I did a lot of research on this and now have the "Microfix" personal locater beacon unit by ACR Electronics,Inc. Pricey but what is your life worth?

Check it out http://www.acrelectronics.com/microfix/microfix.htm

Low tech but some good tips to know when the batteries fail.

Use both hands/arms to wave your hands to signal distress to a low flying passing aircraft.

One hand means,"Howdy." Two hands means, "Help."

Distress signals are in 3's. For example, 3 gun shots, 3 flashes with a signal mirror or flashlight, etc.

Know how to use a compass and map. Never go into remote areas w/o a compass and a map.

Inform someone of your route and destination and your expected return date/time.

A great book about supposedly expert outdoors folks fatal blunders in the wild, and ways to avoid them is, "Into the Wild," by Jon Krakauer.

I love my SPOT and since I stick it out on the picnic table or on the dash of my car, I haven't had any problem. That said, I suspect in heavy forested areas you might have an issue...

The guys in the The Motorcycle Tourer's Forum forum are using it extensively.

The best price for the purchase of the SPOT is via the link on my website. There is also extensive FAQ section on their website as well.

It's not perfect but it's reasonable compared to some of the high priced options. Feel free to ask the guy selling it at the discount price any questions....just tell him I sent you.

I have my account set up to send an email to a private blog viewable only by those I invite as well to specific email addresses. I can then choose two email addresses for the HELP alert and two names/phone numbers for the 911 alert.

A handheld will do the job. 5 watts is all it takes. The nice thing about the 2m and 440 setup is that they have a lot of repeaters setup all over the country [in Mexico and Canada too] that can pickup your signal and relay it into a system that will give you wide service. Most of these systems also have a phone service available on them. Meaning that you can use your radio to actually make a phone call.

If you click on the link entitled "Where is KA6TZP" you will be looking at a 2m handheld system that is connected to a GPS system. The info from the GPS gets sent via the 2m rig into another rig that has INTERNET connection. That then will show my current position. It works well. Sort of a poor man's Lo Jack type thing. My kids and friends can keep track of us while we're on the road.

HamRad

2 meter and 440 are both line of sight. That is, short range unless there is a repeater handy. Not as likely in a remote area. Out West I spent time in a lot of areas that had no coverage.

quote:

Originally posted by Rif:

quote:

Originally posted by George1:
Another thing that you need to know: even if you are out of range to any towers at all, if you dial 911 the signal will be bounced to your home area tower and it marks your location of where that call was made with Lat/Lon, help would then be directed to the location of the call. george

George, that is just not accurate. If you are out of range of any tower there is no tower to receive the tiny signal from your phone.

My Motorola cellphone has some kind of satellite GPS tracking capability. The manual doesn't say what happens if you dial 911 in an area with no coverage, but it does caution that it may not work in buildings or other areas where it does not have "a view of a wide area of open sky."

My suggestion (other than my agreement in the Amateur Radio suggestion - as I've been a ham for 46 years) is:

...to make the very most of cellular phone service by adding an external antenna and an amplifier/preamplifier - otherwise known as a booster. If that boost makes the difference in some particular situation it surely will have been worth the money.

Plus, you'll be finding yourself using it many many times where cellphone service is marginal - either for the phone or, perhaps, for internet access, if you use a cell-based Internet card or plan to.

I stand by my statement. There was a case in which a family was traped in a snow covered car in the wilds of Nevada, with no cell coerage. The husband dies of exposure after about 10 days, the mother feed the 2 girls breast milk and they were surviving. On day 10 and knowing she had no cell coverage, she dialed 911, they were rescued later on that day. It was reported all over the national news. The news stations were telling that even though you might be out of range of a tower, it will still send a signal that marks the lon/lat and will allow rescuers to locate you. I know the news stations don't tell us all the news or even the truth at times, but this was so widely reported that it is difficult for me not to believe it. george

Yes, George, I remember the news well. The situation happened in So. Oregon between I-5 and the coast. It was tragic and blame was placed everywhere, the road department, the forest service, the search crews! The lesson should have been - be prepared if you are going to venture off the main roads and if you hit snow get the heck out of there, don't 'see if you can make it'. As I recall, your cell phone information is spot on.

Dirty Donna

quote:

Originally posted by dirtyboots Donna:
Yes, George, I remember the news well. The situation happened in So. Oregon between I-5 and the coast.

Two different incidents. The one George is talking about happened in Nevada when a couple was out trying to locate a herd of wild horses. It may have been this couple, although they both made it out alive.

Here's the Reader's Digest article about this couple.

