Customer Reviews for SPOT Personal Tracker

SPOT Personal Tracker

SPOT Personal Tracker List Price: $99.99
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Description of SPOT Personal Tracker

The SPOT Satellite Messenger, the world's first satellite messenger, uses both the GPS satellite network to determine a customer's location and the SPOT network to transmit that information to friends, family or an emergency service center. SPOT is a revolutionary product that is designed to raise the safety factor for hundreds of millions of people around the world.
Give your loved ones full peace of mind when you're on the mountain with the Spot Satellite Messenger. Whether you're just checking in, allowing others to track your progress, or calling for help, Spot gives you a vital line of communication with friends and family when you want it, and emergency assistance when and where you need it. Spot employs a GPS satellite network to acquire its coordinates, then sends its location to the recipient of your choice, complete with a link to Google Maps and a pre-programmed message. Unlike personal locator beacons, however, Spot does more than just call for help. The SpotChecking feature, for example, lets you notify your SpotTeam--the friends and family you've chosen as your contacts--and tell them all is well, notify them of your location, or save waypoints so you can review your route at a later date. You can also activate the SpotCasting feature to let friends and family follow your progress in real time (every 10 minutes). Anyone with access to your account information can log on and view your route, complete with virtual views provided by Google Maps. SpotCasting is a terrific feature for mountain climbers looking to celebrate their accomplishments with their loved ones.

The most important feature, however, is Spot's ability to call 911 in the event of a life-threatening or other critical emergency. Once activated, Spot will acquire your exact coordinates from the GPS network, and then send that location along with a distress message to a GEOS International Emergency Response Center every five minutes until cancelled. The Emergency Response Center will then notify the appropriate emergency responders based on your location and personal information. Responders may include local police, the highway patrol, the Coast Guard, an embassy or consulate, or other emergency response and search-and-rescue teams. Even if Spot can't acquire its location from the GPS network, it will still attempt to send a distress signal--without your exact location--to the Emergency Response Center, which will still notify your emergency contacts of the signal and continue to monitor the network for further messages.

Spot works around the world, including in virtually all of the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Australia, and portions of South America, Northern Africa, and Northeastern Asia. And provided you're in a good coverage area, Spot offers a 99 percent probability of sending a successful message within 20 minutes. As a result, Spot is ideal for anyone with a taste for outdoor adventures, including boaters, kayakers, sailboarders, archaeologists, skiers, climbers, pilots, business travelers, snowshoers, and just about anyone else.

Spot requires two AA lithium batteries, with a battery life of up to one year in standby mode, 14 days in SpotCasting mode, or 7 days in 911 mode. And thanks to the water-resistant housing (safe in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes), you needn't worry about using Spot in adverse conditions. Spot measures a compact 2.75 by 4.38 by 1.5 inches (W x H x D), weighs 7.37 ounces, and carries a one-year limited warranty.

Communication Functions:



    Spot employs a GPS satellite network to acquire its coordinates, then sends its location to the recipient of your choice, complete with a link to Google Maps and a pre-programmed message.
  • Alert 9-1-1 dispatches emergency responders to an exact location
  • Ask for Help sends a request for help to friends and family with your location
  • Check In lets contacts know where you are and that you are okay
  • Track Progress sends and saves your location and allows others to track your progress using Google Maps

Battery Life:

  • Power ON, unused: Approximately 1 year
  • SPOT casting continuous tracking mode: Approximately 14 days
  • 9-1-1 mode: Up to 7 consecutive days
  • HELP mode: up to 1900 messages
  • SPOT check OK up to 1900 messages

Specifications:

  • Weight: 7 ounces
  • Waterproof to a depth of 1 meter for up to 30 minutes
  • Operating Temperature: -40ºF to +185ºF
  • Operating Altitude: -300 feet to +21,300 feet
  • Humidity and Salt Fog Rated


Give your loved ones full peace of mind when you're on the mountain with the Spot Satellite Messenger. Whether you're just checking in, allowing others to track your progress, or calling for help, Spot gives you a vital line of communication with friends and family when you want it, and emergency assistance when and where you need it. Spot employs a GPS satellite network to acquire its coordinates, then sends its location to the recipient of your choice, complete with a link to Google Maps and a pre-programmed message. Unlike personal locator beacons, however, Spot does more than just call for help. The SpotChecking feature, for example, lets you notify your SpotTeam--the friends and family you've chosen as your contacts--and tell them all is well, notify them of your location, or save waypoints so you can review your route at a later date. You can also activate the SpotCasting feature to let friends and family follow your progress in real time (every 10 minutes). Anyone with access to your account information can log on and view your route, complete with virtual views provided by Google Maps. SpotCasting is a terrific feature for mountain climbers looking to celebrate their accomplishments with their loved ones.

The most important feature, however, is Spot's ability to call 911 in the event of a life-threatening or other critical emergency. Once activated, Spot will acquire your exact coordinates from the GPS network, and then send that location along with a distress message to a GEOS International Emergency Response Center every five minutes until cancelled. The Emergency Response Center will then notify the appropriate emergency responders based on your location and personal information. Responders may include local police, the highway patrol, the Coast Guard, an embassy or consulate, or other emergency response and search-and-rescue teams. Even if Spot can't acquire its location from the GPS network, it will still attempt to send a distress signal--without your exact location--to the Emergency Response Center, which will still notify your emergency contacts of the signal and continue to monitor the network for further messages.

