For some time now, since I started doing some solo backpacks in fact, I’ve been keeping an eye on the available technology for personal tracking. Having very little knowledge or experience of portable electronics doesn’t help at all, and getting to grips with all this is uphill work. After much investigation and internet fatigue I gave up on a feasible solution a while ago, but the SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker is a very interesting development and it reawakened my interest.
Ideally the best solution would meet these requirements:-
- Allows the track to be displayed in real time on OS digital mapping back home on the PC
- The battery must last at least a week
- Affordable internet service, preferably Pay-As-You-Go
- Tracks me in real time by transmitting my coordinates to a web server at specified intervals
- Works anywhere in mainland UK (which rules out any idea based on the cellphone network)
Point #1: the easy one. Memory Map, my mapping software of choice, has provided the web server and map display components of a solution for a long time. They have sensibly split the functionality in exactly the right place, leaving the choice of hardware and mobile internet service to the user. The SPOT is tied to a personal web account that uses GoogleMaps, which is pretty crap really for the wild parts of the UK compared to OS mapping, but it’s a start.
Point #2: the SPOT device succeeds admirably on this one, overcoming a major problem that plagued all the previous technologies I looked at. Its sole purpose is to send quick low volume packets of information periodically and it consumes little power, lasting 14 days in tracking mode.
Point #3: The SPOT has a fixed unlimited sub of £75 pa which is pretty good, but the tracking facility is extra (I can’t find any mention of the price on the site).
Points #4 and #5: related points that encompass all the problems. In my naivety I had assumed that satellite technology would be able to lock and transmit just about anywhere in the open air, thus overcoming the crap cellphone coverage problem, but it seems I was wrong. After some digging I came across a couple of websites that gave some very disappointing reports. One specific point was reported by several people and a question about it was subsequently added to the Q&A that left me speechless:-
Q: Many of the ‘con’ responses indicate SPOT won’t track in overcast weather. Why?.
A: This unit may experience difficulty tracking in overcast weather due to not being able to ’see’ the sky (as with any other GPS device).
Whaaaat???!!.
There was another blog report by a canoeist who emphasized the need for a clear unobstructed view of the southern sky, otherwise many of the transmissions would simply not get through. In his case it was a screen of mangroves in the line of sight. To quote a snippet from his report:-
This being ‘in the open’ concerns me though. Its important to recognize this up front. I must first understand that if I’m in a tree covered area (any sky obstruction) that I must first get out to an open view of the sky before relying on rescue or even a sent message.
Does this apply to all Sat devices, like SatPhones?. Their advertising trumpets the claim that they work ‘anywhere - even where cellphones don’t', but they are obviously talking on a very large scale, not ‘anywhere’ as in ‘at the bottom of a steep sided valley’ or ‘in a forest’.
So much for my enthusiasm, at least for now.
12 Comments
I see PTC* has been trying a SPOT. Yes, it would be a great piece of hardware if it did all your items 1-5… 1 can be done with most GPS receivers. 2 - well you can take extra batteries or recharge them. 3… 4 or 5. Well, would be great if it could work in the UK. Had a quick look at the SPOT website. They make it sound magnificent. I wonder if it does all works in the USA?
However, I think you’ll be waiting a while longer for something in the UK Geoff.
Phil,
I think we are at cross purposes here with regard to point #1: I want Vivien to see my track displayed on the PC at home in real time, as I am moving on the hill. At any time she can go to the PC and refresh the map, which will add the latest transmitted points to the track on the screen and she knows accurately where I am. MM has everything set up on the server side, it’s the portable device end that is causing the difficulty.
I don’t want to take several sets of batteries because of weight (PDA batteries only last a day, if that), and similarly a powerpack would negate a lot of the weight savings I’ve made recently.
I’m awaiting PTC’s report on the SPOT, but I’m sure you are right about waiting!.
