SPOT (Satellite Personal Tracker)

[Ignacio]

Second use this weekend and I reconfigured some RAM ball parts I had, cut an aluminum plate, and Dual-Locked it to that...all above my throttle.

I figured out how to tell the difference of "SPOTtracking" and "SPOTcasting". One has to just be patient while riding and the flow of blinky lights makes some sense after a while and patience.

My only disappointment is the connect-the-dots as-the-crow-flies on the Google Map. For purposes of my friends who aren't route savvy I'd like there to be an option to go ahead and apply the best guess to an actual route.

I doubt they'll do it anytime soon...so I may look into a way to scrape the data from my back-end account and script my own GoogleMap page.

Overall, a great product!

 

[Big-D]

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

Yeah, I had my cell phones set up so I could check the whereabouts of my three daughters via GPS ability. The only problem is when I clicked on "track" for a selected daughter, they received a text message stating they were being tracked. In which case, they promptly notified Dad to quit checking on them and to mind my own business. Needless to say, after your kids reach 20 years old or older, they don't want mom & dad prying into there whereabouts. Oh well, I tried! What can I say? :dribble:

 

[cota95]

Second use this weekend and I reconfigured some RAM ball parts I had, cut an aluminum plate, and Dual-Locked it to that...all above my throttle.
I figured out how to tell the difference of "SPOTtracking" and "SPOTcasting". One has to just be patient while riding and the flow of blinky lights makes some sense after a while and patience.

My only disappointment is the connect-the-dots as-the-crow-flies on the Google Map. For purposes of my friends who aren't route savvy I'd like there to be an option to go ahead and apply the best guess to an actual route.

I doubt they'll do it anytime soon...so I may look into a way to scrape the data from my back-end account and script my own GoogleMap page.

Overall, a great product!

I'm not sure what you mean by not following the route. If you zoom in on the map you can see exactly where and which roads I took. One of my friends even noticed that I turned around at one point.

 

[ngarider]

When you get into mountainous areas or areas with lots of roads, 10 minutes is not enough for guidance update rate. If you're on a freeway, sure...

Iggy, I thought the same thing -- and went so far as to curl the data down, just haven't parsed it out. I also don't know the google maps part, but it didn't look too difficult at first whack.

Second use this weekend and I reconfigured some RAM ball parts I had, cut an aluminum plate, and Dual-Locked it to that...all above my throttle.
I figured out how to tell the difference of "SPOTtracking" and "SPOTcasting". One has to just be patient while riding and the flow of blinky lights makes some sense after a while and patience.

My only disappointment is the connect-the-dots as-the-crow-flies on the Google Map. For purposes of my friends who aren't route savvy I'd like there to be an option to go ahead and apply the best guess to an actual route.

I doubt they'll do it anytime soon...so I may look into a way to scrape the data from my back-end account and script my own GoogleMap page.

Overall, a great product!

I'm not sure what you mean by not following the route. If you zoom in on the map you can see exactly where and which roads I took. One of my friends even noticed that I turned around at one point.

 

[SPORT]

ELT (Emergency Locating Transmitters) can do almost the same thing...but for free. It is an aviation device that signals the FAA if an acident occurs by using a 'G-switch' (Gravity switch). Now they've found a way to market it AND make money on something that was free.

Capitalism at its finest.

Nevertheless, it is a nice device.

 

[Ignacio]

ELT (Emergency Locating Transmitters) can do almost the same thing...but for free. It is an aviation device that signals the FAA if an acident occurs by using a 'G-switch' (Gravity switch).%

Not so much. ELT's ONLY contact the authorities in an emergency.

SPOT transmits non-emergency data and provides tracking information to friends and family. That's 90% why I have this. The emergency part is only 10%.

 

[flying junior]

I'm intrigued, but when I click on your link I get a map of the world centered on the intersection of the date line and the equator. what am I doing wrong?

 

[Ignacio]

I'm intrigued, but when I click on your link I get a map of the world centered on the intersection of the date line and the equator. what am I doing wrong?

You're very likely also seeing a message that says, "No new messages with the last 24 hours."

Since I haven't had the unit on in the past 24 hours....it seems approppriate. Watch tomorrow on my commute to Nevada...or Saturday when we have a little ride planned.

 

[johnny80s]

Now your wife is going to know when you're at the girlfriend's house.

 

[SouthernCruizer]

ELT (Emergency Locating Transmitters) can do almost the same thing...but for free. It is an aviation device that signals the FAA if an acident occurs by using a 'G-switch' (Gravity switch).%

Not so much. ELT's ONLY contact the authorities in an emergency.

SPOT transmits non-emergency data and provides tracking information to friends and family. That's 90% why I have this. The emergency part is only 10%.

