[pct-l] Anyone have experience with SPOT-2 satellite messengers? Any alternative options?

[Dan Engleman]

that is good to know ... I thought I was supposed to leave both the spot and the phone on for 15-20 minutes ... my Spot batteries lasted for quite a long time, it was my smartphone batteries that got drained ... thanks for the info ... 

 

________________________________
 From: Ed Jarrett <edjarrett at msn.com>
To: PCT List <pct-l at backcountry.net> 
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2013 2:00 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Anyone have experience with SPOT-2 satellite messengers? Any alternative options?
  

It is true that using the SPOT Connect requires a SmartPhone, except for sending a 911 message.  So if your phone is dead, you cannot initiate an OK message with SPOT.  But the battery usage is pretty minimum.  If you are just going to send a periodic OK, your phone only needs to be on for a couple of minutes and the SPOT needs to be on for about 15-20 minutes.  Batteries will last a long time if you are just sending out an OK or two a day.  If you choose to use the tracking feature, the SPOT would be on all day, but your phone still only needs to be on long enough to initiate the track and then you can turn it off.  I used the tracking feature last year and SPOT lasted over a week on a set of batteries.