At $169 many more people can have this security.
I know nothing about PLB technology, but have wanted one for while.
Is this unit as good as the ones that cost more money.
1. SPOT is NOT a PLB.
2. SPOT relies on GPS for position and cannot provide a position unless it gets a GPS location. It will now at least provide a distress alert, even without a location, assuming it gets through to the satellites.
3. A PLB has an alternate means of providing locaton (Doppler) and a far more powerful signal, plus a homing signal, hense it is a more robust distress signaling means.
4. There are a lot of other issues and reviewing the info on ETS will flush those out, including the issue of using the Globalstar
SIMPLEX satellite network.
I think SPOT will save more lives overall, due to the wider distribution due to lower initial cost, but some lives will be lost due to selection of SPOT when a PLB would have been a better option. Unfortuntely, the consumer is not knowledgeable enough to distinguish between the two technologies and make an informed decison and most sellers also are ignorant, or don't care.
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