Geoff, yes reading again I see your point. Though to work it all depends on 3, 4 & 5! I think you’ll be waiting a while. I seem to recall that some time ago there were some similar solutions being touted using mobile phone technology. Keep an eye on the children! It used mobile signal triangulation - don’t know if they ever really got anywhere commercially? But of course would be next to useless for your purposes away from urban areas and in respect of the accuracy a GPS can offer.
Spot is a great concept that doesn’t work. The unit, in an effort to save power, is so underpowered that it cannot link up with its GPS satellite to determine its position. Spot could not determine its location on the top of a 7,000 mountain with a totally unobstructed view of the sky, it could not find its location in a 1,000 acre treeless meadow and it couldn’t find its location in downtown Los Angeles. Even the lowest cost Garmin or my Blackberry can do better than Spot. It is not much good to send a Help message or 911 call with no location.
Perhaps I just got a bad unit. Hoiwever, my real problem began when I contacted the customer service line at Spot. They are not knowledgeable and really don’t seem to care about helping their customers. Bad product and bad company…do not buy this product!
Chris,
Thanks very much for this report. It confirms what I’ve since heard from another technically competent source: that even the easy part - the GPS position lock - is unreliable, let alone the transmission of the position to the web server which is where I thought all the problems would lie.
The consensus seems to be that ‘Location Based Services’, of which personal tracking is one aspect, represent a huge business opportunity and will expand very quickly. I’m hoping that the technology will improve in the same measure. Perhaps Garmin will come up with something.
There is a good article on the SPoT in the June issue of Trail. Interesting comments from Mountain Rescue Teams on what they think would happen if it becomes a widely used device in the UK hills. Pete over at PTC liked it for the reassurance value and for that I’m thinking of getting one to keep the Wife happy on solo trips.
Martin,
I’ve been following Pete’s reports on the SPOT and his experience is opposite to all the others I’ve heard. In any case I’ll sit tight for a while.
I haven’t seen the Trail article but I’m not surprised if the MRT are apprehensive: most of the discussion and controversy about the SPOT are to do with that panic button, which is inviting misuse.
Geoff,
Their seems to be quite a bit of difference of opinion on the SPoT, but I’m interested in the fact that Pete over at PTC only missed one ping on a three day test. Maybe someone will use one on the Challenge this time. Chris Townsend could be testing it as we speak. A two week walk would be a very good test.
On the SPoT there is an interesting story of it being used on the TGO Challenge. It’s posted on the Challenge web site by a Challenger who used it to get rescued. He gave the SPoT top marks.
PS got your rucksack repaired yet? I have never seen that happen, Lets hope it is a once in a lifetime event.
Well he was certainly glad of the SPOT then, and a good example of correct usage of the panic button. It’s good publicity for the manufacturers too.
I’m still waiting to hear from Winwoods about the Golite, I’ve no idea how long these things take.
Don’t expect the spot to work any place with hills or trees i.e. any place you might feasibly want to use it. When I complained that the tracking doesn’t work i.e. got 2 tracking messages while next to the house but nothing in the next 2.5 hours while out with the dogs I got this back;
). You also have to make certain that if you do have an accident of illness that you have it at the top of a hill without any trees.
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Since SPOT is a line of sight product, using SPOT is forested areas, around mountain elevations, near houses or buildings all impose delivery limitations. SPOT should be held out horizontal with the logo side facing upward when trying to send messages for optimum success. SPOT requires a 180 degree clear view to the sky. The SPOT communication satellites are not stationary thus requiring such a open view to the sky.
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So in otherwords you have to hold it out facing upwards (arm might get tired in tracking mode for a few hours at a time) or perhaps use the belt clip to mount it to the top of a helmet (presumably above the flashing blue light you already have there
Quite clearly their service DOESN’T WORK for anyone who wants to use it in the outdoors, it may be fine for boats etc. but that is not how it is being advertised. My recommendation, avoid. I am now going to have to try to recover the money from them, if needs be I’ll just get the credit card company to do it since , as far as I am concerned, they sold the service by false advertising.
Bill,
Another negative report then, this clearly isn’t the thing for me. That’s an amusing vision of a walker with the thing mounted on his head, we’ll all be going around looking like the Borg!.