As a follow up to the blog entry on Personal Locator Beacons, I wanted to mention that we got a SPOT satellite messenger.
We bought ours at our local REI after seeing that the price there was comparable to other online stores.
So far, we're pretty happy with it. We successfully tracked ourselves to the hockey rink and back on Saturday, and to my hockey game yesterday.
The device sent email to me and Peter when we hit the "OK" button, and would upload tracks to the findmespot.com website every 20 minutes after we turned on continual tracking.
Here's one of the emails it sent, while we were at a Quiznos near the ice rink:
"[email protected]"
Hi! This is Carolyn, checking in with my SPOT device. Click on the link to see where I am!
Unit Number: 0-xxxxxxx
Latitude: 37.4785
Longitude: -122.1861
Nearest Town from unit Location: Florence St, Redwood City, CA, US
Distance to the nearest town: 0 km(s)
Time in GMT the message was sent: 02/24/2008 03:00:10
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.4785,-122.1861&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
The granularity is awesome; looking at Google maps via the link in the email, we could see which exact parking spot our truck was in.
The only thing I have questions about is the feature by which other people can log in and see my tracks. I can't see a way to do that via the website without giving people my account log-in information, which clearly isn't happening. I have an email out to customer service and will update this blog post when I get a response.
Update from customer care:
"Hi Carolyn,
Right now the only way for your family & friends to track you down is by having access to your account, but soon by the end of March we will have a different password to be given to family & friends.
Thank you for your patience,
SPOT USA Customer Service"
So there we go. I'll let you guys know when this functionality is available!
Update 4/24:
Guest access is now available, yay! You can now manage guest access for the different messenger profiles and create a URL to give to others. The URL can be set public or password-protected. Looking good!
Your first post got me looking into PLBs, and this is one that I haven't come across. Looks very cool! I'm looking forward to any more feedback you have about this unit. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: AtlasRider | Monday, February 25, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Oh interesting. Can I ask a couple of stupid questions about it? How big is it? How is the battery life? How frequently does it log when you have continuous tracking turned on?
Posted by: Eric Fischer | Monday, February 25, 2008 at 11:34 AM
Sadly, halfway through the first sentence I began trying to figure out what Peter's middle name was that it could begin with an 'L'.
Hrrrm, never thought of the whole marital angle on the 'where's Waldo' issue. One of those things could certainly make you feel closer when only one of you is on a road trip.
Posted by: Stephanie | Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at 12:13 AM
I was looking at this same unit but held off because there wasn't much data out at the time. Glad to see that you have one, keep us posted on what you think after you've used it a while!
Posted by: Michael | Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 10:54 AM
I ride my motorcycle often where there is no cell signals. I read the review and comments here before purchasing. There is also a long list of FAQs that addresses many details at the web site below.
This has been a great addition just in case something goes wrong. Originally I bought it for personal safety and to trace my own tracks, but it has also provided an unintended benefit for family and friends who can track my progress.
I ordered one from http://www.MyLiveTracks.com/ - got a prompt response to my inquiries, a 50% off coupon for the tracking service. The price of $135 included shipping as well. Highly recommend the unit as well as the vendor!
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