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

I have been battling with the Delorme folks a bit and have won a big, big argument with them that I think will benefit some of you.

The frustration I have had with Spot is its poor website interface, sub standard social app integration and general poor usability. The Spot connect device for example, will not start tracking unless you have cell phone data available when you want to begin tracking. If you do not have data available on your cellphone, no tracking! Additionally, their network offers only position at 10 minute intervals and no altitude.

Delorme offers 2 minute intervals with altitude!!! These improvements will make tracking soaring flights far more interesting and enjoyable for spectators, crews, family and friends. It will also make it obvious if the aircraft/pilot has landed or crashed (and potentially shorted response time to send help or begin a search). With spot for example you have no idea if the pilot is trying to make a low save over that point where traces are stacking up over time or if they are indeed on the ground. With that, I was very excited when I heard about the SSA's work to utilize the Delorme product into a new tracking capability. The 2 minute updates and altitude alone (along with better software on mobile and web) made the switch an easy decision.

The only issue, as you might expect, is the higher cost of the Delorme unit and service. The DeLorme InReach unit is $249 (http://www.cumulus-soaring..com/delorme.htm) vs. $150 for the Spot connect or $99 for the older Spot II. 2 aspects of the DeLorme subscription plan where, initially (yesterday), different. With DeLorme, the 2 minute interval for Aviation is considered a "professional" account. This provides upgraded 2 minute update intervals and altitude but comes at a more expensive rate with potential overage charges (bit based). The plans assume a certain number of flying hours per month (6 to 65) and range from $17 - $62 per month. It looks like, for me, the $40 per month (34 hours) would be sufficient for me.

The second aspect was the real problem. As I called DeLorme yesterday to register my unit and buy the subscription plan, I learned of a business practice which I found revolting. The support person told me that the unit required a special firmware update in order to support the 2 minute transmission schedule (the standard Delorme units use the traditional 10 minute intervals and this is how they come out of the box). The kicker was (wait for it.......) that that firmware upgrade was going to cost me an additional $100. I immediately thought of the complaining my Dad makes about the $99 to $200 per year cost of the Spot subscription plan for his glider. This complaining is not unique in the US soaring community. $40 per month ($480 per year) is alot already, but this "insult to injury" $100 firmware upgrade fee was simply out of bounds. There was little chance that most soaring pilots would pay for this additional capability with a $200+ annual additional cost.

Needless to say I took the support people on and made a distinct argument as to how ridiculous charging private pilots a $100 fee to use their more expensive service after buying their more expensive unit. I was transferred higher and higher up the chain as each person ran out of energy trying to justify the charge. I cited their own website, press releases and literature which claims all the aviation benefits (2 min, altitude, etc) but makes no mention of a more costly rate plan or firmware charge. Soon I was speaking with the head of marketing and he agreed to take my complaint (and mild threats to publicize the business practice and false advertising) to their executive strategy meeting this morning. After several emails to various Delorme executives last night and this morning, I received the email below. This email clearly acknowledges the stupidity of charging private pilots (glider pilots, etc) $100 to upgrade the product and explains that from this moment forward, DeLorme has changed its policy worldwide.

-----
Hello Sean

Thank you for your reply and interest in the DeLorme inReach.

I received permission to waive the $100 dollar upgrade in your case! Also in discussions with upper management we will waive this upgrade for any individual pilot. Thank you for your feedback!

To setup your account, please fill in the attached form and send it in a reply email with the IMEI number of the device and the plan you would like to choose from the Sell Sheet I sent you.

I would also need your Credit Card information listed below. Please contact our Customer Care department (800.511.2459) and any of my reps. can take this information.
Note: Please do not sent credit card information via email as that is an unsecure method of communication.

Name on Card:
Type:
Number:
Expiration Date:
Security Code: (on back of card)
Billing address on card (if different from attached form)

If you have any questions, please reply to this email.

Regards,

Kurt Ringrose
DeLorme Customer Care Manager
Email-
Phone- 207.846.7112
Fax- 207.847.5112
Many answers can be found at our on-line knowledge base within the link below.
http://support.delorme.com
Latitude 43°48.491' N, Longitude 70°09.844' W
----

I will have the my new DeLorme tracker running at Seniors in Florida in a couple weeks and the CC Clinic the week afterwards. Frank Paynter is also using the unit and is working with the SSA to get this higher level of tracking integrated with the SSA website!

Best,

Sean
F2

Hi Sean,

Thank you for getting the $100 firmware fee waived for pilots going forward!
That is great news.

