Find Me Spot - very cool

[07 Elephant]

I got one of these for my birthday last week.

www.findmespot.com satellite personal tracker

The account management webapp is pretty intuitive and easy to use.
After creating a distribution list w/ sms and email addressess I was on my way.

It does 4 things and does them well.

1. send an ok message to your distribution list w/ your current gps coordinates.
In the email message you're given a google maps link that takes you to google maps and shows your location. My wife and I have iphones and the integration of google maps is pretty slick.

2. send tracking way points every 10 minutes to the spot site for viewing either by you or by making a shared site through the management app that lets others see your tracks.

3. send a help message to your distribution list. This is an informal way of asking for assistance.

4. contact 911 with your gps coordinates. If you sign up for geos you also get private search and rescue assistance and insurance.

As we are frequently out of cell service this is a cool way to stay in touch and offers a bail out option in an emergency. A few friends are on the road for business and use it to check in at set times etc. And Les Stroud the Survivorman is their spokesman. :wavey:

[expat]

Damn. Why don't I ever get birthday presents like that. Nice.

[Yabedude]

Nice. Some Amateur Radios /addons have a similar feature -- to send coordinates to a server and be visible on a map.

[bulldog]

Nice. Some Amateur Radios /addons have a similar feature -- to send coordinates to a server and be visible on a map.
Yes APRS on Hams seem to work very nice, and you can send messages as well. However you need to be in range of an APRS repeater for it to work. Search for APRS on the forum, very cool stuff about it.


The Spot looks really cool, especially for folks going on trips on their own or smaller groups, very long travels, etc.

[07 Elephant]

I've been following the ham radio discussions here as well and will get one in time. APRS is very cool. The spot offers another communication option. My folks got one as well and they have a sat phone. Reason for getting the spot was relatively inexpensive satellite communication. The sat phone is about 400$ yearly charge plus usage costs. And upfront it was about 800$ so very pricey. When all they want to do is check in w/ us while out on the high seas the spot seems to be the best option. The spot is also cheeper than an epirb at around 1000$.

In total the spot was about 300$ up front - 150 for the device and 150 for the service. That's retail w/out any rebates and there are some deals out there. Costco sells it.

thanks for comments.

[Teotwaki]

I bought my SPOT when they had a killer deal in December '08. Total cost was $150 including full service. They are a great tool to have for outdoor pursuits but no excuse to be unprepared. :2cents