accuracy on your location. The SPOT satellite messenger gives a location within 20 feet of accuracy. The SPOT is great for commercial lone worker safety applications or for people who live in areas where natural disasters may occur. Drivers who drive outside their cell phone coverage area would also benefit from this valuable tool.

SPOT Satellite Messenger has a rugged waterproof construction, floats, and is functional in extreme temperatures and climates. It uses AA lithium batteries that have a standby of approximately 12 months. It is light and easy to transport with coverage in practically all of the continental United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and Australia, sections of South America, Northern Africa, and Northeastern Asia. This also has coverage in hundreds or thousands of miles offshore to these areas.

There is a proven 99.4% reliability with the SPOT system. They process over 6 million messages a month or approximately 2.3 messages per second. The SPOT network uses a GPS satellite system to verify a user’s location.

Optional unlimited tracking service will transmit your location to friends and family using Google maps every 10 minutes for a 24 hour period. Tracking can be reactivated by the user of the spot unit by a press of a button. Learn more about SPOT's Service

Spot Satellite Messenger $149.99 after instant $20.00 rebate

More Information:

* Spot Service
* Spot Coverage
* Spot and Globalstar
* Spot Battery Life
* Spot User Guide
* Emergency FAQs

Coverage Area : Although sadly it doesn't seem to cover the WMDP robustly, if at all.



SPOT Satellite Messenger and Globalstar

The newest satellite device coming soon to the satellite communications market will be the SPOT satellite messenger. SPOT uses the Globalstar satellite network to provide GPS tracking. This unit is perfect for any outdoor enthusiast.

This is an essential line of communication in emergency situations. There are over 64 million consumers in the United States that are outdoor enthusiasts. The National Association for Search and Rescue has participated in an estimated 50,000 or more search and rescue missions each year. These rescues usually begin and the rescuers have no inclination where the victim may be located. Not only can SPOT send messages to family, friends, or the authorities it also provides GPS accuracy on your location. The SPOT satellite messenger gives a location within 20 feet of accuracy. The SPOT is great for commercial lone worker safety applications or for people who live in areas where natural disasters may occur. Drivers who drive outside their cell phone coverage area would also benefit from this valuable tool.

SPOT has a rugged waterproof construction, floats, and is functional in extreme temperatures and climates. It uses AA lithium batteries that have a standby of approximately 12 months. It is light and easy to transport with coverage in practically all of the continental United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and Australia, sections of South America, Northern Africa, and Northeastern Asia. This also has coverage in hundreds or thousands of miles offshore to these areas. There is a proven 99.4% reliability with the SPOT system. They process over 6 million messages a month or approximately 2.3 messages per second. The SPOT network uses a GPS satellite system to verify a user’s location. Optional unlimited tracking service will transmit your location to friends and family using Google maps every 10 minutes for a 24 hour period. Tracking can be reactivated by the user of the spot unit by a press of a button.

This is not like all other personal locator beacons (PLB’s) that have the capacity of sending a signal worldwide. SPOT will be using the Globalstar satellite system which limits the coverage area to Globalstar’s simplex coverage area. (See below) People are worried about the use of this system due to the degradation of their satellite system. However, there is a difference in the type of data that these satellites are receiving. The Globalstar satellite phones are using the duplex system. This is a separate system than what the SPOT satellite messenger will use. SPOT will use the simplex side of their satellites. The simplex side of this satellite provides service to their simplex transmitters and now to SPOT. SPOT only has prototypes being tested at this point and there said to be small changes that will be made. This is a one-way communicator that will summon search and rescue, send “I’m okay” messages to family and/or friends, and track your path for yourself or family members.

[armsdealer]

They were giving them out free w/ subscription purchase at the SHOT Show this year; Les Stroud was there on the first day signing them (who I missed by about an hour - bah).

It's a cool gadget; mine has worked flawlessly all over the Rockies (mostly Colorado), on the East Coast, as well as in Eastern Europe (Bulgaria and Czech Republic); I was only using the 'I'm OK' function and haven't had the need to call in the cavalry, fortunately. You set up e-mail addresses online when you register it and the unit will send everyone a Google Maps link when you hit the OK button; you can also customize the message it sends (like 'don't tell the U.S. Marshals to look for me here').

I think the Help/911 functions are pretty much useless outside the US, but would highly recommend the investment if you're a hardcore solo hiker or spend a lot of time driving through the boonies.

The guy at the SPOT booth said they would have global coverage (except for Antarctica) sometime in 2009.

[flipflop]

Best thing seems to be the price, but coverage is pretty crappy if you're in places less travelled - Asia/Africa. I'll take armsdealer's advice and look at it again after 2009. Thanks for posting, I never knew it even existed

Cheers

[Woodsman]

I have seen this product over the last year advertised several different places.

Personally, I don't like the idea of "big brother" looking over my shoulder - and that would be any "big brother". I'm not paranoid about it, but I just feel privacy is more than just a human "luxury" - why compromise that any more than is necessary. I mean, shit the damn gov't already spends stupid money to eliminate individual privacy in the guise of "security".

Now days, with all this high-tech crap (and that's what it is folks), there are no limits to how one can be surveilled; the internet, RFID technology, real time satellites, credit card purchases, retail swipe cards, driver's licenses, passports, cell phones, and many, many more - and GPS & RF trackers have been a technology available for decades (which is why the network is already in place for this new commercial product).

This satellite tracker is just like Onstar - another gadget I am not a fan of.

"Hello Mr. woodsman, did you realize you left your gascap unscrewed at the last fillup at the Shell station located at 1148 Main avenue in Mt. Pleasant Michigan 15 minutes and 30 miles ago. Sir, please be advised that 120 mph is over the speed limit, you should really deaccelerate to the legal speed limit. The authorities have been called for your own good. Have a nice day"...

For more than 10 years I've earned a large majority of my livelihood in places where cell reception was spotty or non-existent - IF I even had my cell phone with me - which 99+% of the time spent in the field I don't.

The closest call I've had to an emergency is jumping from one high spot to another in the swamp a ways from the truck and landing while a stick poked me in the eye. It didn't hinder my sight but for 15 minutes or so, but it certainly brought the idea of having an emergency in a remote spot to light.

I know of two other colleagues who have had to go to the emergency room after hornet stings - one died. A colleague and I were marking some timber in a hardwood stand and while walking down a knoll, he ran into a log or stump or something that hit him right under the knee cap, but we kept working - even though he was limping and it hurt him for weeks...but, those injuries really don't happen that often.

If you're in a really wild ass place like for example, somewhere say, 50 miles NE of Leticia, Columbia and you get a nice healthy bite from a Fer-de-lance, this little orange gadget will only tell the authorities where you were bit - after of course you have expired - and that's if you're not under full canopy where satellite reception is crap at best - or if your hands aren't too slippery from all the sweat and rain to push the button on the thing.

The "security" value of this GPS tracker has -0- appeal to me. The idea of having a blog or website hooked up so people could see where I was at real time is also not something I would really be all that excited about - although at least it's of some entertainment value.

...but on the real positive side, yes - they made it operate on AA batteries.

[redharen]

This looks like an alternative to the kind of safety update ktrout wanted to be able to give to his family during his bike trip. Better to have an "I'm OK" button than a whole satellite phone, I would think.

[Mikethehack]

Probably good for giving to your kids.

[svizzerams]

This looks like an alternative to the kind of safety update ktrout wanted to be able to give to his family during his bike trip. Better to have an "I'm OK" button than a whole satellite phone, I would think.

Kinda what I was thinking. Especially with the poor cell service in the more rural areas.