Spot GPS for the gadget geeks

[NoNo]

Very cool. The car club I'm in does a trip north every February, and this would be perfect. The first year, on the way to Hudson Bay, my friend flipped his car. It was quite a way to the nearest emergency phone, and since it was Quebec, they only spoke French. The second year we got caught in a hurricane in the Cabot Stait (right about where the Titanic sank), and were stuck at sea for 32 hours. Last year we went to Labrador, and though we had no real problems, we did try using the sat phone once just to test, and couldn't get it to work. It'd be nice to know there's a back-up plan in case of an actual emergency.

[Pedal Wench]

I've been in touch with their PR rep (turns out I reviewed some of his products for a magazine a few years ago and he remembered my name -- imagine that!) and I'll be able to play with one at the show. I can't wait!

[SadieKate]

Way cool.

Here's a comment a friend emailed me this morning. Can you add it to your list of questions? We all owe you for your diligent effort to keep us safe.

As John(?) pointed out, confirming that SPOT uses the DIGITAL frequency spectrum instead of the soon-to-be-oped-for-other-uses ANALOG spectrum is essential. Given that SPOT appears to be a relative newcomer, I'd doubt that it relies on the ANALOG spectrum.

[jobob]

PedalWench, you might need a SPOT in the wilds of Vegas, in case a search & rescue party needs to be sent.

Oh wait, I was thinking of snapdragen.

[sundial]

I think I might be getting one for my birthday. Ooooh, I can't wait! This will be perfect for when I ride my mtb in the backwoods.

[SadieKate]

Yoohoo, PedalWench!

Tap-tap-tap. . . .

Ahem . . . . . . . . .

[Pedal Wench]

Yoohoo, PedalWench!

Tap-tap-tap. . . .

Ahem . . . . . . . . .

Ooops. Sorry for the delay! My post on it: http://dvice.com/archives/2008/01/ces_new_spot_sa.php

It's definitely cool. Much lighter than I expected. At the moment, no bike mount, but it's the type of device that you wouldn't use constantly -- just to send "I'm OK" messages home. While I was talking to the PR guy, another gent who's a private pilot and huge fan walked up and was raving about it. The PR guy shared two stories of rescues within the past week -- one in an avalanche situation where there was no way rescuers could have gotten there without the exact pinpoint of GPS.

It's a product from Globalstar -- they're not folding any time soon, and their financials are secure.

It uses the satellite bands -- no worries about digital/analog bandwith (was your friend thinking about the television broadcast bandwith?)

I will be trying it out on our next long-distance hike.