[meteorite-list] Meteorite Hunting Personal Locator Beacon

[GeoZay at aol.com]

>>Does anyone have any personal  use experience of a PLB (Personal Locator 
Beacon)?  Some places meteorite  hunters go do not have cell phone coverage>>


My wife is an avid  back packer. I often don't go on these hikes, but I 
still worry about where  she's at and her status when she hikes. So we got her 
this device called SPOT.  It allows her to send one of three preset signals 
from just about anywhere. the  signals are: 1) Hi its Deana and I'm doing 
fine and having fun. 2) I'm having  trouble, but don't need to be rescued. 3) 
I'm in a serious bind and need to be  rescued. So far I've only got the 
first signal from her. When I get these  signals, it also shows her exact 
location on a topog map. She usually sends her  signal in the evening. Sometimes 
she sends it twice...once around lunch time and  then the evening. On some 
occasions, I don't get the signal because she's down  in a hole and the signal 
doesn't always get out. But most of the time it does.  So as a back up, we 
agreed that she will try to send a signal during lunch time  if able. This 
device is very reasuring. I can compare her location to the  various weather 
radar images, so I usually know if she's in deep doo doo or not  when it 
comes to weather. Besides owning the device, you have to pay a yearly  fee for 
the service itself. Its fairly expensive, but if used often its worth it  in 
my book. I used it last September while on a ten day canoe trip on the 
Green  River in Utah. I was with a group, so the signal went to a family member 
of one  of our group. He then passed the info to other family members etc. 
George  Zay