Spot works around the world, including in virtually all of the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Australia, and portions of South America, Northern Africa, and Northeastern Asia. And provided you're in a good coverage area, Spot offers a 99 percent probability of sending a successful message within 20 minutes. As a result, Spot is ideal for anyone with a taste for outdoor adventures, including boaters, kayakers, sailboarders, archaeologists, skiers, climbers, pilots, business travelers, snowshoers, and just about anyone else.

Spot requires two AA lithium batteries, with a battery life of up to one year in standby mode, 14 days in SpotCasting mode, or 7 days in 911 mode. And thanks to the water-resistant housing (safe in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes), you needn't worry about using Spot in adverse conditions. Spot measures a compact 2.75 by 4.38 by 1.5 inches (W x H x D), weighs 7.37 ounces, and carries a one-year limited warranty.

Communication Functions:



    Spot employs a GPS satellite network to acquire its coordinates, then sends its location to the recipient of your choice, complete with a link to Google Maps and a pre-programmed message.
  • Alert 9-1-1 dispatches emergency responders to an exact location
  • Ask for Help sends a request for help to friends and family with your location
  • Check In lets contacts know where you are and that you are okay
  • Track Progress sends and saves your location and allows others to track your progress using Google Maps

Battery Life:

  • Power ON, unused: Approximately 1 year
  • SPOT casting continuous tracking mode: Approximately 14 days
  • 9-1-1 mode: Up to 7 consecutive days
  • HELP mode: up to 1900 messages
  • SPOT check OK up to 1900 messages

Specifications:

  • Weight: 7 ounces
  • Waterproof to a depth of 1 meter for up to 30 minutes
  • Operating Temperature: -40ºF to +185ºF
  • Operating Altitude: -300 feet to +21,300 feet
  • Humidity and Salt Fog Rated

Sports reviews of SPOT Personal Tracker

Customer Review: No problem!
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars

My purpose for buying this device was my travels to some fairly unpopulated places on the Colorado plateau. I read 'all' the negative reviews here at Amazon and then decided that for a total of 100 bucks I could give this device a chance. I've just returned from a week long trip in various locations in Arizona. The device worked perfectly and was just as advertised and described in the user manual. I sent a number of "I'm OK" messages; the device sent them quickly and they were received quickly by my wife on her Blackberry. I see no reason why a 911 call would not be sent and dealt with just as expeditiously. Later this year I'll be in some narrow canyons and,at another time, under some dense forest canopy. If I can remember, I'll report on the device's performance in an update of this review.

Customer Review: Spot Personal Tracker
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars

Well made excellent product for anyone that may travel in area where there is no cell phone reception. I purchased the item for my motorcycle trips that often take me into "dead zones". SPOT can alert to an emergency or 911 via satellite tracking. There are various programs that can be purchased from just 911 service to sending emails to friends and family of your progress on a trip whether in a vehicle or hiking. After an emergency situation involving two motorcyclists down in a remote location, I will never travel without SPOT. RAM mounts makes a specific mount system for SPOT to anchor onto handlebars which keeps the device handy. It is a must-have in my motorcycle travels, and will go with me on vehicle trips in the future.

Customer Review: Safety and peace of mind
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars

I am surprised to see negative reviews. It has given us wonderful service and complete peace of mind. We use this in the Blue Mountains in Washington state. In areas with NO cell service and it has worked every time. My husband moves to the mountains for hunting season and I stay at home and work during the week. He sends a message when he returns to camp in the evening and I receive a e-mail saying all is well and pin pointing his location on a satellite map. I am now buying another for my adventure loving sister in laws. Every year we have people lost in our northwest mountains. The risk and cost incurred for search/rescue/recovery just prove the value of this unit.

Customer Review: First Time I Used a Spot I Had to Use it - And Was Rescued!
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars

I was on a motorcycle trip in a remote area of Oregon and the owner of the BearCat Lodge lent me a Spot "just in case" when I headed out on a daytrip. I ended up hitting a deer and totalling my motorcycle. Fortunately I was not seriously injured, but it was a remote location. I hit the help button and the service called the lodge and gave them my location. I was rescued within the hour.

This isn't just for mountain climbers, its also for anyone who travels to remote locations where cell phone signals don't reach. I am buying one for myself and one for my Dad for father's day. When my kid starts school next year, one is going in his backpack.

Customer Review: Very accurate!
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars

I think we'd had ours for about 3 weeks when we accidentally left it on the roof of the truck on an off road stop. Of course, we did not realize it until we got home. We thought the unit was malfunctioning, as it "moved" about 1 mile overnight. Using the coordinates that the Spot transmitted, our regular GPS, and a picture of where it was located from the Spot website, we were able to locate it the next day... inside a packrat's nest. The buttons have been chewed on a bit, but it's still going strong. I certainly don't worry about it not transmitting my location accurately. Great for when the husband is out in the woods.
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