SPOT Mounting - Parachute

On Mar 14, 12:03*pm, V1 wrote:
I purchased one of the new SPOT’s (SPOT Satellite Messenger, sometimes
called SPOT II). As a fall-back, I have a few options for mounting it
directly on my ship, but I’d prefer a chute mount. I’ve read Allen
Silvers 2009 file on how NOT to attach it to a parachute, although
that file didn’t seem to say how/where was a good place to attach it.
I will talk to my rigger, but first wanted to check for actual
experience with the latest generation SPOT. I looked in ras for recent
posts on mounting the SPOT, but only found a set of posts in early
2009 *and early 2010.
I’d like to check for experience last season with the newer units.
Specifically how well did parachute attachments work (good tracking),
and how/where on the chute was it attached?

Thanks,
- Frank

I initially flew with my SPOT I located on the top right of the chute
shoulder strap (45deg angle). Drop message rates were significantly
high... say 15-30 per cent .. sometimes higher. Flying a Discus 2A and
I suspect the carbon in the fuselage obscured coverage. When moving it
to the top of the instrument panel cover lying flat (hooked on by a
piece of tie wrap), error rates lowered to near zero. My 2 cents...

Walt Rogers

On Mar 16, 11:32*am, WaltWX wrote:
On Mar 14, 12:03*pm, V1 wrote:

I purchased one of the new SPOT’s (SPOT Satellite Messenger, sometimes
called SPOT II). As a fall-back, I have a few options for mounting it
directly on my ship, but I’d prefer a chute mount. I’ve read Allen
Silvers 2009 file on how NOT to attach it to a parachute, although
that file didn’t seem to say how/where was a good place to attach it.
I will talk to my rigger, but first wanted to check for actual
experience with the latest generation SPOT. I looked in ras for recent
posts on mounting the SPOT, but only found a set of posts in early
2009 *and early 2010.
I’d like to check for experience last season with the newer units.
Specifically how well did parachute attachments work (good tracking),
and how/where on the chute was it attached?

Thanks,
- Frank

I initially flew with my SPOT I located on the top right of the chute
shoulder strap (45deg angle). Drop message rates were significantly
high... say 15-30 per cent .. sometimes higher. Flying a Discus 2A and
I suspect the carbon in the fuselage obscured coverage. When moving it
to the top of the instrument panel cover lying flat (hooked on by a
piece of tie wrap), error rates lowered to near zero. *My 2 cents...

Walt Rogers

I flew the whole season last year with Spot 2 (over 300 hours).
It is mounted on my parachute strap below the problematic area
(verified by Allen Silver).
I am getting zero dropped messages (at least when reviewing my
messages after the flight, it is still possible some messages were
delayed by more than 10 minutes and then cought up).
Another concern I read before about Spot 2 was battery life. While
indeed it is shorter than Spot 1, it is still quiet reasonable. I
found out I need to replace mine every 100-150 flying hours.
The Spot 2 UI is much better than Spot 1 and the additional custom
message makes it much more useful for communicating with your crew, as
you can decide on 3 different course of actions based on the message
type (OK, Help or Custom).

Ramy