On Wednesday, May 8, 2013 8:36:10 PM UTC-6, bumper wrote:
Q - How much does Spot charge for truly reliable service?



A - Sorry, not available.



InReach is the better solution, though more expensive.



I have the original InReach (smartphone version). When Delorme came out with the newer, smaller InReach SE with LCD screen (the one Eric says they are not shipping yet), I considered upgrading. However, the SE uses an internal lithium battery while my older InReach uses 2 AA batteries (lithium, alkaline, or NiMH). I prefer the ability to swap batteries on longer trips, as I use the InReach in power planes, including week long camping trips in the Idaho back country, where the ability to send and recieve text messages via the InReach is appreciated by wife and family.



Note: My original InReach was defective. It would shut down and/or lock-up for no apparent reason. The replacement works flawlessly, even after dropping it and sending it flying even higher and into the concrete after my attempt to catch it only made matters worse (I had my hands full).



bumper

Was watching F2's InReach today on the 18M task, highlighted in red rather than yellow for SPOT. Having the altitude in the data was interesting. Plus lots more fixes.

Frank Whiteley