Spot Satellite Messenger
February 26, 2008 – 9:24 am by cfilesIf you did not already know, I am a geek; That means that I watch and read geeky things. One such geeky thing that I watch is the Tekzilla podcast. On a recent episode they covered a neat little device called Spot (nice review).
The spot is a one way GPS based messenger. What makes this thing so cool is that it has multiple modes. You can send an “Okay” signal that records your current location and sends it to the Spot servers for retrieval later. It also has a help mode that alerts a list of people, pre determined by the owner, that you are not in dire straits but would like some help. Of course it also has a “Send in the Marines” button as well.
The Spot works on a subscription basis that is fairly reasonable. You buy the unit ($170) then activate it for a year ($100). In that year you can send unlimited Alert, Help and Check-in messages. For an additional $50 you can get a tracking feature that allows folks to track you while you are in the back country.
It is a pretty neat little piece of technology. If I ever make it out to do a through hike on a longer trail I would love to have one of these. It would give my wife some piece of mind and the kids would think it was cool to see my progress on a map. Oh, and most importantly…the product’s spokesperson is none other that the Survivorman, Les Stroud.
6 Responses to “Spot Satellite Messenger”
If its good enough for Les Stroud, its good enough for me :)
Seriously, this thing looks not just awesome, but hawesome. My only complaint (being the ounce-counter that I am) is that it weights more than some of the new handheld, full GPS units coming available. On the other hand, I’m a huge advocate of the KISS philosophy and that things in general should do one thing and do it well. With this in mind, the Spot Satellite Messenger looks spot (har har) on.
By ryanc on Feb 26, 2008
Most reviews I’ve read, and I’ve read quite a few because I was initially very interested in the Spot, state that you won’t get a signal through unless you’re in a completely open area. The signal will not penetrate tree branches or even cloud cover. See Backpackgeartest.org for details. One person who was on a kayaking trip couldn’t get his signals through even out on open water. The worst of it is that you can’t tell whether or not the signal is getting through until you get home and look at your computer. I wouldn’t want to rely on this gizmo for any kind of emergency coverage!
By grannyhiker on Feb 28, 2008
@grannyhiker
After further research, I’ve found out that this gizmo use the Iridium satellite network for all of its transmissions. That has me wondering about it’s reliability even if you could get a good signal as they (Motorolla/Iridium) have had and continue to have problems with reliability on that network.
By ryanc on Feb 29, 2008
@grannyhiker
Thanks for the heads-up. I wondered how reliable this thing might be. Maybe there is something else out there that is better.
It is too bad that the signal does not work, it has some really nice features.
By cfiles on Mar 3, 2008
Grannyhiker,
Sorry but this system does NOT use the Iriduum system. If it did, it would be more reliable. It use the Failing Globalstar satellites but only in a one-way mode. I have an ACR PLB, Iridium phone and the Spot messenger. The spot does work well (sometimes) for tracking but for a true emergency you want a full PLB.
Don
By Don on Apr 14, 2008
The failing Globalstar satellites don’t have anything to do with this system. It is a completely independent portion of the satellite service.
By Joseph on Apr 20, 2008