Geocaching Australia

Been thinking about picking up one of these so I can do some more solo bush caching. It is often difficult to find someone to cache with and while I can hire one for $35/weekend locally I think having my own one will be more convenient. From me research it appear that the [urlhttp://www.kti.com.au/minisat406gps.htm]KTI[/url] model has the best specs followed by the GME model. unfortunately the KTI model doesn't appear to be released yet? The one I hired one time was the GME unit and it was a little bulky and heavy but not over the top. Does anyone have any experience with OWNING one, especially anyone who has used one? Looks like the cheapest price for the GME unit is about $544.

Cheers,
Jeremy.

Hey there Jeremy,

Have you considered an alternative 0 the personal locator beacon. To give you an idea about their functions see one example:

http://www.e-worldshopping.com/Products ... uctID=1312

It is cheaper, has a few more functions and has an annual subscription service.

Cheers!
Rob.

rbirtles wrote:Hey there Jeremy,

Have you considered an alternative 0 the personal locator beacon. To give you an idea about their functions see one example:

http://www.e-worldshopping.com/Products ... uctID=1312

It is cheaper, has a few more functions and has an annual subscription service.

Cheers!
Rob.

I have, but having read lots of review of this device I don't have the confidence of putting my life in its hands. Plus the lifetime cost of the SPOT Emergency locator is actually higher than the PLB. The GME PLB has a 7 year warranty and battery lifetime of 7 years and will operate for 2 days after you trigger it. The SPOT device costs around $200 (can be got cheaper) and then $100/year (assuming the company stays in business that long). So over 7 years the PLB is actually cheaper. A review of the SPOT reported it not to work to well without a clear view of the sky (i.e. trees give it problems). The big plus is that the SPOT is not a "no news is good news" device and give loved ones at home the option of receiving "I'm OK" messages back. But given that I am relying on this to save my life I've decided that a PLB is the way to go.

I haven't seen any other PLB alternatives than the SPOT. Have you seen any others?

I have a GME GPS enabled PLB. It is light and durable, and does the job for what I need it to do. Mind you I still keep it in a waterproof hardcase, inside another waterproof drybag. I mainly own it for canyoning (hence the waterproofing) and bushwalking. I have had it for about twelve months, it replaced my old EPIRB when they changed frequencies.

I looked at Spot, but was not convinced about the satellite coverage and read some very bad reviews.

If you search for the yahoo group "ozcanyons" you should be able to read through the group's archive, the pros and cons of various PLBS are often discussed!

With the new PLB system you can log onto the website and log where you are going, who has your route information, emergency contact details, etc. This (theoretically) quickens the search process and eliminates the authorities chasing ghost signals. I am lead to believe that under the old system an EPIRB set of in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney would often result in a ghost signal being chased off the eastern coast of Sydney!

I have never actually set off a PLB or EPIRB, but again if you read through the ozcanyons archives there are many stories on there of people who have.

There is a procedure for testing where you can ring them and tell them you are going to test it. I'm not sure what impact this would have on battery life, but I imagine it would be worth doing maybe one/year.
http://beacons.amsa.gov.au/beacon-testing.html

I have a GME unit, comes in a small case. I hope to never use it.

I ended up getting the GME410G unit from Prestige Communications for $549 + $16 shipping and $14 for optional shipping insurance. Unit was shipped the day following my order and arrived from Perth overnight. Very happy. There was 1 other mob who had it for $5 cheaper and $3 cheaper delivery, but they didn't respond to my stock enquiry. Prestige responded to the stock enquiry on the same day.

My wife and I are thinking about getting an EPIRB/PLB for when we head out walking together or if I head out for a spot of solo caching. Although we've been talking about for a while, a snake scare in Tidbinbilla earlier this summer has prompted me to get my act together and look into the options more seriously.

It's been a couple of years since this thread was last active, so hopefully some of you have had some positive or negative experiences with your particular models that could help those considering buying one of these devices?

JustinCBR

Mine still works, never had to use it !

Mine still responds to the test cycle. I've never used. They seem to have come down in price significantly. There are other options now too with the Spot 2 and another device (can't remember the name) that will allow 2-way SMS messages via bluetooth from your phone and then transmit them via the satellite phone network, but it is quite expensive.

For my money, the only device I would trust my life to is an EPIRB/PLB.

Keep in mind though that they are inexpensive to hire from the Namadgi visitor centre if you only go infrequently. Not sure if Tidbinbilla hire them out.

Anybody serious about safety then PLB is really the first choice. Things like SPOT etc have a place but should be a secondary consideration.

Also over the life of the device the PLB will be overall the cheapest (and best) option anyway.