[pct-l] Emergency Devices

[Paul Robison]

sorry i misunderstood,  only thing i know about specific sat phones is they cost 
like 3$ a minute.  i saw one plan that was 6.25$ a minute.

works just like a cell phone,  you'd have to be able to relay your coordinates 
with some other device,  have a Garmin and tell them over the phone.  obviously 
if you've fallen and you're hurt this a lot harder than simply pressing 'SOS' on 
a spot beacon.

now a PLB has an additional function it has a radio so when they are within 5 
ish miles they can actually hone in on your exact location, but in my 
expeiriences the downside was never worth the up.

~Paul




________________________________
From: Gary Wright <gwtmp01 at mac.com>
To: Paul Robison <paulrobisonhome at yahoo.com>
Cc: ned at mountaineducation.org; pct-l at backcountry.net
Sent: Tue, November 30, 2010 2:18:00 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Emergency Devices



On Nov 30, 2010, at 2:12 PM, Paul Robison wrote:

in this case,
>
>a call is placed to the SPOT call center with your GPS coordinates, from there a 
>human determines who to call,  police, SAR, coast guard, etc.  and will get to 
>the right agency to help you.
>
I was asking about sat phones, though.  I understand how PLBs and SPOT work, but 
they are designed from the ground up to be tied into the search and rescue 
infrastructure. A sat phone is a more general device though and I was wondering 
how it would work in an emergency situation (i.e. what are appropriate 
expectations and what preparations should occur beforehand to ensure it was 
useful in an emergency in the backcountry).

Radar