Spot off ...WTF?

On Saturday, March 29, 2014 10:14:10 PM UTC-5, son_of_flubber wrote:

(lost of detail about the incident snipped)

So basically, the crew DIDN'T have a required EPIRB, and relied on SPOT (which is a nice inexpensive TRACKING device with some backup 911 notification capability) to save their butts, then ran aground on autopilot due to bad navigation - and SPOT (while it gave the location of the crash and a message that something was wrong - a partial 911 message) didn't work as well as a dedicted EPIRB.

As I see it, SPOT pretty much worked as advertised. It showed position fixes up to the crash site. BUT IT ISN'T AN ELT, PLB, OR EPIRB! Neither is Inreach. I use my spot in my glider as a simple, reliable (and it has always been for me, YMMV) tracker. I also have an ELT. I don't care if others see my altitude or about a faster tracking interval, so Inreach's capabilities aren't worth the extra cost to me.

My problem with the original post is that it gives the impression that SPOT is an unreliable orange doorstop. In this particular example, it worked as designed until the boat was sinking - and then it only got a partial 911 message out - but was it still capable of sending position long enough after the crash to see satellites and get a position? THE BOAT RAN AGROUND AND SANK!

Is there data online about other "911" situations where SPOT/Geos has failed?

The technical aspect of this particular SPOT 911 activation that interests me is how long it takes to send a 911 message? That would be a useful bit of data.

What is the reliability of the SPOT system on the whole?

That is why I called BS on the tone of the original post.

Kirk
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