Satellite messenger device works as emergency beacon and much more...
Just a quicky to let you know that we have one of the new
SPOT satellite messenger devices
on test and we'll be telling you more about it next week.
If
you think of SPOT as being a bit like a GPS but backwards, then you
won't go far wrong. While GPS units use satellite signals to work out
where you are, SPOT communicates with its satellites and then tells
them where you are...
Then, if things go horribly wrong - as one TGO Challenge participant
discovered - you can alert the emergency services simply by pushing a
single button. That tells the satellite that you need help and alerts
an emergency control room who, in turn, can pass on your exact location
to the local police or mountain rescue team.
It goes beyond that though. When you register the device at the SPOT
web site, you can select e-mal addresses and mobile numbers for
contacts. You can then send a pre-programmed message to all those
recipients at the press of a button to let them know that you're okay.
Or if you choose, that you're not okay, but it's not quite a life and
death emergency...
Finally, and this'll be the bit that appeals to the outdoor geek in
you, you can create a shared page with a Google Map window that shows
exactly where you are, if you choose to share that information as well
as showing any 'OK' or 'Help! I'm in trouble' messages you've sent.
Setting It Up
So far we've put batteries, 2 AAs, in the unit - lots of dire
warnings about lithium cells only - filled in our profile on the web
site, created a shared page - we're not sharing it yet though - and
switched the unit on. And tonight it's going mountain biking...
The unit doesn't have a screen or any indication that it's locked onto
the satellites, which is a tad frustrating and we found some of the
wording on the configuration section of the web site a little
confusing, with lots of talk about 'messages' and 'messengers' - what
does 'create a messenger' mean exactly, in English?
That hiccup out of the way, we're quietly confident that we can rush
out and live dangerously secure in the knowledge that we're just a
button click away from help. Er, if it's actually being read by a
satellite that is. At the moment SPOT is sitting in a flower pot, on a
window sill, desperately scanning the horizon for satellites...
More about SPOT at
www.findmespot.com
