Question for you Matt, with the new GPS chip sets like the garmin etrex HCX for example, have you tried getting a location in the cannons to see if you can get a lock. The Fast Find 210 for example appears to have a better chip set and seems to acquire similar to my HCX, although I would like to see more test done if Doug gets the funding but I would probably venture to say if you can't get anything off a new gps set then the newer chip set plbs won't either. All the old PLBs more than likely not get one either. Now with Acr coming out with there new line, and the fast find 2x series and a possible Spot 2.0, I think the performance will get a lot better with time. In a canyon like that, depending on the walls, I wonder how high you would have to travel to get a fix. I know this will sound silly, but there are some divers that put a etrex in a otter box and attach a line to it and let it go to the surface to get a fix and then pull it back down, I wonder if you could do that with a small balloon and string, but you would have to carry around a small helium tank and hope that the wind doesn't get it.

I'm just trying to think of a way you could set off a PLB with a broken hip in a deep canyon and get a signal out. The rescue kite is definitely out. Hmmmm