Spot II issues?

The tracking is an absolute waste of money. Spotty(no pun intended)at best in the trees. I reserve my check ins for above tree line or a very good view of the sky. Over two years of use I'd say they are 95% received.

Next year I'm done and probably getting a PLB unless a better option presents itself.

" I reserve my check ins for above tree line or a very good view of the sky. Over two years of use I'd say they are 95% received."

I can live with that. I'll try it out this year and probably skip the tracking feature then.

"I picked up a greatly discounted Spot II on clearance a month or so ago"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA …. er, I mean, cool….

"Thoughts"

Give it away or sell it to some other suck…..um, I mean, explorer and get a Delorme InReach SE. Tracking is great. Battery is great. Can send text messages to the wife to let her know you and the daughter are okay and stopping for the night. Works well in heavy forest (at least it has for me). Great device.

Mine worked perfectly – except for the trip where nothing went through for 5 days. Since the whole purpose of carrying the device was to keep folks from worrying, it kind of backfired that time. My latest trip I carried an inReach SE. Now I have confirmation that my check-in went through, if I need to send an SOS I can tell S&R why, and I can run Gaia on my iPhone using the inReach's GPS.

Its the usual mix of stupidity, lies, FUD, and truth. I see these sort of lame reviews get parroted around on forums every so often.

I've used SPOT Gen1,2 and now 3. Started with SPOT in 2008. My experience has been excellent. My Gen3 will get send TRACK messages from within my house.

The problem with Brian's little writeup is that he didn't troubleshoot his issues, nor did he bother to educate himself on SPOT's capabilities – pretty typical of folks screaming the loudest negatively on reviews and forums. He had a valid point about the message delay and he should've contacted SPOT/GEOS to find out what happened.

If SPOT can't get a GPS fix, it won't send a TRACK or CHECKIN message. Tree cover, buildings, cliffs, and your body can shade the GPS signal. But SPOT will transmit the HELP & SOS messages regardless of GPS reception. Unlike PLBs, which people couldn't test until recently, SPOT has been very transparent from the beginning (and now that they can test PLBs they've found similar signaling limitations – i.e. they're not magic).

And I have no idea why he thought he would get elevation data.

Pretty clear to me that he just didn't spend much time familiarizing himself with SPOT before he used it.

When I first got SPOT Gen 1, I went to a local park and tested the signaling from under various degrees of canopy so that I knew what to expect. I tested it in a blizzard and I buried it under a foot of snow. I hung it on my belt and I covered it on top of my pack. I even did an SOS by accident (embarrassing). And all I can say is that it works.

Gen 2 has much better GPS reception than Gen 1, and Gen 3 is at least as good as Gen 2.

Gen 2 units did have a quality problem with GPS reception, some of which would just quit. No GPS = No CHECKIN/TRACK messages. I don't know if the GPS indicator showed the problem or not. Early Gen 2 units had a problem with battery drain that was covered under a recall.

I've heard that some early Gen 3 units had loose covers over the buttons and USB port.

The main problem with Brian's writeup is that he doesn't understand the SPOT usage model – lots of messages. A PLB is a device you probably carry like a talisman, as you don't test it, and it's job is to deliver a message when you are in trouble – and nobody knows where you are until then. SPOT's usage model is to leave lots of breadcrumbs so that SAR knows where you are even if there are gaps in the messages.

I know this is long-winded, so I'll summarize:

PLB – is your lowest-cost option. Best global coverage. But nobody knows where you are until you activate it – assuming you can. Excellent save history – over 30K.

SPOT – mid-price option. Very good at keeping loved ones updated, best value in track location logging, limited world-wide coverage. Excellent save history – over 2K

Delome InReach – most expensive option. Excellent for keeping loved ones in the loop. Excellent global coverage. True 2-way communication. Somewhat new system, so there's not a lot of history with it yet.

A write up on SPOT usage – https://sites.google.com/site/hobbyhintstricksideas/Home/spot-messenger-information

+1 on everything Zorg Zumo said.

We used the SPOT extensively for several years. It is true that in dense tree cover and steep hillsides the successful transmission of location info is not 100%. But even in very stressed conditions well over half of our tracking points went through. That did not bother us. For our daily OK message, we just made a very minor effort to step outside from under dense cover. Not a big deal.

On the other hand, we had two devices FAIL completely. As in the GPS chip failed. No GSP reception at all, light stayed red even in optimal conditions. The first failure was one week into a five week hike in Turkey. The second failure was three weeks into a five week hike in Australia. In both cases SPOT replaced the units at no cost. But in both cases the device was a boat anchor.