Note: Not all glider pilots will opt for the 1 minute tracking available in
the aviation plan. Even with their standard consumer plans with 10 minute
tracking intervals the units still transmit altitude and airspeed and
heading and have many other advantages over competitive units. But the 1
minute tracking is very exiting. I sincerely feel it could make soaring
contests much more fun for spectators.

There are a few other very nice advantages to the new DeLorme inReach:

*** Friends viewing your shared page can "ping" your location (if enabled)
even if the unit is not in tracking mode. That would be handy in an
emergency. The unit only needs to be turned-on.
*** Having the antenna on top makes it easy to get a good connection with
the unit in a pouch on your parachute strap.
*** Friends viewing your shared page can send you a message (if enabled) -
If your smartphone is on it will alert you to the reception of the message.
* 2-way messages can be sent to any email address or cell phone (text
message)
*** The inReach works great with, or without a smartphone connected to it.
It is easy to put into track mode and send one of 3 pre-defined messages
using the buttons on the front of the unit.
* Better satellite coverage than competitive products - 100% of the world is
covered
* Track points include not only GPS position, but also altitude,
groundspeed, and heading - making it easy for your friends to see whether or
not you are still flying.
* With the optional "Aviation" data plan, the tracking interval can be set
at 1, 1.5, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 60, 120 or 240 minutes. Using the 1 minute
tracking interval would make flight following at a soaring contest a lot of
fun. It would enhance safety by reducing the search radius in the even the
unit stopped transmitting.
*The tracking interval automatically goes to 4 hours when not moving and
back to the user selected tracking interval if you move more than 100 meters
(328 ft).
* Download free detailed topographical maps to your smartphone (at home) and
navigate using the inReach as your GPS data source when out in the field.

More details about the hardware and plans are available he
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/delorme.htm

I have put a lot of time into the site. I created spreadsheet tables that
make it easy to figure out how much the data plans will cost. If you find
the site useful - please buy your inReach unit from me.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
_________________________________________________
"Sean F (F2)" wrote in message
...

I have been battling with the Delorme folks a bit and have won a big, big
argument with them that I think will benefit some of you.

The frustration I have had with Spot is its poor website interface, sub
standard social app integration and general poor usability. The Spot
connect device for example, will not start tracking unless you have cell
phone data available when you want to begin tracking. If you do not have
data available on your cellphone, no tracking! Additionally, their network
offers only position at 10 minute intervals and no altitude.

Delorme offers 2 minute intervals with altitude!!! These improvements will
make tracking soaring flights far more interesting and enjoyable for
spectators, crews, family and friends. It will also make it obvious if the
aircraft/pilot has landed or crashed (and potentially shorted response time
to send help or begin a search). With spot for example you have no idea if
the pilot is trying to make a low save over that point where traces are
stacking up over time or if they are indeed on the ground. With that, I was
very excited when I heard about the SSA's work to utilize the Delorme
product into a new tracking capability. The 2 minute updates and altitude
alone (along with better software on mobile and web) made the switch an easy
decision.

The only issue, as you might expect, is the higher cost of the Delorme unit
and service. The DeLorme InReach unit is $249
(http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/delorme.htm) vs. $150 for the Spot connect
or $99 for the older Spot II. 2 aspects of the DeLorme subscription plan
where, initially (yesterday), different. With DeLorme, the 2 minute
interval for Aviation is considered a "professional" account. This provides
upgraded 2 minute update intervals and altitude but comes at a more
expensive rate with potential overage charges (bit based). The plans assume
a certain number of flying hours per month (6 to 65) and range from $17 -
$62 per month. It looks like, for me, the $40 per month (34 hours) would be
sufficient for me.

The second aspect was the real problem. As I called DeLorme yesterday to
register my unit and buy the subscription plan, I learned of a business
practice which I found revolting. The support person told me that the unit
required a special firmware update in order to support the 2 minute
transmission schedule (the standard Delorme units use the traditional 10
minute intervals and this is how they come out of the box). The kicker was
(wait for it.......) that that firmware upgrade was going to cost me an
additional $100. I immediately thought of the complaining my Dad makes
about the $99 to $200 per year cost of the Spot subscription plan for his
glider. This complaining is not unique in the US soaring community. $40
per month ($480 per year) is alot already, but this "insult to injury" $100
firmware upgrade fee was simply out of bounds. There was little chance that
most soaring pilots would pay for this additional capability with a $200+
annual additional cost.

