I still read forum threads comparing SPOT with PLBs, and folks comment something along the line that the PLB's support system may not be reliable because it is government run/supported, while in general it seems that SPOT users tend to rely on family-based rescue - having a family member react to a call for help and arrange rescue.
I was wondering if anyone knows whether the government - or anyone else - keeps statistics on how often people have turned on a PLB but for whatever reason there was no response. Either the signal was not received, or there was an error in the response communication process.
Doesn't seem as if people understand the deatails of how these devices work and how they are supported.
As much as I complain about government, there are some things it manages to get right. When you trigger a PLB and the signal is received, it will not, daresay cannot, be ignored.
A SPOT has two ways to call for help. The "help" button notifies your designated contact, who you have hopefully told what to do. The "SOS" button notifies SPOT who informs the authorities. A third mechanism is possible with SPOT, if your contact fails to revceive an expected "OK" message he could notify authorities. You wouldn't use "help" to mean "HELP!!!!", that' s like calling your mother to ask her to call the fire department because your house is burning. The help message is more of a user-defined message that you would pre-arrange to mean something like "OK, but will be late" or "Pick me up at the trailhead"
I would guess that ranked in order being taken seriously, a PLB activation would be first, closely followed by an official "SOS" SPOT message. A notification by a family member of failure to receive an OK might be treated more like an overdue report.
Either way, once Uncle Sam has your GPS position, its hard to see how you can me "missed".
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