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#32
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What electronics are worth buying - PLBs
T8 has it right. I'm flabbergasted to think that there are glider pilots who would buy a PLB instead of a 2-way satellite communicator. InReach has been extremely useful to me.
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#33
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What electronics are worth buying - PLBs
One BIG advantage to a tracker/communicator is it will (may) help if you are incapacitated. The plb requires activation. I know there are plenty of situations where it might not work, but there is no situation where a plb will work without activation.
This feature may not matter to you if the reason you cant activate it is because you are dead, but it will matter to your friends and family to aid in a fast resolution of a rescue/recovery attempt. I have both, "belt and braces" as the British say, but that is just because I bought the plb before inreach was available. I have also used the inreach for boating in the back county of the Everglades, trips in Newfoundland and other off grid locations. No issues. If I had to choose, hands down, inreach. Rick |
#34
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What electronics are worth buying - PLBs
I have a PLB.Â* Given some of the complaints I've read here and
elsewhere, I'm not yet convinced that the communicator will work when "needed". But I've just got to ask:Â* Did any of the proponents of any of these devices actually fly cross country before they were available?Â* Did you wait until the apron strings reached the distance you wanted to fly before heading out?Â* Maybe we should all go back and read some of the land out stories from the 90s and earlier.Â* Where has the adventurous spirit gone? I'm way behind in my "Soaring" reading, but I just read Steve's 1,000K attempt where he flew from Moriarty to Aztec on the first leg.Â* Would he have done that without a tracker/communicator? Steve?Â* I've driven and flown (power) that route many times and there aren't many places to land without damage... On 10/28/2018 6:53 AM, RR wrote: One BIG advantage to a tracker/communicator is it will (may) help if you are incapacitated. The plb requires activation. I know there are plenty of situations where it might not work, but there is no situation where a plb will work without activation. This feature may not matter to you if the reason you cant activate it is because you are dead, but it will matter to your friends and family to aid in a fast resolution of a rescue/recovery attempt. I have both, "belt and braces" as the British say, but that is just because I bought the plb before inreach was available. I have also used the inreach for boating in the back county of the Everglades, trips in Newfoundland and other off grid locations. No issues. If I had to choose, hands down, inreach. Rick -- Dan, 5J |
#35
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What electronics are worth buying
Keep shopping. I had mine done this spring at an authorized ACR repair facility (Marine equipment based). The cost was $80 + $5 return shipping. That works for me.
Craig Hmm, I see that the cost of battery replacement for the ACR PLBs has gone up a lot since I bought my ACR PLB. Has anybody looked into the current best deal for this? Lowest I've found for a factory-authorized replacement is $125. That's extortion, but still a lot less than buying a new PLB of any make and model. |
#36
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What electronics are worth buying
On Sunday, October 28, 2018 at 10:51:04 AM UTC-4, Craig Reinholt wrote:
Keep shopping. I had mine done this spring at an authorized ACR repair facility (Marine equipment based). The cost was $80 + $5 return shipping. That works for me. Craig Hmm, I see that the cost of battery replacement for the ACR PLBs has gone up a lot since I bought my ACR PLB. Has anybody looked into the current best deal for this? Lowest I've found for a factory-authorized replacement is $125. That's extortion, but still a lot less than buying a new PLB of any make and model. Craig: can you tell us where you got that price? That's the price I saw a couple of years back when I decided to buy the PLB, but now the lowest I find is $125, many places quote $170 or more. |
#37
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What electronics are worth buying
On Tuesday, October 23, 2018 at 2:47:54 PM UTC-7, John Huthmaker wrote:
With Christmas coming up, what are some things worth asking Santa for? Is there any decent GPS devices that are reasonably priced? I'm thinking around the $500 mark. I already have a handheld transceiver. I have a nice headset for power planes. I have a parachute. At my soaring club, all of the planes are as minimalist as they come. They're all steam gauges. What do you guys consider to be essential modern tech for gliders? A Scout ADSB receiver ($200) seems a good buy if you already have Foreflight, for traffic awareness. |
#38
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What electronics are worth buying - PLBs
On Sunday, October 28, 2018 at 10:48:01 AM UTC-4, Dan Marotta wrote:
I have a PLB.Â* Given some of the complaints I've read here and elsewhere, I'm not yet convinced that the communicator will work when "needed". Say what? InReach gives you receipt confirmation on all messages sent. With recently deployed "Iridium Next" satellites, it works from inside my house. Given the choice of making a 911 call on a PLB vs InReach, I'll take the latter (for many reasons, previously discussed)! But I've just got to ask:Â* Did any of the proponents of any of these devices actually fly cross country before they were available?Â* Did you wait until the apron strings reached the distance you wanted to fly before heading out?Â* Maybe we should all go back and read some of the land out stories from the 90s and earlier.Â* Where has the adventurous spirit gone? Adventurous spirit alive and well, thanks. I never found that difficulty in ground communication (I've had my share of this) added to the adventure. As well, consider your crew & family. Evan / T8 |
#39
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What electronics are worth buying
The ability of the inReach to send and receive text messages, reliably and easily, cannot be overlooked or understated. And it works great as a Tracker. And its pretty cheap. My monthly bill is about 14 bucks. I use it on my Motorcycle, boating in the Florida Keys, and backcountry skiing. And Off shore sailing. And Hiking, Jeez I use it all the time!
When I landed out in back of beyond in Wayan Id a couple of years back I would have for sure spent the night in my ship without satellite texting capability's. I landed Ok so I couldn't hit the SOS button, but I needed a retrieve, bad. Thanks to Sandy Coleman who stepped up and found me with his Garmin GPS auto nav; he put my coordinates in and drove right too me, via a very roundabout way. Without those both those devices I could still be out there, skinning rabbits and living off the land. |
#40
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What electronics are worth buying
I'd like to second Nick's comment.
My InReach sends my wife / crew a text when I land out. The text automatically includes my GPS coordinates. We have written instructions on how to put those coordinates into the tow vehicle GPS unit. Plus, with those coordinates, at a contest, she goes to the retrieve office, they plug the coordinates into Google Maps, and, boom, detailed driving instructions are printed out. If I have phone service, I confirm the coordinates from my Oudie just to make sure they match. Lou |
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