SPot now has a reasonable contender...

[gmj3191]

I was reading the latest caravan and RV magazine, and in the Gadgets and products section
they have shown a , new to me, contender for the Spot GPS system
this one comes from Delorme (maker of high level GPS devices).
this one is called the Inreach http://www.inreachdelorme.com/.
pretty cool as it can connect your smartphone to the rest of the world ( for SMS) wherever you are. rather than in the 10% of the world that has coverage.

it has a subscription, but then so does Spot. http://alwaysinreach.com.au/index.php/p ... e/15-rates
a very nice rugged looking device.

Dear Santa, I've been a very good Geocacher this year......

Hmmm they use the Iridium satellite network. I thought that had gone bankrupt so it's good that it is being used again, and fairly extensively according to Wikipedia.
The best part of all this was the Iridium Flares which I used to watch occasionally.

[gmj3191]

Funny you brought this up.
My son has just gone hiking for a few days out of Harrietville and he just send me an email saying his mate has a SPOT, and he sent me the link to track them.
Spots are now less than $100 on eBay from the US.
Wonder how much these new things are, and the service contracts?

[maccamob]

In $Australian: http://alwaysinreach.com.au/index.php/p ... e/15-rates

[gmj3191]

Thanks David, pretty expensive when you consider it's not really monthly as it's a 12 month minimum contract.
You might only use it a few times per annum.

[Kerry]

In $Australian: http://alwaysinreach.com.au/index.php/p ... e/15-rates

Some could get a bill shock from those subscription rates! Quite expensive in fact and not really anywhere near a comparative rate when compared to SPOT?

[iamapom]

I actually own one of each .... and I should call out up front that I am an official Australian dealer for both of them.

Now, they are from the same company - but quite different offerings.
Both devices are emergency location beacons of course.
The advantage of the InReach is that it can not only be used to send preset messages (as the Spot also does) but most importantly two way ad-hoc SMS/TXT communication via the global Iridium Satellite. Once activated each InReach account has it's own US based telephone number which can send and recieve SMS/TXT, and post to Facebook and Twitter via the InReach device and the app on a smartphone (connected by Bluetooth). I have tested my InReach extensively, and sent TXTs from my iPhone. It's simply awesome, and very well built.
Iridium also has total global coverage, unlike the system used by Spot. For instance Spot doesn't cover all of Africa or Antarctica for instance.
I believe that Spot Messengers bought outside of Australia incur extra charges upon activation with Pivotel in Australia. Not my part of the process (I just sell the hardware) so I'm not sure of the details,

[gmj3191]

Looks like we won't see you at the event in Antarctica on SPOT then Carl?

[iamapom]

Not on Spot, but yes on InReach ! I'm gonna share a live tracking map somewhere nearer the time.