SPOT Satellite Messenger

On Oct 3, 11:56 am, 5Z wrote:
On Oct 3, 3:03 am, "
wrote:

Keeps looking interesting.

And since they say it will run on alkaline batteries, then I assume it
will run on rechargeables as well. If I were to put in a fresh pair
of charged batteries before each flight and select tracking mode, then
if I did have an accident, it should provide a relatively small area
in which to look for me. If course an ELT and/or PLB would still be a
very good idea.

Assuming an XC speed of 90 mph and an update every 10 minutes, the
search radius would be about 15 miles. An update every 15 minutes
would push that up to 22 miles, but still a lot better than the
potential of at least 100 miles on one of my typical flights. Using
topography, weather and a declared flight, the search area would go
down dramatically.

And if each club had someone actively monitoring the day's flying, a
pilot in trouble could be identified within an hour or less. Since we
are interested in tracking while airborne, we should be seeing near
100% coverage, unless flying deep inside canyons.

I have a feeling that I'll be an early adopter!

-Tom

Early adopters, please share your experience with us. This is really
sounding interesting, and cheap too. Almost too good to be true.
Too bad Fossett didn't use one...

Ramy