I got some answers to my own questions about the "Spot" messenger device from this website:

http://www.findmespot.com/Home.aspx

"Because it uses 100% satellite technology, SPOT works virtually anywhere. All it needs is a clear view of the sky.

With a perfect view of the entire sky, SPOT is designed to successfully send virtually every message. In everyday conditions, the view to the sky is often blocked due to hills, buildings or other obstructions. It's normal for some messages to be blocked by your environment. That's why the SPOT messenger is scheduled to automatically send multiple messages in every mode - giving you excellent overall reliability.

Even if SPOT cannot acquire its location from the GPS network it will still attempt to send a distress signal – without exact location – to the Emergency Response Center, which will still notify your contacts of the signal and continue to monitor the network for further messages."

I called the phone # listed on the website and a Rep told me that if the unit is not able to receive satellite signals when a message is sent, the LEDs will flash in a manner to indicate that it could not acguire the satellites. There is no message received confirmation that indicates a message has been sent by the response center to either emergency responders or your personal contacts.

Seems like this is a good alternative to the more expensive devices available.

I am a cellular/PCS/Communications engineer and I know how the systems work.

If you are completely out in the boonies and a great distance from any cellular/PCS you will not be able to get help on your wireless phone!

If you are on the edge of coverage, where you can't make or hold up a call (conversation) you may possibly get a text message through or a call to 911 may get through enough to automatically give them your GPS or nearest tower/sector location, even if you can't hold up the call to talk to the 911 operator.

If you are planning on going out of cellular/PCS coverage do not depend on your phone for help.

Charles

George/Donna,

If you can find an official reference that confirms your statement I would be happy to admit that I am in error. Short of that, I do not understand how it could possibly work. I have diligently Googled every reference I can think of and can find nothing in any official reference anywhere that confirms your statement. And, I have long since stopped believing anything I read in the news media.

If cell phones could provide emergency location service when not in an area where cell service existed, why would companies like Spot exist? They communicate not through cell towers, but through satellites in orbit.

I seem to recall the incident in Oregon you mention, but I do not remember the particulars. I suppose it is theoretically possible for a search aircraft or some other portable "cell tower transceiver" to have been used, but I have never heard of such a thing. What is sometimes possible is that a connection with a tower is made, but the signal is not good enough for a phone conversation. We have all had dropped calls. However, in remote areas when your phone says "No Service", even this is not possible.

I used to manage the 911 center for Santa Fe County, New Mexico and was the chairman of the E-911 implementation committee there as well. I can tell you that no mention of the capability you refer to was ever made by any representative of the phone companies I met with. Nor was that capability ever discussed in any of the national 911 conferences I attended.

All 911 calls are routed to the nearest PSAP (Public Service Answering Point), not to the home location of the caller. If the phone is GPS enabled and the PSAP has the appropriate equipment, the location of the caller is identified. Otherwise, only the location of the tower communicating with the phone is available without special triangulation techniques available to the phone company in some instances.

As I understand it, a cell phone works much like a trunked radio system. When turned on it is merely a receiver. It begins searching specified frequencies for a signal that identifies a cell tower, keeping in mind that there at least three different protocols being used and CDMA phones do not "talk" GSM and visa versa, although some still are analog capable. If the phone does not find a cell tower it displays the "No Service" message and continues to search. Only when it finds a cell tower does it turn on its transmitter, tune to the proper frequency for that tower, wait for a signal from the tower to begin its transmission, and finally transmit to the cell tower, beginning a conversation that identifies it to the network and eventually to your home cell provider so calls can be routed to you.

If the phone does not hear a cell tower during the search process it will not transmit since it has no idea what frequency to transmit on nor when to transmit.

Again, I would be very pleased to be proven wrong since the capability you describe would be wonderful. Unfortunately it is like a tree falling in the woods. If there is no one to hear it, did it make a noise?

I see Charles and I were posting at the same time. Thanks for your confirmation.

Not sure what statement you are referring to so am guessing. To use the 911 function you do have to pay an additional annual fee, I think it's 9.95/yr now, to subscribe to GEOS. Remember, SPOT is not a cell phone...it sends a signal via satellite.

http://www.globalcomsatphone.com/spot/emergency.html describes how it functions.

My assumption is that the button says 911 since that is a recognizable symbol for emergency help.

If this isn't what you are referring to then please clarify what statement I made that you don't agree with.

Froggi Donna,

Note there are two Donnas posting in this thread.

The website I went to makes this statement about 911 messages:

http://www.findmespot.com/ExploreSPOT/HowItWorks/911.aspx

"Important Note:Unlimited Alert 9-1-1 usage is included as part of the low-cost SPOT service plan."

Is there more than one company marketing services for the "Spot"?