Definitely and issue. I was using the tracking feature and I had to remember to press the "I'm OK" button if I stopped somewhere along the way. Or else my wife noticed that there were multiple tracking messages from the same location on the side of the road. Apparently. it caused some concern until I started moving again.Originally Posted by flyrider
1983 R100RT hacked w/Cozy Rocket My blog
Airhead #10576
Where do you guys mount the SPOT? Or do you just pull it out of the pocket and hit "OK"? I just ordered one, so now the details are more important...thanks!
Online from Cyclenutz www.cyclenutz.com Tony is a great guy to deal with & I like supporting small businesses vs big box retailers. I have the spot tracker.
82 R65LS - gone but not forgotten
02 R1150RT
"Oh good, my dog found the chainsaw"
"I finally got my head together, now my body is falling apart."
The SPOT II works fine inside the top of my tank bag facing upward - no special mounting bracket needed.
The AAA lithium battery 4-packs are available from Amazon.com for less than $10 delivered to my door.
'13 K1600GT
'08 R1200RT (gone), '04 R1150RT (gone)
'05 R1200GS (gone), '73 R75/5 (long gone)
I would re-iterate what someone mentioned in an earlier post. I always keep it in my jacket pocket. There would be nothing worse than going down on the bike, needing to use the '911' function and not be able to get to the unit. The SPOT II is smaller than the series I and will easily fit in a jacket pocket.
Good...thanks!
Got my SPOT a week ago...finally activated the account today. Sent a trial message...wowee...this is great! I think we have a winner in this product...thanks for all the info, guys.
I have a Spot and used it for a trip from The Netherlands to Africa (Dakar) through the Sahara desert. Since then, I use it on trips and on holidays.
It works most of the times. That is, it will miss a few points here and there. But it's to be expected when you consider the technology.
It uses GPS for it's positioning (duh!) and that'll work 95% of the time. Things like positioning of the device are important, but not crucial. I had it in a backpack when traveling to Africa and on my RT it's in the topcase. When you travel through dense forrest, GPS reception suffers. Bad weather is also a factor.
But the problem is not the GPS reception, but how it transmits it's position to the world. That's also through a satellite. And my guess is that it only tries it one time, and it doesn't know that at that moment, the satellite was not in good view and the message didn't came through. So, it just sends one message every 10 minutes and that's it. It can happen that it misses out a couple of hours. I had that on a trip through the Alps in Austria.
But, all things considered, I still think it's a good solution. The smartphone is only an alternative when you go out on short trips or have a powered holder for them. A smartphone like an iPhone doesn't hold out for more that a day when you use GPS and a dataconnection if used continuously. And you don't have mobile data in remote areas. That's the big advantage of the Spot. It will last 6 weeks easily on a set of Energizer Ultimate Lithium. A friend just borrowed my Spot for his trip from Kazhagstan to The Netherlands. Six weeks usage all day on one set of batteries. No worries about when you can recharge or mobile data connections. It just works!
-=- if you always see the road ahead of you, it's not worth the trip -=-
That's just a matter of instruction. I tried the Spot out before I went to Africa and noticed it's misses a point once in a while. I also noticed that the OK message sometimes doesn't get through. So I told everybody that they shouldn't worry when they see no movement (or no new points) for a while. Just tell them that the technology isn't perfect. When they count on the OK message, they start worrying.
And - but that's my opinion - when people at home get nervous so easily, they shouldn't watch the thing so often. Or try to relax. I don't want to go on a trip having to think about the homefront getting nervous about an unplanned stop. So that's what I tell them and they have to do with the info what they want. But not lay it on me. I go out on the bike to relax.
-=- if you always see the road ahead of you, it's not worth the trip -=-
I understand some users keep SPOT in a tank bag or top case. Since SPOT instructions say it needs a "clear view of the sky", it would seem these locations would degrade performance.
True?
No.
I have had my SPOT in the top and bottom of my tank bag and in my old Givi top box and it worked fine.
I tried it in my pocket and my body blocked the signal.
Thanks. I tried mine today, attached to the top of my Kriega bag which sits on my luggage rack. Worked great. May try it inside just for comparison.
Not necessarily. Obviously, since it's a kind of radio/transmitter, the more stuff between the device and the receiver, the more it will inlfuence the transmission. But in real life, it will work fine from a topcase or backpack.
Peronally, I don't want to use on of the holders that you can mount on the handlebars because I don't want to forget it on a stop and then lose it. That's why it's in my topcase. I don't use a tankbag regulary.
-=- if you always see the road ahead of you, it's not worth the trip -=-
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