Good News on Delorme InReach (2 min tracking and altitude vs. Spot w/10 min tracking and no altitude)

Hi Andy,

I just noticed what you pointed out about the overage costs for Aviation
plan 4.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/delor...scriptions.pdf

I suspect that the overage cost of $1.60/kb is a typo. $2.60/kb would fall
nicely between the Aviation 3 and 5 plans. I'll ask them for clarification.
Their aviation plan brochure has not been released on their web site and is
a bit of a work in process.

Thank you for the inReach order.

Best Regards,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
__________________________

Thanks Sean - I'm sold.

I did some analysis of what plan to get - including the $30 change plans
fee. Assuming I read the rate card and overage charges correctly - and
assuming 6 months of flying versus 6 months of off-season - the most
economical approach is as follows:

At a 2 min tracking interval the break-even number of tracking hours per
month above which it is cheaper to bump up to Aviation 4 during the flying
season versus just sticking to Aviation 1 all year is 15.1 hours per month.
Total subscription bill for the year: $310.50

At a 5 minute tracking break-even is 37.8 hours per month. Less than that
and you save money by sticking to Aviation 1. Total subscription bill for
the year: $310.50 - again.

If you burn it up with a 1 minute interval the break-even is 7.5 hours per
month. Total subscription bill: $310.50.

I picked Aviation 4 because it has an overage rate that is less than any
other rate - base or overage. That's a strange discontinuity in the
pricing - it appears they really want to encourage Aviation 4 for some
reason. I assumed an identical number of flight hours per month so if your
flying has some heavy and light months it'll be slightly different. I also
didn't account for the possibility that you might dial back the tracking
interval on heavy flight months. If you did that it would make staying on
the Aviation 1 plan even more attractive.

Unless you fly a lot at a high tracking rate it seems to make the most sense
to go with the minimum plan and just pay the overages on the months when you
fly more. Just make sure to watch your data usage or you will get a nasty
surprise.

9B

On Friday, February 22, 2013 3:53:04 PM UTC-8, Paul Remde wrote:
Hi Andy,



I just noticed what you pointed out about the overage costs for Aviation

plan 4.

http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/delor...scriptions.pdf


A typo would make sense Paul. $2.60 would make getting the bigger plan less attractive because you don't save as much versus the cheap plan should you have one month with a ton of overage.


InReach does seem like a great spectator tool at contests. It occurs to me that you should have enough information that with a little computing you would be able to give a continuous readout of who has the best speed at any given point during the task. You could adjust for different start times with some simple normalizing assumptions to account for pilots being at different points along the course due to differences in start time versus differences in rate of progress, and of course adjusting for altitude. I'd bet you could even give continuously updated estimated scores and standings among the pilots carrying an inReach. It would be most entertaining if all of the pilots in contention had a unit on board of course.

Whether you'd want to text each pilot their standing and score in real time over the course of the flight is another matter. ;-)

9B

I'd bet you could even give continuously updated estimated scores and standings among the pilots carrying an inReach. It would be most entertaining if all of the pilots in contention had a unit on board of course.



Whether you'd want to text each pilot their standing and score in real time over the course of the flight is another matter. ;-)



9B

Yea! Electronic leaderboard. I don't know why one wouldn't want to know their relative standing in real time.