» Spot Satellite Messenger with GPS Tracking

Spot Satellite Messenger with GPS Tracking Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: A nice toy, but not a serious rescue device
Comment: I wanted to like SPOT. Really, I did. I tried my best to overlook the low-power signal & lousy antenna performance, but after seeing how few of the "tracking" messages actually got through, I never felt like I could trust this thing to save my bacon when it really counted. I believe this is a "beta" product that should never have made it to market. It's an interesting prototype, but no where near ready to be relied upon if you're out in the wild. I suppose if you find yourself with a broken leg or something out in the open, with a clear view of the sky and you have the time to sit and wait for up to an hour for it to send a signal, and then you don't mind never knowing if it actually sent a message or if help is on the way, ... you get my drift.

I'll be taking mine back to REI for a refund of the unit's price. That's easy. Getting my money back from SPOT for the service fee is probably a lost cause, though, at least from what I read on line.

I think this is a great concept, but if I was designing it I'd opt for a full-strength signal at the expense of battery life. I'd also incorporate a better user interface that makes it clear if a "help" or "ok" signal actually gets through to someone.

Nice try SPOT...but keep trying.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Does what it says
Comment: Tracking feature is not always accurate but in its defense, it only tries once every 10 minutes as opposed to 3 times when you send an OK message. Even if it misses one out of every 3 or 4, it stills gives you a good view of your track. Theres a lot of discussion about the reliability of the 911 feature as your only means of emergency notification. If you think of this gadget as primarily a personal tracker and messenger that "oh cool, also has an emergency feature" instead of the other way around then you will have fun with this. If you need a PLB then get a dedicated PLB.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great idea, but very unreliable
Comment: I recently purchase a SPOT for my son, who is a mountaineer. The idea of being able to track him on his excursions - and give him the ability to summon a rescue team sold me in a minute. But I wish I had read all the reviews on Amazon.

After a long day of testing, I found the unit to be totally unreliable. Only about 5% of all OK and Help messages were successfully sent. It does not work in a car at all, even when pointing it through a sun roof. It won't work with tree cover. Even with a clear path to the sky, it is very unreliable. This could be because of cloud cover (just a theory), but cloud cover is exactly what a mountaineer is going to experience.

I suggest reading all the Amazon reviews before buying this product (I wish I had).

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Customer Rating:
Summary: It works, but it could be improved in many ways
Comment: Have you ever heard of the expression "talking horse" used to refer to a new type of technology product?

(The idea is that if you found a real talking horse, you would think it was fantastic, and wouldn't care even if the horse wasn't the most amazing conversationalist. The same thing goes for new tech products; when a product comes out that does something totally new, it's easy to overlook its shortcomings...)

Well, you could say that the SPOT is a talking horse. It does something totally new, but it has shortcomings - however, the shortcomings don't really impact the basic functions of the product, and they seem to be due to poor design rather than inherent technology limitations.

So far all I've done is set up the unit and sent a couple of test OK messages, and here are my impressions:

PROS:

- Nothing else like it (as far as I know), can save your life.
- Portable, waterproof, simple operation is easy to remember once you learn it (and basic instructions for sending emergency messages are printed on the unit).
- Very long battery life (1 year of "on" operation, according to the manual).
- You can set up a map on the SPOT website showing where you have checked in, which others can view - and this does not cost extra (but the web site says it is still in beta).

CONS:

- LED indicators provide limited feedback and are not well explained; unless you read and remember the manual AND watch the unit nonstop, you won't figure out a) whether the unit is locked to a satellite and b) whether the unit actually sent its message.
- The manual tells you to install batteries, THEN to sign up using the ESN number printed inside the battery compartment (so you have to re-open the battery compartment and remove the batteries, doh!).
- GPS accuracy drifts a bit - I sent two "OK" messages from exactly the same location, but the coordinates came through about 75 feet apart (but to be honest, this is OK for most purposes).

IN CONCLUSION:

As long as you read the manual and remember its main points, the drawbacks of the unit don't really prevent it from doing its job or make it difficult to use. That said, SPOT could easily redesign the unit to be much easier to use - and for a product like this, better usability could save lives.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Coast Guard SAR Controller's perspective
Comment: As a Coast Guard Search and Rescue Controller who is very familiar with SPOT, (also an AT and PCT alum) I wanted to add my review from the perspective of someone who responds to distress beacons. I first learned about SPOT with an open mind, but have since found many reasons to dissuade mariners and others from using the device. I can't stress strongly enough the need to go with a 406 MHz beacon, such as an EPIRB / ELT / or PLB as the distress-alerting device of choice. As a reference, I'll point to SPOT's own web site.

