Doug,
Any chance that the SPoT system will encourage the PLB industry to also have a non-emergency mode? Call it a system check mode, where it sends a signal which is automatically turned around in an email format to a designated email address -- no manual handling at all. The GPS version would incorporate any available GPS loc data into the email.
Well, never say never my grandfather told me.
It's not really up to the "industry," there's more than the manufacturers, etc. involved. The issue for conventional 406 MHz PLBs is that they are part of an international system that is resistant to change and is understandably very focused on saving lives, period. The COSPAS-SARSAT system is also dependent upon satellites, ground stations and the like that are currently government controlled. Having said that, there's no technical reason it couldn't be done, but the politics and such would be difficult, to say the least. I wouldn't hold my breath.
Now, having said that, the next generation DASS system would allow a good deal more flexibility, if the PTB decide to make use of it. That's been a debate that's raged for quite some time noww. Companies like SPOT may help move that debate into more unconventional, non-traditional areas, maybe, possibly,
but I still wouldn't hold my breath.
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