4. SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker

Figure 3: SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker

SPOT's Satellite Messenger is an interesting product that seems mostly aimed at the outdoor adventurer: weighing just 7.37 ounces, the bright orange rugged case fits neatly in the palm of your hand. Four large function buttons arrayed along the bottom of the unit are dotted with LED indicator lights.

The perimeter is wrapped in a protective rubber material that makes SPOT easy to grip and provides additional shock protection.

Figure 4: SPOT Satellite Messenger, Side

With the belt clip attached, SPOT measures just under 1.5-inches thick, 4-inches long, and 2.75-inches wide.

Figure 5: SPOT Satellite Messenger, Back

The battery compartment and belt clip are secured by 3 thumb-screws that can be tightened or loosened using your hand or a flat-head screwdriver.

Figure 6: Battery compartment and belt clip, removed

A nice design feature is that the screws that hold the belt clip and battery compartment cover in place are built into the plastic cover and clip, which means you don't have to worry about losing the screws since they won't fall out when unscrewed from the case.

Figure 7: Battery Compartment and ESN # Sticker

The unit's ESN and Authorization numbers are printed on a sticker located in the battery compartment. You'll need these numbers to activate the unit on SPOT's network.

TIP: Write the ESN number down somewhere -- if you ever need to reset your password or call SPOT technical support hotline, they'll need this number before they can help you.

Figure 8: SPOT uses 2 Lithium-type AA Batteries

SPOT is powered by 2 AA lithium-type batteries (it comes with 2 Energizer brand AA batteries). In a pinch, SPOT says you can use regular AA batteries, but it's not recommended.

Battery life on the SPOT is phenomenal: just powered on (but not sending any messages), the batteries will last approximately 1 year. In real-time tracking mode (SPOT calls this "SPOTcasting") the batteries will last about 14 days. In 9-1-1 Emergency mode (an emergency mode where the device continuously sends out alert messages with location information) the batteries will last about 7 days.

In my testing I got about 2.5 to 3 weeks battery life from one set of AA lithium batteries.

5. Using SPOT

Before you can start using SPOT, you'll need to register the device on SPOT's website, findmespot.com.

Figure 9: Findmespot.com website

You'll need the device's ESN number, located on the back of the unit under the battery cover, in order to register the device. You'll also need to choose a service plan. SPOT offers a monthly plan priced at $9.99/month, or an annual subscription for $99.99.

SPOT also sells two additional services:

• Unlimited "SPOTcasting" (the ability to let friends and family follow track your location in real-time via the web) costs $49.99/year.
• GEOS Search & Rescue service costs an additional $7.95/year if purchased at the initial activation, otherwise it's $150/year. This service provides up to $100,000 of additional search and rescue resources, such as helicopter extraction around the world and reimbursement benefits -- underwritten by Lloyd's of London - for any emergency service expenses incurred. More specific details on this are available at www.geosalliance.com/sar

Figure 10: Configuring SPOT's Default Alerts

Once the device has been registered and activated, you can customize the alerting messages the device will send, as well as setup different profiles for different activities.

For example, if you're going to be traveling in a foreign country, you might was to configure a special profile for that trip and set the various alerts to go to local contacts in that country. On the other hand, if you're going camping with the family in a National Park here in North America, you would likely want to alert a different set of contacts.

SPOT can send three different types of messages:

• Check In - When the OK button is pressed, SPOT sends out a message of your choosing to let your contact(s) know you are OK, your current latitude and longitude, the nearest town, and a link to view the location on Google Maps
• Help - This message is intended to notify your contact(s) of a non-life-threatening situation and that you need their help
• 911 - Designed to call for help in a life-threatening situation, pressing and holding the 911 button for 2 seconds sends a distress signal and your current location to a 24-hour Emergency Response Center every 5 minutes until cancelled. The 911 indicator light will blink green every 3 seconds, and turn solid green for 5 seconds when a message is being sent.

For each message type you can specify multiple recipients and use either email addresses or mobile phone/SMS numbers or a mix of both.

Figure 11: Updating your SPOT profile with Emergency Contact Info

Additionally, SPOT's website allows you to update your profile with emergency contact information as well as any pertinent medical information, such as existing medical conditions, allergies, etc. SPOT says that by providing this information you agree that they may release it to 911 operators or search & rescue teams, and that they will delete the info when you stop being a SPOT subscriber.