SPOT Satellite Messenger and Request for Cold Beer

[Mungo]

My friend Yoyar is currently on his way to a 14 day solo camping and canoeing trip in Algonquin Provincial Park, in Ontario. We were talking about what he might do in case he got in trouble (sprained ankle, broken wrist, torso three-quarters devoured by a pack of wolves and then having the remaining one-quarter predated upon by a family of black bears, etc...). We thought first of all that he could send an SMS (phone text message) daily to say all is well, or to send a 'help' message. But there isn't phone service in the vast majority of the Algonquin region, so I suggested that he look into the SPOT Satellite Messenger.



So he went and bought one - about $200 from BestBuy and a basic $10 monthly service plan.

There are 4 buttons on this satellite device (which is about the size of a BlackBerry device):

1. An OK Button.
   When you press the OK button, SPOT acquires your location from the GPS network and routes it through the SPOT satellite network. Your contacts receive either an SMS text message on their mobile phone with your message and coordinates, or an email with your message and a link to Google Maps™ showing your location.
2. A HELP Button.
   Once activated, SPOT acquires your location from the GPS network and routes it along with the HELP message through the SPOT satellite network every five minutes for one hour or until cancelled. Your contacts will receive an SMS text message including coordinates, or an email with a link to Google Maps™ showing your location.
   I guess this is one step up from 'I'm okay' but not severe enough to alert the emergency and Search and Rescue groups as described next. They say it is for a non-life-threatening incident. I can't imagine what help would be required. Cold beer? More beef jerky? More mosquito repellent? Maybe more like 'Ran out of gas' or 'Bicycle tire punctured' or 'Snowmobile stuck'.
3. A Track Progress Button
   Yoyar didn't spend the extra for this option, but it would allow the user to send out 'cookie-crumb' messages every 10 minutes, so that friends and family could track the person's progress live via Google Maps. This would be great so you could do a trip log later. But even still, you can simply hit the 'OK' button every so often (unlimited allowance) and this would do the same thing. It just means you'd need to manually put together all the GPS locations later. Big deal.
4. A 911 Button.
   Once activated, SPOT will acquire its exact coordinates from the GPS network, and send that location along with a distress message to a GEOS International Emergency Response Center every five minutes until cancelled. The Emergency Response Center notifies the appropriate emergency responders based on your location and personal information – which may include local police, highway patrol, the Coast Guard, the Canadian consulate, or other emergency response or search and rescue teams – as well as notifying your emergency contact person(s) about the receipt of a distress signal. Note: not to be pressed for fun, or if you are bored and lonely in the middle of the wilderness and just want to hear the sound of someone else's voice.

Coverage is a lot better than my cell phone service provider's coverage.

"SPOT works around the world, including virtually all of the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia, portions of South America, Northern Africa, and North-Eastern Asia and hundreds or thousands of miles offshore of these areas."​

Les Stroud does a promo for the device - see below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcJ9qAg3oAQ&feature=player_embedded

Cool, huh?

 

[rik_uk3]

Fantastic tool and affordable too. Even on this tiny island of ours this could prove very handy for hikers, campers, climbers, bushcrafters.

Also looks ideal for someone to carry who has a medical condition such a diabetes too.

I think of a mobile/cell phone as a survival tool and this would complement it perfectly, many thanks for the information, its on my xmas list now

 

[British Red]

I do think this is an excellent tool - an affordable satphone in effect. A signal aywhere you can see the sky (within the limits of the sats orbit). The combination of GPS and telephony has been used commercially in my area for a goodly while (aka Telematics) but this is a really clever and affordable piece of equipment with a non commercial application.

Really very clever - and a potential lifesaver too

Red

 

[johnnytheboy]

I think they are a great idea, but the spot one is abit bulky, and its more expensive in the UK for subscription, i seen them in the north face shop in chicago and fancied one.

 

[Wallenstein]

The "help" option is v. good IMO - it nicely fills the gap where you need a helping hand, but it's not yet an emergency.

