Best Method for Tracking a Passage; St Martin to Australia

[Jane.Joy]

Originally Posted by Ozbullwinkle

The sample link posted by Cheechako looked good but was in a "good coverage" area. An interesting thing I noticed was the individual messages for each position. I suspect that they must have edited this when back on land as you cannot do this while out at sea on the Spot.

The sample link is mine, and yep, I added the individual waypoints when the passage was done and we had an internet connection.

Even in a "good coverage" area, I have found the SPOT interface to be frustrating. Just "lost" a passage because it took me more than seven days to save it to a "SPOT adventure" map, and now all my GPS positions for that passage have disappeared. And when we're on passage and send a position update to my mom - well, yes, that's why we have a SPOT - she only gets the one point, not the whole track. The track is a separate link, which is aggravating (she's 82, givera break!).

So when we get to the Pacific, I will definitely research this Spider thingy. Sounds better, except SPOT has 14 pre-arranged messages, or you can type a short message for only 50 cents (mom loves that). Also, I'm going to suggest that my mom buys us a Sat Phone for Christmas, so she can call ANY TIME!

[nwdiver]

Originally Posted by Jane.Joy

The sample link is mine, and yep, I added the individual waypoints when the passage was done and we had an internet connection.

Even in a "good coverage" area, I have found the SPOT interface to be frustrating. Just "lost" a passage because it took me more than seven days to save it to a "SPOT adventure" map, and now all my GPS positions for that passage have disappeared. And when we're on passage and send a position update to my mom - well, yes, that's why we have a SPOT - she only gets the one point, not the whole track. The track is a separate link, which is aggravating (she's 82, givera break!).

So when we get to the Pacific, I will definitely research this Spider thingy. Sounds better, except SPOT has 14 pre-arranged messages, or you can type a short message for only 50 cents (mom loves that). Also, I'm going to suggest that my mom buys us a Sat Phone for Christmas, so she can call ANY TIME!

Look into the InReach it cost $250 and I pay $49 a month for the top plan and have unlimited tracking and 250 text messages (two way texting) a month. I use my iPhone for messaging, it worked in the high Arctic and will work world wide, and it’s on the Iridium Sat Net.
The Spiders gear looks to be $1800 and a good plan $80 a month, Aviation prices for sure.


http://www.inreachdelorme.com/

[barnakiel]

Inmarsat IsatPhone can send your position along with your sms msges.

You get a two way comms with global coverage. Worth the buck.

b.

[Jane.Joy]

Originally Posted by nwdiver

Look into the InReach it cost $250 and I pay $49 a month for the top plan and have unlimited tracking and 250 text messages (two way texting) a month. I use my iPhone for messaging, it worked in the high Arctic and will work world wide, and it’s on the Iridium Sat Net.
The Spiders gear looks to be $1800 and a good plan $80 a month, Aviation prices for sure.

http://www.inreachdelorme.com/

Will do - thanks for the tip!

[barnakiel]

Check out if InReach runs on a different set of sats than Spot. I am not sure what coverage InReach delivers.

b.

[nwdiver]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Check out if InReach runs on a different set of sats than Spot. I am not sure what coverage InReach delivers.

b.

Iridium Sats worldwide coverage, as I said in my post

[Mambo]

Originally Posted by nwdiver

Iridium Sats worldwide coverage, as I said in my post

Or I said in the 3rd post of this thread, but who's counting . . .

[Ozbullwinkle]

Hi Jane & others who have provided some great info. Jane that issue about losing your track because you did not save it within 7 days is a real pain as this would not be possible on longer passages. My parents are in the same vintage as your Mum so I can understand where you are coming from there.

I will have a further look at the In Reach but my uneducated question about it at this stage is how does your smartphone (I don't have one at this time) do the communication if it is out of range of a cell tower or is the transmission all done through it's GPS functionality?

The Sydney Boat Show is on in about a week so I will be looking for what is on display there & will advise back if I find any other contenders.

[Mambo]

Originally Posted by Ozbullwinkle

I will have a further look at the In Reach but my uneducated question about it at this stage is how does your smartphone (I don't have one at this time) do the communication if it is out of range of a cell tower or is the transmission all done through it's GPS functionality?

The smartphone control (available for both the Delorme InReach and the Spot) doesn't use the cell network -- it works through the tracker device. In other words, you use the smartphone to construct the message for the tracker. A significant downside is that you need both tracker and smartphone operational in order to get a message out. That is an argument for the Motorola Extreme phone (which is both a tracker and a phone). Best advice is to google Iridium and tracking device. You'll find multiple providers who offer different devices and plans on the iridium network (which unlike globalstar is truly worldwide).
-M

[Jane.Joy]

Originally Posted by Ozbullwinkle

I will have a further look at the In Reach but my uneducated question about it at this stage is how does your smartphone (I don't have one at this time) do the communication if it is out of range of a cell tower or is the transmission all done through it's GPS functionality?

Don't know about In Reach, but I can answer the smartphone question, as far as SPOT is concerned - there is an app through either Android or iPhone - you need a wireless connection for the initial sync, but then it works through a bluetooth connection to the SPOT device. The smartphone that we use isn't even a phone any more - no cell plan, since we're out of the country - but as long as we can get a wifi connection every now and then, we're good to go. You need the internet to set up your predefined messages and your "groups" - we do this via the laptop and then "sync" using the not-too-smart-phone before a passage. Then, during the passage, the smartphone directs the SPOT device via the bluetooth connection, either to send a predefined message to a predefined group, or to send a brief message that you type into the smartphone at the time. If that is at all clear.....

[Ozbullwinkle]

Thanks Mambo & Jane for the info about how the connectivity works & I will Google Iridium & Tracking Device as suggested by Mambo - good suggestion.

Thanks again,.

[nwdiver]

With InReach and my iPhone, it uses the iPhone as the terminal through Bluetooth wireless, the beauty of InReach is worldwide coverage even north of 80 deg and 2 way texting to another smart phone, I have 250 text messages a month for $49/month and all thee tracking and safety features.

My last post on the subject use the links, Google
SPOT, InReach and if you want Iridium or not.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by nwdiver

Iridium Sats worldwide coverage, as I said in my post

THX. That's a big plus. Both Iridium and Inmarsat have good coverage for crossings.

To the guy/girl who asked on how they communicate - bluetooth or wifi perhaps.

b.

[Ozbullwinkle]

Was wondering if anyone has some real sample screenshots of a passage track across an ocean ideally the Pacific using the Delorme inReach. It looks good & for the cost quoted above of $250 and $49 a month for the top plan the price sounds attractive as well.

[Jimbo485]

Hi Ozbullwinkle, To answer your original question about the REAL coverage of SPOT....

We had coverage all over the Caribbean and then in the Pacific it ran out a couple of days west of the Galapagos. We are in French Polynesia now, so I can't tell you when we will pick up coverage again.

We had it linked through to our FB group so over 130 people, including many yachties, would see it.

We will look into Inreach and Spidertracks for the next crossing.