The Great Big SPOT Thread

Had my Spot 2 for about 2 yrs IIRC. Lately it's been shutting off without warning. I'm guessing it's dying...

Been mounted to the bike for it's entire life with no crashes.

I've read about similar episodes on Amazon.

Anyone else experiencing this?

Guess I gotta buy a new one.

Tried new Lithiums lately? Maybe the batteries are losing contact? Try stuffing an earplug in the battery case to see if it stops the batteries moving around.

Regarding Spots working in South America, I used tracks all through Chile and Argentina with no problems. It even worked fin in Ushuaia. You may have already made your decision.

The southern most part of SA is in the "marginal" zone of coverage. That means it may work sometime, and not work other times. It depends on where the satellite is at the moment the SPOT transmitts.

OK, I'm at my wit's end here. I thought I did everything correctly, but apparently not, since I can't get my "test trip" using my SPOT to show up on the shared page I created on Spotwalla. Ugh! I know the device is working because the "test trip" is showing up on my account on the SPOT website.
I followed the directions on the Spotwalla website. I've opened an account, created a device, etc, etc,...However, when I check the "Trips" tab on Spotwalla it indicates that "No New Messages" are available and the map is blank. Again, I know I've done everything correctly using the SPOT device because I get the notifications via email/text message showing that I "Checked In" and also that I sent a "Tracking Point".

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be grateful. Thank you.

Jesse

Have you sent a message to Jason at Spotwalla?

He is very helpful and quick to reply.

How do I get a message over to Jason? I didn't see a contact link for him on the Spotwalla website.

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/spot-trip-manager

Brand new batteries....changed out several times...

Will try the earplug trick.

Got it all figured out. Thanks for the help.

Jesse

I'm still learning to use my Spot 2.

I'm trying to use it to track my route in the woods, but I didn't pay for tracking. How often can I press the "Ok" button to mark my progress? It seems to flash for quite a while after I press it, and I can't wait 5-10 minutes each time I want to mark a location. I think I pressed it again, while it was flashing, and it made and second marker. Can it do that?

I think it takes at least 15 or 20 minutes before you're clear to send another OK message. If you turn the unit off to stop an OK in progress, you might abort that signal. If you pressed again before it finished sending the first message, it will ignore you.

If tracking's that important to you, maybe you should buy it?

Edit: just checked the manual. The message cycle is 20 minutes.

"Leave the SPOT outdoors. The GPS indicator light blinks green as SPOT acquires a GPS fix. Once SPOT aquires your GPS location, the Message Sending light and GPS light will blink green in unison for ~15 seconds to notify you that your message is being transmitted with GPS location. The Message Sending light will continue to blink green over the remainder of the 20 minute message cycle and for one (1) hour after the end of the message cycle (this is to provide you with additional time to check if your most recent message was transmitted). The Check-In/OK function light will turn off once the message cycle is complete."

Sounds as though you need a GPS that can mark lots of waypoints. Or if it's tracks you're after get a base model GPS to gather tracks, should cost about the same as a year's worth of SPOT tracking service.

Thanks for the info. I don't know how I managed to get 2 markers so close to each other.

I'd rather buy a GPS that tracks than pay for the Spot tracking. I'm just playing around with the Spot since I haven't bought a GPS yet. I think Spot tracking would be great if I was travelling and family/friends could track my progress, but I'm not travelling or going anywhere that would be interesting to anybody else. I'm just trying to figure out a maze of new & old logging trails that are in the 7500 acres of mountain forest where I ride & explore.

I've been researching GPS models and have decided on an Oregon 450 that's $200 refurbished from Garmin, but haven't been able to justify it quite yet. I'm still not quite convinced that I'll use it a lot, and I'm also having fun exploring "the hard way". It's sort of like a puzzle, and after it's solved the exploring part of the woods is over...So, in that sense I'm not really in a hurry. If I was surrounded by vast open spaces to explore in all directions, I know I would find the GPS a very useful & valuable tool.

I bought the Spot because I like to ride & explore alone, and even though it's only 15 minutes from home, there is plenty of potential for an emergency. Snakes, bears, & broken legs & such.

If you are riding in the woods alone...sounds like the SPOT is perfect ..but for your safety ie NO cell phone in many wooded areas. I like the tracking to update folks on your progress. Also good to have if you are unable to push SOS etc as at least they will have last tracking spot.


SPOTs are frankly not good for an accurate track picture as you only get a location every ten minutes. This is especially true if you are exploring and making short legs. Most any GPS will give you track locations frequently along your route to better show where you actually went for the whole trip.

Forgive me if this question is answered else where in this thread. I have had a spot2 since they came out and the original before that. It works 99% perfect up here in Canada where I live. It's never worked the few times I've tried it in the southern states. Florida, Texas, Arizona ect. as recently as two weeks ago. Tried brand new batteries and leaving it on in clear skies for a couple hours before pressing the ok button but they don't show up. Unit shows the sent message indicator. Don't think it's my technique. Works fine up here......

I'm in metro San Diego (lat N33 05" 09.3') and my SPOT 2 was working fine last weekend.

There should be no reason for it not to work unless it is faulty

Mine worked from Prudhoe Bay to Uashia no worries

B.C. Biker,

Someone recently posted on the Spotwalla mailing list that they were having problems with their spot when the visited other locations. I don't recall the details, but it involved travelling large distance in a quick timeframe, and I think that they were a pilot, so they had it on while flying. They contacted Spot and were instructed to do some sort of reset and all was well.

I know that's very vague, but Spot may be able to assist you, if your situation is similar.

I've used mine overseas for brief stints with no issue, but I don't know the intricacies of the unit, so could have problems one day.

Mine never had an issue when I flew from Oz to Frankfurt, worked right away then when I flew from Mongolia to Hong Kong once again no issue nor when I arrived in Bangkok nor Kuala Lumpa

I think your unit is faulty