SPOT (Satellite Personal Tracker)

I bought a new SPOT GPS location transmitter and it was delivered this week. This orange GPS transmitter cost $149.95 including 2nd day air. It's a rugged little unit about the size and heft of a radar detector, is waterproof (10 feet for 30 minutes), and runs on lithium AA batteries.

Besides the unit you also have to subscribe to a $100/year service to provide basic SPOTchecking, but I opted for the additional $50/year "SPOTcasting" feature that can update your location automatically every 10 minutes if I turn it on. I also paid an extra $7 for some insurance in case of having to be hauled out of somewhere by a helicopter....but that's a story for another day.


The unit appears extremely simple and straight-forward with just a few buttons and a nice water tight compartment in back for the batteries. The instruction manual is a bit repetitive and the blinky lights are not quite intuitive as I would have guessed. I'm sure I'll pick it up, but understanding green blinky lights on a 3 second interval vs. a solid green and blink one next to it--then some red solid lights. Combine that with not being able to see the web page of what was reported until 15 minutes later and it will take me a few days to understand the personality of my new little orange friend.

Tracking Service

Once you pay for the service by credit card, enter the unit's serial number, and other data--you then get to go to a website and configure a variety of things: who to contact if you press and hold the Help button, what to tell the the 911 folks if you press it and who they should contact after a get-off, who gets to see what (think "Mom" since one of the reasons I bought it was for her to worry less). And you also have choices of who to notify via e-mail or SMS. I set the help one up to say, "Ummm...I pressed Help. You probably shouldn't panic, but should watch to see if I move or press the 911 button."

Also on the back-end is the option to set up a Google powered map for the public to see...or if you want to protect it and give it to only a few people.

The Public View

You wanna see the map? Clicky here. No password at present and it shows where I've been in the last 24 hours. That time period isn't changable....and is a fairly new service so I'm hoping they'll add some granularity to those controls and maybe make it a bit easier for multi-day rally coverage. I may have to schmooze their tech. staff to see.

Bottom Line

The bottom line with this thing is that I think it's a cost-effective option if you want to be tracked. It's cheaper, smaller, and easier to use than Star-Traxx I think. Although I think the service costs a bit more it does also transmit position every 10 minutes vs. an hour on the ST unit.

The service isn't bad, but I hope they work on the interface and views to the public a bit more..or allow us to mash up our own Google Maps.

For $307 I'm good to go for a year.

More reports to follow I'm sure including upcoming rides on May 24 (S&M 1000), May 31 (Word!), June 28 (Utah 1088), and August (SPANK/IB National).

Now that's cool.

What'd be even better is if they could build it to where it would call 911 after detecting a sudden impact.

Sounds like a great service, thanks for the writeup. I've been looking at these lately in the ads.

Can you check the "clicky" link to your google map? I couldn't get it to come up....

JOhn

There is a facility over here sold to worried parents that tracks mobile phones. Same technology I guess.

CLICK

MotownJJG said:

Can you check the "clicky" link to your google map? I couldn't get it to come up....

Click to expand...

Try now. My tags were hosed, but should be fixed.

feejer222 said:

There is a facility over here sold to worried parents that tracks mobile phones. Same technology I guess.CLICK

Click to expand...

No, actually it isn't. The one you link to requires land-based mobile phone services and vagaries of different services throughout the world. This reason is why I didn't consider one of those options...because I ride in a lot of areas that don't have cell phone service.

SPOT doesn't require any such service to function and transmits directly to a satellite. One could be in an area devoid of service like the middle of the ocean, Warm Springs Nevada, the mountains, etc. Practically, anywhere you have clear sky it's going to work like 99%+ of the time.

Ignacio said:

MotownJJG said:

Can you check the "clicky" link to your google map? I couldn't get it to come up....

Click to expand...

Try now. My tags were hosed, but should be fixed.

feejer222 said:

There is a facility over here sold to worried parents that tracks mobile phones. Same technology I guess.CLICK

Click to expand...

No, actually it isn't. The one you link to requires land-based mobile phone services and vagaries of different services throughout the world. This reason is why I didn't consider one of those options...because I ride in a lot of areas that don't have cell phone service.

SPOT doesn't require any such service to function and transmits directly to a satellite. One could be in an area devoid of service like the middle of the ocean, Warm Springs Nevada, the mountains, etc. Practically, anywhere you have clear sky it's going to work like 99%+ of the time.

Click to expand...

I see, sadly we don't have that type of open expanse over here, the biggest open area that I know of is the car park at the back of the Farmers Arms. I think that there is a phone signal to be had pretty much everywhere here.

I love technology, it's so good....when it works properly. Good luck with it, hope you never need it.

Matt, does the unit need a clear view of the sky to communicate?

Hey Matt...

Isn't waypoint #6 (Latitude :46.2765, Longitude:-119.2216) right there at the 10 cent Turkish Bath?

What were you doing there Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 11:25:18 PM? Hmmm?

feejer222 said:

Good luck with it, hope you never need it.

Click to expand...

Remember, there's two parts to the service. One I'll use regularly...and that's the tracking part for friends, family....this forum too.

The other part is the 911 button and that part I hope I don't have to use.

kaitsdad said:

Matt, does the unit need a clear view of the sky to communicate?