My summary: when it works, it's a terrific tool. But two failures in four years is unacceptable for me, and I did not renew my contract.

I think it's critically important that you and your home-based recipients of the SPOT data agree in advance that "no messages" means that the device has failed, and all protocols revert to the pre-electronic days. If you agree to that, then nobody will go into a panic when you go silent. And everybody will have fun watching when it works.

Tracking is not worth it IMO. Essentially 100% of our OK messages went through successfully, since we did them with no tree cover and with the device sitting flat and in the open. Just remember to leave the device out for 30 minutes so it can broadcast the OK message with three attempts. We OK'ed it at lunch and again when we settlee in camp; and sometimes at peaks or passes too.

I had wanted to get one of the SPOT's for some time, but it was never top on my list… and I'm kind of glad it never was. Over time, it seems that lots of folks experienced issues with them, and I started feeling like it was to chancy… If I am leaving my wife with the thought that I will be checking in with a SPOT, then she expects that… if for some reason some (or in the case of some folk's, all) of my check ins do not go through, then she is likely going to be worried… So, I have stuck to just leaving her a detailed list of where I will be each day, and then telling her that I will attempt to call her each day, however, not to expect it. But, if she does not hear from me by "X" day, then something is wrong… So far, this has worked…

As for Zorg's comments, I will say that Brian is a smart guy, and he know's his stuff. I have personally hiked with him a few times, so I know him personally, and I can attest to the fact that he is a thorough guy, and has a knack for understanding this sort of thing. As well, one of the hikes that he carried the SPOT with him was on one of the hikes with me, and I was excited about seeing a bread crumb trail with all the fun data after getting back, but as he mentioned, nothing sent… so there was nothing to look at… But, I can assure you that he did in fact educate himself as how to use it, what the functions were, and what to expect, so he did understand it… Fact is, it just didn't work… (Also, I think it is worth noting that he posted this review in September of 2012…)

I do agree that there are lots of useless reviews out there though, and not just on the SPOT, but lot's of things… I can't stand coming across them, but they are out there. However, with the SPOT (at least Gen 1 & 2) there have been a number of times I have come across folks reporting that they just did not work (there are even reports here in this very thread…), so I decided it's not worth it for me. To be honest, I rarely even take the time to read threads, or reviews, about the SPOT's any longer, but heck, I was bored this afternoon…

Now, I will admit though, I have been a bit intrigued by the Delorme inReach SE… but I think I will wait for a while and see how they do over time before even thinking about investing…

SPOT did the design engineering in the US, but farmed the manufacturing out to China. Maybe one day things will be different, but today "Made in China" is still a warning label. Gen 2 quality problems are directly due to Chinese part procurement, inadequate testing, and general poor quality control. Given that the profit comes from the service, not the hardware, it amazes me that SPOT would risk damaging their image with shoddy hardware quality.

PLBs can get away with crummy quality because nobody is likely to ever find out. But SPOT is very transparent with users able to measure and report message success rates. It just seems totally stupid for SPOT to risk their image for a few $ savings.

Thanks to everyone for thoroughly explaining their experiences and opinions with/of the Spot II. Doug… you too I suppose:)

I'm fine with the limitations of the Spot II I've read here. I'm more interested in the SOS features of the Spot than anything else it offers. I have a solo hike coming up where I don't expect to see another person for a few days.

I figure if I get attacked by a marmot, I should be able to limp my way to some high ground and get the SOS signal out. If not… well buzzards need to eat too so I'll just take my just deserts like a man.

"I'm fine with the limitations of the Spot II I've read here."

I've never used a Spot, and my post was partly in jest because I've never used one. To be honest, it wasn't the hardware issues people were having that convinced me I didn't want one – I generally have good luck with hardware so I'm never too worried about it. But, when first researching the Spot, the large number of complaints I came across about poor or nonexistent customer service, billing issues, etc., is what convinced me to look elsewhere. I'd recommend you pay a bit of attention to the customer service aspect (perhaps it's improved, the large, and I mean large number of issues and complaints with the customer service I read about were about two years ago). FWIW.

I've only had one contact with SPOT customer service over billing and it was pleasant. And that was a couple years ago. Basically I was trying to see if I could share two devices on one service plan (can't). Since I've never had any faulty hardware or service interruptions, I've never had a reason to contact them. I did send the official email to cancel a service once and that was painless.

Today we have choices. 2 years ago we didn't. I think SPOT has improved a ton over the 6 years I've used the service. I suspect SPOT is going to get pressured to modify their plans to include shorter subscription periods.

But I'm gonna guess that 98% of backcountry travelers have nothing (which is fine BTW). So I don't think this subject is near as popular as sleeping bags, tents, or stoves.