Spot Tracker Testing
 

I got a Spot Tracker for Christmas.

I am going to attempt to test it tomorrow. I don't have my mount yet, it's suppose to be here next week. So I will just throw it in the tankbag and make sure it gets service.

Here is my shared page.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/f...7fKygL9Hc6mpZR

I will post up in the morning when I am leaving and about to turn on.

I'll be checkin' it out.

Want to see the interface/etc. for when I get service turned on for mine!

Turning on

Did you fly instead of driving?

I've seen lots of people that just put it at the top of one of their bags (usually the tail bag) and have no issues... especially in the US...

save ya $ on a mount and not have to worry that someone might steal it

That's exactly what I was planning to do with mine.

but if someone steals it, wouldn't you be able to track them down? :lol: What are prices and service costs of these?

The 1st gen is $100 or so if you can find them. I got mine for $100 with a $50 rebate.

The latest model that's out is $170.

Service varies by term and options, but for a one year term, with the ability to track progress online like Trip has, it about $150.

Spot Tracker

If anyone steals it, it's worthless. They come with individual authorization numbers for service. If you report it stolen, SPOT will turn it off and then if some idiot tries to activate it, boom busted.

It doesn't keep a turn by turn route, it tracks like every 10 mins or so. It's not a routing device, that's why they make GPS devices for, it's a personal tracking device. I can send SOS messages out with it to people and 911 and it will report my location to them, so I can get help fast. This is good if you don't like to stay on highways and like off pavement adventures.

It worked well on this end. Bounced the satellite and updated the website every 8-12 minutes on average.

I'd recommend not turning it on at your house though next time. LOL

Mine was $150, and I got the tracking option/service for $100 with $50 off coupon that expired 12/31/10.

I didn't, I turned it on at the high school. It is close to my house, but not my house.

Ah ok! It just looked to be in a neighborhood. Good then!

I need to get the service on mine pretty soon.

does it have settings on how often it sends an update?

and which version did you go with the older model or newer? what's the differences?

I'll eventually have one... though coverage outside US/Canada and Europe degrades a lot from what I've seen... Africa is next to nil.

How often do you ride to Africa?

No, it just does 10min tracking. Or you can send updates as you please with mine.

I have the newer version, mainly cause I got it as a gift. I believe mine has a few more buttons, like the custom tracking message. You go into the settings on the website and can send messages to who you want by email or text message. You can write in what they will receive too.

You will probably want the high end tracking units for overseas stuff. They have a steep up front cost, but they aren't service oriented, so you will make up the difference in cost over a couple years. I am sure there will be something better by the time you do that trip though.

Well I'm planning on eventually riding around the world. and Africa and South America are the area's I'd be most worried about something happening, and being off the beaten path where I'd need to send an SOS for someone to find me.

I'm not saying it's a concern for everyone or even most people... but in my case it will be.

Their coverage map says that India and the South Eastern part of Africa are the no coverage zones... but from the ride reports I've read, most of Africa you have little success sending out a message regularly.

I bought a mount already. I am going to mount it next to my Zumo. I will just take both off together and stow them in the tail case where I can lock them up.

Ahh ok... I'd love to have one right now, but I'm not planning any big trips anytime soon (Hopes for the TLH trip in Fall are dimming) so it'd be pointless...

yeah, and shit 11 years at least they may have true global coverage. I'm holding out hope that by then, satellite phones will be affordable.

Cool, do you have a timeframe for your trip or any of the costs figured out yet?

Yeah, mine has a few more buttons like custom message and different version of help buttons. The old one has a 911 SOS function that calls 911 and signals who you want for help, mine has that and then has just a Help function. The help function is a non life threatening help type thing.

It also has much better battery life. I think mine is suppose to last 7 days of continuous tracking. It goes forever (like a month) with just random custom checkins.

Yeah, a sat phone would be your best bet.

cool... I kinda wished I'd not bought the Touratech mount for my 660... it's locking but the damn lock is cheap... hell I broke the first mount because I pulled it open without the key (damn key wouldn't go in the lock very easy) so they sent another... same crappy lock exact same key (so anyone with a touratech locking GPS mount can take my GPS...) GHEY!

but it is good for going into stores or restraunts but I don't trust it for long trips away from the bike or over night.

Mine has the Zumo mount, it locks via a security screw. The only problem is the screw is just a flat head screw with a notch in the middle. Very easy to unscrew. It's a good mount though and it is a cradle with a BMW power connection that the GS already had on it, so I had to do zero wiring.

pretty damn cool

Got my ram mount in today and got it mounted:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/...1faf5c17_z.jpg

Awesome setup.

That's pretty wild.

Trip how far are you from Morristown? My parents have some good friends that live on Cherokee Lake, and they are always trying to get me to come down for a long weekend to hang out. I've always wanted to bring the bike down there, but just don't know the local area that well.

It's not that far from me and a nice ride to Deals gap from there. It's north of knoxville and I am sorta southwest of knoxville. It's about an hour up the interstate from my exit I would say. It's really nice up there.

so if you mount it to your bike and your crash and aren't able to get back to your bike due to injury or hell maybe it flew off a Mountain how does the 911/help stuff work? or are you just shit outa luck at that point? does it somehow sense an impact or crash like an air bag sensor?

if you don't press the OK button in a set amount of time it sends an auto SOS message

I think my hunter buddy has one of those...

I personally don't like the way it tracks... I would want it to plot my ride instead.

Get a GPS, the Zumo 550 already does that for me and I can post the routes afterward.

Again, that's not the purpose of this, the purpose of this is safety. It would cost a fortune to have a service that's a constant updating route through satellites to the internet especially one that is accurate enough for city use.

I hear ya...