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Thread: I no longer trust my SPOT Gen 3 to track me.

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    448

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    Quote Originally Posted by brianb View Post
    Spot uses geo sync sats
    Hi Brian - I thought that Globalstar was using an LEO satellite constellation, and based on the information regarding their 2nd generation satellites there are 24 of them up there orbiting at altitude 876 miles, which puts them above the Iridium satellites (altitude 483 miles) and well below GEO orbit (altitude 22,236 miles) used by Inmarsat.

    An issue for Globalstar's limited use over water is the bent-pipe architecture selected for the system: a satellite is a repeater between the talker (Alan's Spot, in this case) and one of Globalstar's downlink stations. If there is no downlink station in sight of the satellite the talker's message is lost.

    - rob

  2. #12
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    Sep 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wylieguy View Post
    Alan, My experience with Spot involves my John Muir trail daughter & husband. They need to move to a "sky clear" area for it to work consistently. I wonder if you kept it under some cover except when you picked it up to hit the "I'm OK" button? It's a weak signal to a distant satellite & needs to "see" the sky.
    No. The unit was under the cockpit cover all the time. EXACTLY the same for all the "I'm OK" and "Tracking" messages. Exact same spot on the boat every time. EXACT same place....face up, clear view of the sky, tethered to the hatch cover handle...EVERY time, all weekend.

    About fog and the GG. I have a decades old Garmin eTrex handheld GPS. It has lost several "lines" and the light doesn't work any longer, but the waypoints, speed, bearing, heading, etc. work just fine. I think I paid about $50 for it a Target in the late 1980s. ......
    .
    . Won't tell someone where you are, but will tell you where you are. Nice to have a chart to go with it in the fog.
    Garmin no longer makes this GPS, but they have a similar one the "10" I believe for around $100. The older Garmin eTrex Venture HC (similar to mine), also no longer made, is available on eBay for under $100. -- Pat

    Yeah, before I do the 400-miler I plan to pick up two inexpensive, first gen mapping handheld gps's off of ebay. There's a "new" eTrex Venture on ebay right now for $50. I'll also grab a USB-Linux compatible GPS hockey puck for my laptop, so I can use the AIS receiver I have.
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