beaconing anyone?

Hi pmcke you are 100% right,but last night i sore on Tv in in Brisbane an add for SPOT PLB and they did not mention anything about using the cell phone systen or that it goes to the USA and back,sounds like false advertising to me

Try this site for good info PLB -v- SPOT http://www.acrelectronics.com/faqs/spotvs.aspx

Thanks, that was an interesting read. There's some interesting text about the differences on that page. For context it's worth noting that it's published by a company that makes EPIRBs, and it's not a completely independent evaluation. It seemed especially biased to me from half way down with comments like "Don't buy SPOT because it's manufactured in China rather than the USA", "Your annual SPOT subscription might run out and *then* you'd be in trouble", "Don't get knee replacement surgery from your family doctor!", etc. But some good stuff to think about regardless.

I agree with you but i suppose it all depends on what you wont to do with it,and if you wont to keep paying a subscription each year. I will be hireing a plb when i walk the hollyford next year as it is not worth buying one for what i would get out of it. Some of the facts on the site are true as im a Electronics Tech and our company in Brisbane sells industrail wireless electronics all over the world and most of the electronics are in the 400-900Mhz range for better coverage IE: 406 Mhz beacon. Spots 1.6 Gig would run into more problems due to being more directional and less power. But in the end it all depends what you wont to use it for Lindsay

The decision to activate a beacon is not an easy one to make. A lot goes through your mind while you are wrestling with the decision. Add to this, if you are considering setting it off then things are already going really badly and decision making is already impaired. You are probably in that predicament because you have already made one, two or maybe three bad calls and something has gone horribly wrong. One factor is: "Can I rescue myself?" even if the answer is yes. You are making that decision at a time when your judgment so far has proven pretty poor. "If I set the beacon off now, it will be a clean pick up, sky is clear, 4 hours of daylight left, fly in, collect my sorry butt, end of story" and "end of tramp" or "Leave the decision for two further hours, cloud may have come in, hunkering down for the night in snow, rain and wind is not pleasant, even if you know someone is coming for you" and "complications can set in, early stages of frost bite are hitting, all the symptoms of hypothermia are kicking in, especially that poor decision making symptom" Images of hikers hallucinating about being rescued by Yetis flash by. "Mark Inglis, that fella from the North Shore, there are enough one and no legged trampers now" then the "If onlys" kick in, they are really bad, "If only I had planned this better", "If only I had left it another day for the snow to burn off", they can go on and on, and again this is happening when a lot has already gone wrong. Your confidence in your decision making and experience is at an all time low. After all it was your reliance on your experience and decision making that got you into that predicament. Then you consider cost "Weather is brilliant, fly in, fly out." vs "Leave it till you are really in trouble, it's dark, weather turned bad and SAR will be sending in ground teams, hours and hours of Helicopter time." This and more is churning through your mind. You think about your family, your job, the huge amount of taxes you have paid over the years. What will people think if I quit now? Will I ever be able to face my tramping friends again, about that point you decide the people at “Lawn Bowls” won’t judge me, confident you have found a new recreational pursuit you set the beacon off. ……………. Then the days, weeks and months past. What a horrible experience, would I do that tramp again? absolutely. Have I joined lawn bowls? The cheap booze was tempting, but no. Failure is a very hard thing to live with, especially when you can not blame it on someone else. SAR, praise your decision, the beacon manufacture love you for showing their product (McMurdo Fast Find) works. And fortunately no one makes the connection between you coming home early and the reports of an Auckland tramper being rescued. This was the first time I carried a beacon, and it was at the insistence of family and friends. I have not been tramping since. It has been a real kick in the guts for my confidence. I am slowly working back up to it again with day walks. I plan to get my own beacon, this was a hire one from a tramping club. I hope I never have to make a decision like that again. On one note the $200 dollar battery replacement fee, does not even come into it. If I had not had a beacon, how would it have been different, I don’t really know. Cell phone coverage was a two hour shuffle in snow away, I really was in trouble, I had sense to recognise that.

Wondered at the quiet welcome back

From their latest press release which has reached some of the news wires, following an incident in the Ruahines (as well as others I'm sure which I can't find), the Police are certainly pushing for as many people as possible to always carry EPIRBs: http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/21965.html "Just after midday the Helipro located the family in a bush area around 700 metres from Forks Hut. The 12-year-old boy was conscious and alert but had suffered nausea and dizziness since the fall. He had lacerations to his head and arm and a possible broken arm. The father had a laceration to his leg but was able to walk unaided. All three were suffering from the effects of the cold. "A medic attended to them at the location before they were winched out and airlifted to Palmerston North Hospital. "Police want to take the opportunity top again push the importance of carrying 406 Mhz personal locator beacons as a means of early alert to rescue agencies when responding to such incidents. This would have alerted the Rescue Coordination Centre and Police to the family's plight last night." From the description it sounds as if this one in particular was a head injury case, which then developed into hypothermia symptoms for additional people when they couldn't easily continue or be quickly rescued. It's probably an example case where an EPIRB could make a real difference regardless of things like group sizes and ability of people to walk out for help. Even if they had better shelter, a head injury is still the sort of thing that needs to be sorted as immediately as possible. Although, if they'd been carrying it they might still have lost it over the side with the GPS and a heap of other gear.

Almost always carry a beacon - whenever I'm further away from a reasonably frequented road and / or cell reception than an hour of walking. Alone or in a group, by the way, unless the group carries another one already. It's a no-brainer. Suggestions re first aid: Pack sugar and salt. Mixing the WHO rehydration drink with it (1 litre of water, 8 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt) and constantly sipping it will not stop your diarrhea if you get it; but it will keep you energetic and able to do things which you definitely won't be otherwise. That's more than a convenience question, it's a safety question. Matt