**************************

Actually, the ELT's do not contact anyone, they simply transmit a signal for SAR personnel to track. The SPOT unit is definitely a consumer electronic aimed at the tracking/fleeting market. Cool deal.

Jay

'04 FJR 1300

 

[pawtracks]

That's a cool gadget.

For those of you who don't want to pay the service fees for the 911 options and are happy will cell phone area coverage here's a free tracking option for blackberry users.

Link

 

[pawtracks]

Second use this weekend and I reconfigured some RAM ball parts I had, cut an aluminum plate, and Dual-Locked it to that...all above my throttle.
I figured out how to tell the difference of "SPOTtracking" and "SPOTcasting". One has to just be patient while riding and the flow of blinky lights makes some sense after a while and patience.

My only disappointment is the connect-the-dots as-the-crow-flies on the Google Map. For purposes of my friends who aren't route savvy I'd like there to be an option to go ahead and apply the best guess to an actual route.

I doubt they'll do it anytime soon...so I may look into a way to scrape the data from my back-end account and script my own GoogleMap page.

Overall, a great product!

After reading this post and Highlander's post of the group buy pricing plus a 50% off coupon (FATHER8) on the tracking almost have me pulled over the fence.

The mounting location-position issues are my main concern.

A mount of some kind would keep it horizontal for the best tracking coverage, while keeping it on your body would be best if you are thrown and need it for 911 purposes.

The fact that it has a belt loop just seems pointless to me if it won't work in that position.

Matt, looking forward to more real world reports.

-How your mount location works (pictures), battery life, tracking accuracy, Google map scripts, etc...

While we are waiting, here is where I first came across the mounting position limitation (LINK)

 

[OhioFJR1300]

Am I missing something here, or is the group buy the same price as the Father's day sale price? Looks like a good unit and I may have to add one to my list of toys. Just checked Amazon.com, it is $134.99 there. That may be the best price yet.

 

[pawtracks]

Am I missing something here, or is the group buy the same price as the Father's day sale price? Looks like a good unit and I may have to add one to my list of toys. Just checked Amazon.com, it is $134.99 there. That may be the best price yet.

My understanding of the group buy pricing is $135 ($150-15 instant rebate) which includes USPS priority shipping.

As far as I can tell the Father's Day sale is only 50% off of the annual tracking fee ($25 savings)

or 6 months free (depends on what you read) some reports are saying 50% off, some say 6 months free like the coupon I posted above

From my search the real Amazon price is $149.99 (free shipping)

-I am a prime member as well but since I recently moved to WA I am now hit with the 8.5% sales tax which slightly sours the deal

Two 2nd party vendors are selling for $134.99 and $134.40 + ~$9 in shipping

I've never heard of either vendor (Skybox-usa or Gizmosforlife)

To me the group buy pricing still seems like the best price out there.

 

[OhioFJR1300]

The group buy IS the way to go and I got my Spot yesterday. I can not get the on-line map page to work with my IMac, but everything else works great, I even pressed the 911 button by mistake and got a call asking me if I was okay or not. Glad they made that call, as I really did not need an EMS squad to save me from anything.

 

[eg23232]

Some things in the works for Spot Satellite Messenger...

The Spot 1.5 will have an LCD screen which will display your coordinates. The 911 button will be changed to "SOS" because 911 is not universal worldwide and there are some misuses of the 911 feature. I can't remember the exact timeline on this, but I think it's within the next 6 to 12 months.

About two years down the road, there will be a Generation 2 version. Along with the above changes, plans are for there to be a Blackberry-type keyboard to allow "on the fly" messaging changes to your Spot account. The device will receive confirmations, allow for two-way sms. It has been described as making the current Spot "look archaic" in comparison.

 

[eg23232]

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

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.

The Globalstar sats are not geostationary. Hence, coverage may improve or degrade over time as the sats move.

 

[happyPuppy]

I heard it will work even if placed under the pillion seat. That would be great if some rat bastard steals your bike, too.

 

[Ignacio]

I heard it will work even if placed under the pillion seat. That would be great if some rat bastard steals your bike, too.

Only if it does work AND you have the expanded SPOTCasting service for the extra $50 a year AND you press the SPOTCasting button AND you recover the bike within 24 hours. It turns off automatically after that and won't transmit again....unless the thief presses it for you.

SPOT is not designed as a theft recovery device and is suboptimal at best.

 

[devanator]

I heard it will work even if placed under the pillion seat.

Jackson had us use his when rickcorwin and myself did our SS1000 at CFO this last Sept. He said his works just lying in his smuggler. Its totally covered in that thing. I had it in my tank bag and they tracked us fine. They said it was kind of fun throughout the day seeing our progress.