SPOT with or without Delorme

[dragon rider]

Have any of you had any direct experience with the SPOT system?  If so, how did it work and would you buy it again?

Thanks.

[Canyon]

I have it and love it. I do not use it with the Delorme. My primary use is to save the periodic trips back into town to let my wife know I am okay. It also lets me uppdate camp location with her in the event of emergency at home.

The gas I have saved has more than paid the annual fee!!

[Steve Chappell]

I just picked up a Delorme PN60 with SPOT just before Christmas and have been getting it set up. It is different from my Garmin Rinos so it is taking a little time. I have called Customer Service with questions both at Delorme and SPOT and both have been very helpful. I have yet to test sending a message but I have everything ready to do that…just need to do it. I really think the addition of the SPOT is going to be a nice way to send updates to family and friends when I am out hunting or whatever…where either there is no cell coverage or you do not wish to take a cell due to battery life issues.  Just as nice and probably even more important that communicating with family and friends is the ability to summons help and a way for help to find you regardless of where you are.  I’ll post the result of my test message sending.

[boznarras]

I helped a buddy run a used sailboat that he bought in Seattle up to SE Alaska where we live. We had a SPOT and punched it in each day to let the wives know where we were.
It was about the only way besides a sat phone to post our position, as there was no cell phone coverage most of the time, and it was way too far to use VHF radio that we had.  
The women would get the position each night and then go to google earth and find the aerial view of that location. (Of course the google image was taken some time earlier, so we weren't in the picture, but at least it helped them to see what route we were taking).
This was especially helpful when we had mechanical trouble and had to rely on sailing to get to the next town. They could tell we were still punching the button each day, just not moving very fast.
We also had a dual frequency EPIRB with GPS that we could activate if we were needing a rescue, which is another gadget to consider if you are getting off the beaten path...mine is handheld, about the size of the SPOT. It gives a signal to a satellite to relay to the rescue network with a GPS position, plus it broadcasts on another frequency a homing beacon (that the Coast Guard or whoever) can follow right to you. In theory, anyway; I have not tried it out yet!!
This stuff beats hollering quite a bit.

[Ulysseys]

Used just the spot on a solo DIY backcountry elk hunt last season.  The transmission worked, I found out when I got home, but there are def. some deficiencies.  Its hard to tell when a message is successfully sent and you can only choose one person to send a message to, plus its pretty expensive for a "subscription".  All in all it seemed to be more peace of mind for the person back home than it was for me, but it worked so I can't complain too much.  I suppose I'll take it back out.

[capt eddie]

I have one and use it every chance I get.  It is secured to the top of my daypack.  I do not use the track mode much any more.  I program the spot for each useage.  When I hunt around the house it is programed with two differant messages.  When I go out of town I reprogram it with the local contacts and differant messages.  Mine allows me to sent the message to several people, with two differanr messages.  The OK message is for my contacts.  The custom message is a message that my stepkids use for sending the dad a message they programed in.  We both have the 911 message the same.  I love it.  I got one year free when I bought from BPS.

[Bivyhunter]

I've used both the spot and the last fall got to demo one of their pre-preduction delorme/spots.  The first time I used the spot in colorado elk hunting (and only time I tried to send a message), I sat there for 10-15 minutes trying to send out a signal.  Stared at the thing continusally watching the blinking light to see if the message sent, looked away for a second and the light had changed.  Wasn't sure if the message had been sent successfully, so I tried it again.  No luck and it was never received.  Had a clear view of the sky on the side of a not-so-steep canyon.  Pretty practical location to transmit, wasn't too impressed.  The next year rented a sat phone, initial test call worked just fine, but when I actually went to use it, I couldn't get out for over a half hour.  That was over $200 invested in renting and shipping and a pre-paid 100 minutes of talk time.  I had much better luck with the delorme/spot.  Punched in a message to my packer after I'd tagged out and he picked it up off of his email and picked me and my deer 5 days early.  Sure beat hiking off of the mountain!  I'm waiting to purchase until the price comes down and the increase the character count for the message (I think you could only type 46 characters).  I'm sure (like all technology) it'll get better and cheaper, but if you're ready to pull the trigger, it is a good unit.

[centaur]

I'm a volunteer with our local Search and Rescue, and last year we had a backpacker activate his SPOT accidentally. Long story short, our rescue team was activated and the GPS coordinates were dead accurate. They found him within a few feet of where the coordinates indicated. Although this was not a real emergency, the SPOT did its' job to a tee.
Evidently, the SPOT 2 has a more powerful GPS antenna and supposedly works better in deep timber, canyons, etc.

[Steve Chappell]

I just tested the messaging portion of my Delorme PN60 and SPOT combo and it went out and was in my email in about 5 minutes. I did it from my deck at home so I could track how long it took. The email gives you a link to see the location and it was SPOT on. You can also put in a cell numbers so a text will go out, which my wife got on my test run. My unit allows me to set up groups (10 of them max) and you can put varying people in each group so you can send the kind of message you want to multiple.  I am impressed and cannot wait to use it in my next hunting adventure.