Any news on the SPOT recall and the new model? I am thinking about a purchase and want to have your take on the device.

Based on   (You need to Login or Register apparently the problem is fixed.

I've got the older version ... worked fine last year ... only failed to transmit 1 of 28 signals sent (and for that one I did not have a good "clear sky" window).

dd

Doc-

Was there limitations in windows of transmitting opportunity like with the Iridium and Globalstar phones, the later being the worse of the two. Have you noticed a difference between the Crown Country versus the BW? Last year was a Woodland Caribou trip...Yah? It is south horizon open sky thing like the Sat phones, Yah?

Thanx M

marlin55388 wrote on Feb 25^th, 2010 at 6:46am:

Doc- Was there limitations in windows of transmitting opportunity like with the Iridium and Globalstar phones, the later being the worse of the two. Have you noticed a difference between the Crown Country versus the BW? Last year was a Woodland Caribou trip...Yah? It is south horizon open sky thing like the Sat phones, Yah?

I transmitted an "OK" signal each evening from whatever campsite I was occupying.  About half of the transmission days were from WCPP.  The other half were from Quetico.  My only missing transmission day was in WCPP.  

As far as seeking southern exposure for sending a signal,  I didn't focus on that as much as having as much clear sky as possible above me.    The unit might have taken marginally longer to "lock up" on a signal before transmitting if I had a mostly northern exposure, but none-the-less, a lock-up ultimately occurred and the "OK" signal was sent.  

I generally set the unit out in an open space for several minutes and then return to it to activate the signal.  It can take as much as 20 minutes to achieve a lock, so I generally attended to this as one of the activities associated with the even meal.

As far as using a sat. phone, I've only used the Iridium in the northern half of Quetico.  I never failed to attain a signal ... again, I was only transmitting late in the day (around dinner time).  Again, I tended to seek open sky before making a call.  

Hope this helps.

dd

Thanks Tons Doc! ;)