Actually, $200 will pay for the ELT, although installation may be
additional. I don't fly contests, but for $200, how can you justify
not having one if you fly X/C. Even with the coming 406 conversion, pay
$200 now, and wait for a few years until the price of 406 ELT's comes
down by more than that.

I got my ELT signed off with the last annual, so no additional cost to
me. Anyone flying X/C in sanctioned contests or not should get an ELT
installed before the next annual. It's just selfish to put others at
unnecessary risk for the cost of a few tows.