Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board SPOT promotional deal

http://www.findmespot.com/robby/

free Spot, but you gotta buy the full service with tracking for the first year. Good through 03-27-09.

I was not going to get one but at that price I could not resist.


Products
------------------------------------------------------
1 x SPOT Complete Bundle - SPOT + Basic Service + Tracking Service (SB-UATS)
= $319.97
------------------------------------------------------
Sub-Total: $319.97
Free Shipping Options (Free Shipping - UPS Ground): $0.00
Coupon: GORDON23 : -$169.99
Tax: $8.40
Total: $158.38

Shhhh! Nobody tell MooseTracks! She just bought hers less than two weeks ago.

We do NOT want a mad moose in the house.  

Too late, but for other reasons. This compounds it.

Is the SPOT really worth having? I ran across a set of reviews the other day, some of which were surprisingly negative about it. Of course, a negative review may only mean that the user didn't know how to use the device correctly, but what do YOU actual users think?

--Hoppy

Too late...

CaT

I'll tell you in August...

I was on the fence for a long time, however, it is for me the only alternative to a rather expensive Sat phone to "stay in touch" this summer when I'm up the Sierras with my kidws.

I've read bad reviews and then reviews from people who claimed it worked perfectly for them. Could be user error. I saw a screen shot here on the forum of a hiker who did part of the Muir and each "OK" message sent made it out and was on that google map. At hte current price, I am taking my chances. Going alone, I'd probaby just get me a decent PLB, which are down to $300 for some models.

Worth having? I like mine. It helps jittery family at home feel more comfortable, because they are able to follow your progress, see where you are, and know that you CAN make a 911 call for help if you really need a rescue.

Last summer I used it on a 7-day JMT hike. Family and friends got a kick out of watching our progress. The track image from that trip is below. SPOT gives you a web page link that shows up to the last 7 days access points on an interactive map. Check MooseTracks' signature line for hers.

Here are some drawbacks:
• It works better if placed face up to the sky. The belt-clip feature is not the best. I tied mine to the top of my pack. A better place is attached to the top of a shoulder strap.

• Down in a canyon, it may not send out a signal, or the ones getting out report the wrong location. Richard P has shown some wild ones from Whitney Portal. Mine sent some inaccurate ones from top of Vernal Falls. Mine could NOT get anything out along the lower 5 miles of the Bubbs Creek trail out of Roads End in Kings Canyon.

• The "Call for help" and "911 emergency" buttons can sometimes be activated accidentally. You can find several instances on the web where the user put the unit inside the pack, then at some point, when the pack must have been leaning on something, pressed the button. It sends family, friends and rescue people into a tizzy.

• The "call for help" idea is pretty useless. What are you going to do -- have your friends or family come and haul you out? If you REALLY need a rescue, you are going to use the 911 button. I have the cheaper service where I didn't pay for the "tracking" feature. So I use the "call for help" for that purpose -- it sends a signal every 10 minutes for an hour. Tracking sends the 10-minute signals for 24 hours.

• It only has a couple of blinking lights that indicate what mode it is in. That part could be improved. You have to stare at the lights to see when a signal is being sent. (I've observed that the first signal is sent at 45 seconds after activating a button.) I think it sends a repeat signal at 5 minutes. The satellite receiver service discards duplicate signals (the second one at 5-minutes if the first got out ok.)

Based on a survey of current customers, SPOT is working on an improved unit. It will have protective covers over the sensitive buttons. Can't remember much else about it.

I wish they would improve the unit to where you could at least send out a numeric code of your choice. They obviously send out different codes based on the OK, Track, help, or 911. Seems like they could open it up a little more. A short text message would be outstanding.

Here's an on-line description/review.

Here's that picture fishmonger was referring to:

I wonder when the new version is coming out

With such a great deal on the original model, seems to me it means one of two things:

1. The company is having trouble and needs to make some sales.

2. They are just about to release the new one, and are trying to clear out the inventory.

I hope it's #2

I like it because when conditions (or my conditioning) warrant a change in plans during the day, the people who monitor my tracking know that I've changed my destination. Beats heading out 'cause I can't stick to my original plan.

they still have the cash to sponsor a NASCAR car this week, so they can't be completely belly up. Hoping for #2 myself.

To keep the wrong signals from accidentally benig triggered, I plan on wrapping some gaffer tape around the sensitive buttons with some thin plastic covering the actual buttons. I plan on mounting it right on top of my pack with some velcro contraption. Too bad it doesn't work as well as my Garmin GPS, which was able to record an exact track of the Minaret pass road while packed in my bag inside the luggage compartment of the bus... but I guess that's a downlink versus uplink issue.

I'll share my Muir yo-yo tracking with the world later this summer, so people can see how well it works in all areas.

I am confused about this promotion.

$320 which includes a year of service or two years of service?

My confusion stems from the fact that you can purchase the Spot for about $160 and then a one year subscription is $99 or for also tracking $50. This "deal" doesn't sound like a deal unless it is for two years of service.

I do want the advice as our Scout troop already authorized purchase but not until we go on a High Adventure Backpack in June and we were waiting for technology to improve.

Please provide your best guesstimate for if this is a deal.

I won't be checking this thread till Thursday as I am off to Mammoth in the morning for two great days on the boards!

Silly me, I went to the site and figured it out, basically buy the spot and get a year service free!

actually, you buy the bundle of Spot and full 1 year service, and you get the Spot free, but it boils down to about 50% off either way.

they finally shipped mine today - took them a week to call UPS...

Like mine. Keeps the family happy. Very helpful if you are going to pick up someone at the end of their trip. If they are running behind schedule, you know it. And the 911 feature is reassuring. You can post info about yourself on the Spot website that would help rescue folks find you (what you are wearing, where you were planning to go, age and health conditions, experience level, etc. Learn to watch the blinking lights -- if the two green lights start to blink out of synch, it is failing to reach the satellite it needs. Try again when you have more open sky. Yu can reduce the risk of a false help call by just turning it off and putting it in your pack. When you stop for lunch, and again at night, turn it on and sent the OK. Then turn it off again. Feel free to PM me if you want more detail.