Thanks you very much AKSAR for your information and views. I thought you would have good info...

In the halcyon pre-cell phone era, when Johnnie's mother made the call, we had "unnecessary" operations as well, finding that Johnnie was just a bit overdue, maybe appreciated a bit of water, etc. but was in no real distress.

Todays situation seems much better. Enhanced communication is almost always a good thing. AKSAR alluded to the Grand Canyon incident - a party activating their PLB on three successive days for trivial situations (the last was a complaint about the spring water tasting a bit too salty). This group was exceptionally clueless and probably would have generated a real emergency had they been left to the tender mdercies of the Grand Canyon.

I suppose that the bottom line is that SAR is generally now more efficient than in the "good old days."

For those who might be considering buying an emergency message system, another good source of info is on Alaska adventurer Luc Mehl's website. Take a look at his discussion of Satellite Communications.

Mehl has been doing some really hard core serious adventure trips. He also happens to be a very modest, friendly, nice guy.