[pct-l] PLBs and GPS

[Dan Kronstadt]

You will probably get lots of opinions here. I have no experience with 
either one, but I did do some research a while back.

The answer is: it depends on what you want. The PLB's are just for 
rescue - nothing else. The Spot does that - but maybe not as well - plus 
some other things - it allows you to send an OK msg, and another, 
predefined msg, both to a predefined list of friends, plus you can send 
a call for rescue. And you can send tracking msgs to the Spot web site 
so people can track your progress.

According to Revere, the US distributor, the Fastfind PLB's use the 
search and rescue satellite system, instead of the commercial satellites 
used by Spot. Some of the complaints about Spot are caused by the fact 
that their satellites are fairly heavily used by other commercial users, 
such as truckers, so signals are less reliable. You have to use them 
properly - leaving them exposed for something like 20 minutes - they 
send msgs multiple times to try to ensure that they get through. And 
they need fairly clear access to the sky, I think.

Spot has an annual subscription cost - PLB's do not.

The batteries on the PLB's do need to be replaced every 5 years. Some of 
the more expensive models do have user replaceable batteries. Others 
require that you send them to a service company for battery replacement.

I do believe the PLB's need some maintenance if you actually use them 
for rescue - the pop-out antenna needs to be repacked, and I guess the 
batteries would need to be replaced.

The PLB's use an internal GPS to determine their location (that is, the 
ones with a GPS do this), and then send a rescue message via satellite, 
which includes the GPS location. This is similar to the Spot. But they 
also begin transmitting a radio signal that can be used by SAR to find 
you via radio direction finder. The Spots do not have this second 
transmitter.

When I looked at them, I remember that the $300 PLB's will send the RDF 
signal for at least 24 hours - the $500-600 units will transmit for at 
least 48 hours.

There is also the issue of whether you will have to PAY for rescue - 
this depends on where you are - and Spot does offer an insurance policy, 
I think - others may be able to explain this better.

Dan

Jay Davis wrote:
> hey folks,
>
> i'm looking at getting a personal locator beacon. i hear that it's
> best to get one with GPS. i've heard about several options (spot,
> revere fastfind, etc.) - curious if anyone here has experience or
> opinions on any of them. do you have one? what do you think of it -
> would you recommend it?
>
> thanks,
>
> jay
> pct section hiker
>
>