Hi,

Planning a trip in Sept. up in the NWT and am wondering if anyone here has any experience using these satellite messengers.

From what i can tell by the reviews on the web, it looks like the SPOT is not all it's cracked up to be. Lots of issues.
DeLorme looks like the way to go.

Wondering if these are fairly easy to use as i am not a techno type of person.

Thanks,
Brett

Life Member NRA

I am running SPOT. Never used it in an emergency but the notification system works very well. There are many questions about having an open sky to transmit. I have tested it many times surrounded be trees and not "in the open". It has not failed.

It is extremely easy to set up and use.

Spot seems like a nice lower cost option, but if you spend any substantial amount of time in the bush, it is really worth it to buy a iridium and prepaid time. JMHO

Spot isn't perfect and it's unnerving to not know if the message has gone sucessfully or not. I turn mine on a few times per day and send an "ok" message to my wife, as you know it meshes with google maps and the recipient of the message knows the last place you sent a message. I imagine that would help search and rescue a BUNCH. The other thing is it allows me to head off into the bush and my wife knows that I'm ok and it gives me a lot more hunting freedom because she isn't sitting at home worried.

It's also a great hunting tool, when you send the ok message and it marks the spot on google maps you can see exactly where you were at the time. I love that part.

I have the original SPOT messenger(thanks again Larry!) and I love it. It takes some time to transmit a message(up to 20 minutes) and I hear the SPOT 2 is much faster.

I agree with everything JBoutfishn and calgarychef1 said.

I have sent messages from inside buildings, so clear sky is not always needed. I used mine daily in Cameroon(the service is supposed to be sketchy in that part of the world) and it worked very well.

Personally, I love the spot. I am taking my 3 year old daughter backpacking for the first time this weekend and I can't imagine not bringing the spot along.

I do agree with tendrams that satellite phones are awesome, but I feel that they keep you a little too connected for most trips. I will admit that talking to my daughter from Cameroon on Christmas was a real treat. They say that talk-time is expensive, but you can't really put a price on a call like that!

I have used the original version of Spot over most of the West and never had any issues with it. It is a great tool to show your hunting partners where you are camped if they need to come to camp later than you and are not sure exactly where you set up.

I tried to use in northern Moz. but was unable to send any messages even though it indicated I had adequate satellite coverage. The Spot web site indicated that coverage was marginal in that part of the world.

I'm confused by this topic. Years ago I checked into buying a spot specifically for Southern Africa. Looking at the coverage map then, and today, it shows NO service in Southern Africa. Are you guys saying you're getting coverage in Zim, RSA, NA, TZ, etc...?

See Here: http://findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=109

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Goldfinch:
I'm confused by this topic. Years ago I checked into buying a spot specifically for Southern Africa. Looking at the coverage map then, and today, it shows NO service in Southern Africa. Are you guys saying you're getting coverage in Zim, RSA, NA, TZ, etc...?

I have never tried it in Central/Southern Africa. According to the map service is "temporarily out" in that region.

I was in the "limited service area" of Northern Cameroon and all of my messages went through with no problems.

Love my SPOT. I hunt alone a lot. I send my wife a Check/OK message where I enter the bush and a Check/OK when I'm back at the truck which make things a lot more worry free for her. I've never had a message not go through so I have a lot of confidence that a 911 message would get through if needed.

As Calgarychef 1 says its nice to check the Google Earth maps referenced on my return.

Spot is great. We use it here in NZ and the only guestion mark is the response time in an emergency situation. By the time the message is received and our emergency services notified and set in motion can be a concern, so as others have said back it up with a Sat Ph or local ELB.
At this very moment "our" SPOT is sitting in a Cessna 182 in Joberg SA about to begin a trip thru Botswana, Namibia, Zim and SA and I can tell you almost exactly where Sue is by the messages coming into the home computer and my cell phone here in New Zealand.

Thanks for all of the info everyone, i will definitely pick one up.

My wife will have more piece of mind...........especially now with a 5 yr. old and 7 month baby at home.

I see Cabelas has the Spot 2 on sale now for $99.99.