Needless to say I took the support people on and made a distinct argument as
to how ridiculous charging private pilots a $100 fee to use their more
expensive service after buying their more expensive unit. I was transferred
higher and higher up the chain as each person ran out of energy trying to
justify the charge. I cited their own website, press releases and
literature which claims all the aviation benefits (2 min, altitude, etc) but
makes no mention of a more costly rate plan or firmware charge. Soon I was
speaking with the head of marketing and he agreed to take my complaint (and
mild threats to publicize the business practice and false advertising) to
their executive strategy meeting this morning. After several emails to
various Delorme executives last night and this morning, I received the email
below. This email clearly acknowledges the stupidity of charging private
pilots (glider pilots, etc) $100 to upgrade the product and explains that
from this moment forward, DeLorme has changed its policy worldwide.

-----
Hello Sean

Thank you for your reply and interest in the DeLorme inReach.

I received permission to waive the $100 dollar upgrade in your case! Also
in discussions with upper management we will waive this upgrade for any
individual pilot. Thank you for your feedback!

To setup your account, please fill in the attached form and send it in a
reply email with the IMEI number of the device and the plan you would like
to choose from the Sell Sheet I sent you.

I would also need your Credit Card information listed below. Please contact
our Customer Care department (800.511.2459) and any of my reps. can take
this information.
Note: Please do not sent credit card information via email as that is an
unsecure method of communication.

Name on Card:
Type:
Number:
Expiration Date:
Security Code: (on back of card)
Billing address on card (if different from attached form)

If you have any questions, please reply to this email.

Regards,

Kurt Ringrose
DeLorme Customer Care Manager
Email-
Phone- 207.846.7112
Fax- 207.847.5112
Many answers can be found at our on-line knowledge base within the link
below.
http://support.delorme.com
Latitude 43°48.491' N, Longitude 70°09.844' W
----

I will have the my new DeLorme tracker running at Seniors in Florida in a
couple weeks and the CC Clinic the week afterwards. Frank Paynter is also
using the unit and is working with the SSA to get this higher level of
tracking integrated with the SSA website!

Best,

Sean
F2

On 2/21/2013 7:46 AM, Sean F (F2) wrote:
I have been battling with the Delorme folks a bit and have won a big,
big argument with them that I think will benefit some of you.

It's heart-warming to see Sean use his "argumentative tenacity" for
"good" instead of for "evil" :^)

Thanks to Sean for pressing hard on the clueless, and thanks to Delorme
for listening. It was a nutty marketing strategy, when everyone knows
you give the razor away and sell the blades!

I'm currently considering not renewing my Spot subscription, and
switching to the InReach.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)

On Thursday, February 21, 2013 10:46:52 AM UTC-5, Sean F (F2) wrote:
I have been battling with the Delorme folks a bit and have won a big, big argument with them that I think will benefit some of you.

Thanks Sean! In my book, you have earned a "RAS Bitch and Moan Pass". Keep it up. Very productive. This is on top of your productive agitation leading to the reinvigorated SSA Youtube channel.

On Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:49:46 PM UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote:

I'm currently considering not renewing my Spot subscription, and
switching to the InReach.

Are Spot subscription contracts transferable to buyers of used SPOTs and if so, what is the market price? Weren't they were giving away SPOT hardware last fall?

Yep. I'm cheap. Gotta pay for tows.

On Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:01:17 PM UTC-6, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:49:46 PM UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote:



I'm currently considering not renewing my Spot subscription, and

switching to the InReach.



Are Spot subscription contracts transferable to buyers of used SPOTs and if so, what is the market price? Weren't they were giving away SPOT hardware last fall?



Yep. I'm cheap. Gotta pay for tows.

SPOT often gives the hardware away. especially for events like christmas and Oshkosh.

On Thursday, February 21, 2013 1:01:17 PM UTC-5, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:49:46 PM UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote:



I'm currently considering not renewing my Spot subscription, and

switching to the InReach.



Are Spot subscription contracts transferable to buyers of used SPOTs and if so, what is the market price? Weren't they were giving away SPOT hardware last fall?



Yep. I'm cheap. Gotta pay for tows.

Yes, they do transfer. When I bought one a few years ago the remaining year
on the contract came with it. The pricing seemed to reflect the cost of
the contract.

Matt

Lol! Evil!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7bYNAHXxw

OK if I buy one from Cumulus Soaring, Inc. will it work in the French Alps
or is there a European agent?

OK if I buy one from Cumulus Soaring, Inc. will it work in the French Alps
or is there a European agent?