SPOT Connect

[James Adams]

I wholeheartedly agree. I'm sure the constraint is $$$ as satellite bandwidth isn't cheap.

Originally Posted by SteveO

Ok, here is what i have discovered.

The spot automatically grabs a tracking point at intervals of 10 minutes. This is great for hiking, and OK for mountain biking. But, in a vehicle or on a motorcycle, where we cover a lot of ground in 10 minutes, its difficult to actually grab realistic tracking points. I did notice there is an option to drop a "pin" to mark a given point, however this takes manual input.

The ideal solution would be for sport to have different tracking modes. For example, the standard tracking mode for hikers is to mark a location once every 10 minutes. An alternatenate mode for mountain bikers/bicyclists would be to set the autoupdate cycle to 6 minutes. For motorcycles/autos, the autoupdate option for tracking can be (should be) reduced to 3 minute updates.

These optios would make tracking more reliable and accurate, depending upon the type of travel we are doing: foot - bicycle - motorized

Now, if we can get a vendor to represent this idea to thee Spot company..........






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[HogWild]

Originally Posted by drcoopster

I wholeheartedly agree. I'm sure the constraint is $$$ as satellite bandwidth isn't cheap.

Yep. How many are willing to pay double for the tracking service so they can get double the messages? And how many will complain that their battery runs down twice as fast when they double their messages? With DeLorme getting in the game now, it will be interesting to see how new features come along!

[SteveO]

Originally Posted by HogWild

Yep. How many are willing to pay double for the tracking service so they can get double the messages? And how many will complain that their battery runs down twice as fast when they double their messages? With DeLorme getting in the game now, it will be interesting to see how new features come along!

If there was an option, I'd probably do it for a moderate price increase.


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[mantan]

No offense to drcoopster, but my new Spot connect is bad. Eats batteries in about 30 minutes! Already wasted 3 sets of new Lithium batteries, brand name, not some junk.

Called Spot and they said file a warranty claim. Connect is not even listed there, so filed under Spot2 and explained in the text field.

Should have tested it before.

Also the App and Spot web site has such poor messages. When I tried to add a contact on the App, it kept giving me this message:

"Invalid Contact Group Name Format
E-0332 Contact Group Name Data Format is Numeric or Empty: null"

Tried the same on the web site and got:

"The phone email entered has an invalid format."

The customer srvc guy told me that wireless provider is a required, even though the entry form does not say so, which solved the problem. But it reflects very poorly on the quality control. I told him is it too difficult to put a proper error message? No answer.

[James Adams]

Sorry your Connect isn't working out, but be nice to the customer service guys--it's not like they can change the error message.

Originally Posted by mantan

No offense to drcoopster, but my new Spot connect is bad. Eats batteries in about 30 minutes! Already wasted 3 sets of new Lithium batteries, brand name, not some junk.

Called Spot and they said file a warranty claim. Connect is not even listed there, so filed under Spot2 and explained in the text field.

Should have tested it before.

Also the App and Spot web site has such poor messages. When I tried to add a contact on the App, it kept giving me this message:

"Invalid Contact Group Name Format
E-0332 Contact Group Name Data Format is Numeric or Empty: null"

Tried the same on the web site and got:

"The phone email entered has an invalid format."

The customer srvc guy told me that wireless provider is a required, even though the entry form does not say so, which solved the problem. But it reflects very poorly on the quality control. I told him is it too difficult to put a proper error message? No answer.

[SteveO]

I've spent the last week riding my mountain bike through the San Juan Hut System, that stretches from Telluride to Moab. The SPOT worked as it should, sending updates every 10 minutes. As well, when I sent text messages it worked as it should. After sending a text message, I noticed there was a count-down before I could send an additional text. The lithium batteries lasted me the entire 7 days, and were still showing full strengh at the end of the 7h day. Granted, I turned off the SPOT during the night to conserve the batteries, but I was quite pleased overall with the performance. Some things I noticed when using my Droid-X to connect to the SPOT.

1) set the phone into airplane mode to conserve the phone battert: this really does make a difference.
2) after performing the above step, then enable your Blue-tooth to sync to the SPOT.

Sometimes after messing with the airplane mode, I forgot to re-enable the Blue-tooth and I wouldn't get any tracking points due to the phone not syncing with the SPOT "and" enabling the tracking mode.

So far, I'm fairly pleased with the spots capability...


Edit:

Here is my spot page. Mind you this page shows only 50 of the 150 points. To see more points; in the lower left corner of the page, you can select page two and then three, to see more points.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/f...ktaYtWsoTFDnkz

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[_cy_]

just found out about Spot connect... is this a proven product yet?

[soph9]

we use the SPOT Connect for every long trip. It works most times it doesn't is due to human error I think. You need to re-connect it at times and pay attention to battery life. It is a very good way to keep family in touch without having to call them when in the back country...we LOVE it to be honest just wish it had rechargeable batteries.

[soph9]

Well, my Connect has been away for many many months...brought it out today because we are heading out on a trip tomorrow. Put new Lithium batteries in, had no batteries in since last summer. I am trying to connect it to my iPhone which is new since last year. 4s, got the app...but it will not connect assuming it's pair. Does not say I need to pair it so I am trying to connect it. Any assistance would be great and I hope someone is reading this soon..

[gagnaou]

Originally Posted by soph9

Well, my Connect has been away for many many months...brought it out today because we are heading out on a trip tomorrow. Put new Lithium batteries in, had no batteries in since last summer. I am trying to connect it to my iPhone which is new since last year. 4s, got the app...but it will not connect assuming it's pair. Does not say I need to pair it so I am trying to connect it. Any assistance would be great and I hope someone is reading this soon..

I think you need to connect it first outside of the app in your bluetooth settings even if it says it is paired. then open the app and it should work

[soph9]

I got it thanks...Had to have the BT forget the device and start over...seems to be OK right now...will find out tomorrow when I check our Spot Walla page....thanks for your help!