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Yes, seemingly the same as a GPS receiver. I haven't had it long enough to figure out how clear or if it's utilizing orbiting or geosynchronous units yet.

Fred W said:

What were you doing there Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 11:25:18 PM? Hmmm?

Click to expand...

Don't know nuthin' about no baths in my home town....remember that it was 11:25 p.m. your time. That translates to 8:25 in my local time zone...and I was getting a gallon of paint from Lowe's before they closed...or at least that's the story I'm sticking too. :devil:

Hey, Matt? When'd you buy a dual sport? :lol:

Though I can definitely see the safety and rally-minded aspects to this technology, I'm not so sure that the subscription rate(s) are worth the coin to me ('to me', being the operative words here, folks). Further, I wonder about the potential 'black box' syndrome that could potentially come into play with this type of technology. Are there any checks with regard to this?

twowheelnut said:

Further, I wonder about the potential 'black box' syndrome that could potentially come into play with this type of technology. Are there any checks with regard to this?

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By that I assume you mean that you don't want to receive a letter from Allstate which includes something like "...traveled from point A to point B in X amount of time...therefore we hereby terminate your policy...."

Interesting paranoia...I'm not saying it's unfounded, just interesting.

GunMD said:

By that I assume you mean that you don't want to receive a letter from Allstate which includes something like "...traveled from point A to point B in X amount of time...therefore we hereby terminate your policy...."
Interesting paranoia...I'm not saying it's unfounded, just interesting.

Click to expand...

Oh, it could go beyond that, Your Honor. But let's just say that without that gizmo, I won't have to watch out that the paranoids are indeed after me.

Sorry, Ig. Didn't mean to side rail your thread.

-30-

twowheelnut said:

Hey, Matt? When'd you buy a dual sport? :lol:
.....I wonder about the potential 'black box' syndrome that could potentially come into play with this type of technology. Are there any checks with regard to this?

Click to expand...

You haven't heard? "FJR" is Australian for "dual sport". A lesson I learned having ridden to Bristelcone, 67 miles of washboard in Death Valley, and other areas I wondered how a Strom would do.

I have the option of turning on or off this view to the public very easily...or invoking a password and then distributing to only people I want to.

The fact that one can't see more than 24 hours in these views also mitgates things to an extent. On the back-end I can download data for up to 30 days IIRC.

This technology has been out there for some years now.....Dale's run a Star-Traxx that even had speed data available that this one doesn't. To date I haven't heard anybody ACTUALLY denied insurance coverage, contributed to getting a ticket, or any other harm.

Maybe it will happen one day, but in the meantime the benefits of keeping a mother's blood pressure down and share rally information with friends is more important.

I've used it since it first came out, and the web interface has come a long way.

One thing to note, you want to place the device with an unobstructed view of the sky. On the 10-minute updates, it only broadcasts once, so if your view happens to be obstructed at that precise moment, the update won't go through. In fact, in very wooded areas or cities, you can go a good long time without it updating.

The OK messages try several times, those typically get through. The 911 and emergency messages just keep blasting away, as they should.

I've put in a feature request to have the tracker function send the 10 minute update 3 times, 10m-30sec, 10m, and 10m+30sec. They already have the logic to ignore the duplicates.

It's a really neat tool, and on my 6K mile trip across the country, provided family and friends with a good idea of where I was, and that I was still moving.

Also, the emergency function allows you to press a button, and send a custom message. Nice to have a single button to press that pages, calls, emails people wih a message like "i need help, send roadside assistance to my coordinates" -- and it provides GPS coordinates.

Ignacio said:

Maybe it will happen one day, but in the meantime the benefits of keeping a mother's blood pressure down and share rally information with friends is more important.

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Exactly the reason I bought and installed a Star-Traxx unit 3 years ago.

Keeps the wife informed and her tension level low. All good things when negotiating riding times and events.

From what I've heard Ron over at Crystalline Tech is now also selling the SPOT with the mapping and reporting options available to Star-Traxx users.

dougc

I just used mine for a trip to N. Ga. and to do some hiking on the A.T. Worked good. I travel by myself and the wife knows where to find the body now!!! Its works off London time, so 5 hours need to be subtracted.

We've been having discussions about these at our regional search and rescue meetings. One thing you really need to be cognizant of is that when you hit the 911, it doesn't necessarily notify the appropriate resource. According to its site, "...The GEOS International Emergency Response Center alerts the appropriate agencies worldwide – for example contacting 9-1-1 responders in North America." From what's been discussed by SAR folks who've had experience with these, the GEOS folks don't necessarily know exactly who to call and can lead to delays in getting the correct resource.

Just something to be aware of.

Quite aware. Of course, self rescue is the ideal option in case of an emergency.

If that isn't an option there are other options too. There's cell phone service in many areas and other motorists as well.

But seeing that in the U.S. alone there are 3,141 counties, parishes, or boroughs; various townships, towns, and municipalities; state; federal; and a myriad of other support agencies...I'll just have to hope that the person on the other end of that SPOT 911 button are in a better position than myself to try and find the most correct resource.

I mounted mine with velcro to the from brake reservoir and it worked fine. I also put it my top case for an hour when I was off the bike and it still worked through the cover, if you face it up.