And yes, ideal for a flat tyre or empty fuel tank which if left could become a real problem, but if sorted early is just a minor inconvenience.

 

[moab]

An interesting view from the Survival kit guru Doug Ritter on the SPOT

http://www.equipped.org/blog/?p=73

 

[rik_uk3]

About 250 euros for the UK, but I've emailed a mate in the States to see what they can be had for over there.

 

[Bravo4]

Not sure if this is the model you are looking at, I think so,,, anyway the guys down the street from me sell them for $150US.
http://shop.sdcmountainworks.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=124&idproduct=8460

 

[Bravo4]

There is a small boat/kayak "expedition style" race down the west coast of Florida, most of the contestants used SPOT this year. It was interesting to watch thier progress in real time. If you care to see a map with a SPOT overlay of multiple users over the course of a week, check this out:
http://www.watertribe.com/ChallengeViewer/ChallengeMapperContent.aspx

I guess you need to hit the left hand drop-down box, click EC2009, regenerate view, in order to see the 09' race map.
Not affiliated, etc

 

[Lithril]

Good bit of kit http://www.bushcraftuk.com/index.php/Tools/SPOT-Satellite-Messenger.html and for emergencies its excellent.

 

[Mikey P]

Ok - I have one of these (used for climbing and expeds, etc) and, yes, they are v useful, especially when providing a way of 'reporting to loved ones where you are, progress, etc, using the 'OK' feature.

I would like to point out, however, that the annual fee for use in the UK is 99 Euros - not that cheap! Also, they do not have the greatest GPS chipset. They will send an emergency signal, regardless of whether they can see a GPS satellite or not (they have a radio uplink to a different Low-earth Orbiter constellation). They only send GPS coords if they can see GPS satellites and, frankly, they can take a while to find their position (3-5 minutes), especially if the view of the sky is not that great.

Compared to my Garmin Vista, acquisition time is poor.

BUT, these are still potentially very useful. I'm lucky in that I have never had to use the Emergency 999 function but I'm glad it's there!

Before the carping about 'you shouldn't be in the wilderness if you can't look after yourself' begins, I CAN look after myself but if I fell and broke my pelvis in a remote spot (Highlands, Alps, Outer Isles, etc), this might save my life and give me a much better chance of survival. I would certainly not use it unless I thought I - or someone else - might die. It is a last resort and anyone who is not confident of their abilities in a remote location shouldn't be there on their own.

So, the only thing I would say is that you need to be aware of any limitations of this device and you need to be aware that it will cost you over £90 a year to run. But....it may save your life. Up to you.

 

[Brown Bear]

It sounds like a good idea, but what is the protocol if it breaks and your base doesn't hear from you for a while. Do they call the emergency services and say you haven't checked in? Would emergency services initiate a search based on a missed check-in?

Used in conjunction with an intended route plan left at base, it could be an even more useful tool.

 

[Mikey P]

It sounds like a good idea, but what is the protocol if it breaks and your base doesn't hear from you for a while. Do they call the emergency services and say you haven't checked in? Would emergency services initiate a search based on a missed check-in?

This is not really a hardware issue - in the military, we would call this 'Standard Operating Procedures'. Ie, "If you have nor heard from X by time Y, initiate Plan Z"

If you have told your base that they are to call the emergency services if you have not checked in by time Y, the emergency services will treat it like any other emergency call.

However, I would imagine that they would hold on sending out a search team until the person is actually late arriving at their final destination - ie, there may be an equipment fault or you may have lost the SPOT device. It is not really an emergency until you are actually 'missing' - just because you haven't checked in does not mean you are missing. I honestly don't think they'd take you seriously until someone is physically overdue at their planned destination.

I believe that the whole point of the device is to be an 'active' system (you use it to tell the emergency services that you are in life threatening danger) rather than a 'passive' system (someone at base assumes you must be in life threatening danger if you have not checked in by a certain time - ie, you haven't actually told them you are in danger).

Procedures and use of the device and reporting system are entirely up to you but if you push the '911' ('999') button, the emergency services will be on their way!