SPOT Versus ELT Analysis (Long)

One problem with a transmit every minute, rather than 10 minutes, would be
that it would shorten battery life considerably. I am guessing it would
approximate 10% of the present battery life. The 300 hours of transmit
quoted would be reduced to 30 hours.

Also, with transmissions every minute, the processing through the satellite
might be overloaded with present equipment, which would require more money
to correct - hence higher user fees.

The external antenna would reduce reliability considerably, and may not gain
much. The exposure to a satellite from a sailplane would be very high, so
the most reliable and simplest antenna should work well.

Colin Lamb