Unfortunately, it is full of half-truths and other misleading information.

Below, I've included a transcript of their online video about its "Alert 911" function.

A point-by-point discussion/rebuttal:

Claim: "Every year, emergency authorities conduct 50,000 rescue missions. Many of these people are not found in time. Now there's a way to make sure that they are: the SPOT messenger is the first and only product that combines GPS technology with Satellite-based communication..."

Response: FALSE! Such technology has been available for many years: SARSAT-based 406 MHz EPIRBs / ELTs / PLBs. When synced with a GPS, they embed and transmit their coordinates to a satellite, giving us (and for inland positions, the Air Force) an immediate "E" (electronic) solution where we can send boats / aircraft / search teams.

Claim: "Whether you are snowmobiling, hiking or sailing, it is your personal connection to loved ones and emergency authorities, with the simple push of a button, from virtually anywhere, worldwide..."

Response: Not always true. You CANNOT depend on it! We here at the Rescue Coordination Center in Seattle had a case in September where a boater's loved ones hadn't received their scheduled "I'm OK" update from the vessel as expected. Suddenly we had an overdue boater on our hands. Turns out the boater had hit the button on the device, but the message was not transmitted. We called SPOT and learned that they were having difficulty receiving transmissions from multiple vessels. Of course neither the sender nor their recipients was notified of this. We had units from Seattle to California involved in this case. Something similar could happen inland.

Claim: "Over 50% of the US does not have cell phone coverage. With SPOT you're covered..."

Response: Um, not always (see above). Also, with any 406 MHz beacon, you're covered, as well. Without the yearly fee and extra fees for bells and whistles.

Claim: "Today, SPOT is saving lives all over the world." (Provides several anecdotes.)

Response: Certainly it has played an important role in certain cases. But show me one where SPOT worked and a 406 MHz EPIRB / ELT / PLB would not have.

Claim: (Case study - the Bertsches) So the wife receives an email stating plainly "This is an emergency. Please send help." Followed by a lat/long.

Response: So this is not to be confused with the message sent when you hit the "HELP" button, which reads: "This is an HELP message. Please find my location in this message below and send for help ASAP." Confusing?

Claim: The wife then says she received a SPOT message saying "I am OK." and was very relieved.

Response: What if she had been away from her computer this whole time? Had she seriously not yet been contacted by authorities? In the case of a 406 MHz alert, the Rescue Coordination Center that receives the alert puts a live person on the phone with the family member / emergency contact as part of prosecuting the case.

Claim: "If your loved one is going into the outdoors, you need SPOT..."

Response: No you don't. It's a false sense of security.

While SPOT's a neat tekkie tool for tracking someone's location in the wilderness or at sea, it should NOT replace a 406 EPIRB / ELT / PLB for emergencies.

It also lacks the 121.5 MHz homing signal that all 406s have, with homing equipment already installed on all Coast Guard aircraft. CG boats, civilian air and ground SAR and civil air patrol assets also have this equipment. The CG also has 406 MHz direction-finding equipment installed on many of its aircraft, as well, which can lock in on a signal from over 100 miles away. SPOT has no such advantage, as we have no way to detect its signal with our aircraft.

SPOT's business model is clearly based on the continued profits generated by its subscription services, and is aligned with the GEOS company, which is in this business for profit (nothing wrong with that).

Contrast that with SARSAT (406 MHz) beacons, which exist to execute the federal mission of inland and maritime SAR. While beacon manufacturers like ACR and McMurdo look to make a profit, they have to adhere to strict federal (and international) standards to market their devices as SARSAT EPIRBS / ELTs / PLBs. The government (NASA / NOAA) funds and maintains the satellites (which are being significantly upgraded again in the next decade), and the Air Force and Coast Guard executes all SAR in the US and our territorial waters (and often beyond).

Another advantage of SARSAT (406 MHz) beacons - NOAA tracks all false alarms, follows up on their causes, and works directly with their manufacturers to minimize their reoccurance.

And one additional reason the video on SPOT's site leaves me scratching my head: it uses footage of Coast Guard assets that were retired before SPOT was even on the market (44' motor lifeboat / CG HH-65A helicopter [illustrating a case off of AUSTRALIA, and the CG now uses C models with a different paint job]).

My one-star review is specific to its use as a distress beacon. As a fun way to track a friend or loved one via google maps, it seems to function fine (so long as folks know not to panic if you miss a check-in, since their technology is unreliable). Just make sure you carry a 406 in case you get in real trouble.

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