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Thread: Distress Beacon

  1. #11
    Grandmaster IanDarkpeak's Avatar
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    you can get phone trackers but some one would have to "ping" it to get the grid ref.
    The MR use an APP called SARLOCK which pin points a cas very accurately if they have a smart phone, of course both need some phone reception.

    There is also Echo 112 which is a push in an emergency phone app. Jury is out on how good it is but it's better than nothing...

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by IanDarkpeak View Post
    you can get phone trackers but some one would have to "ping" it to get the grid ref.
    The MR use an APP called SARLOCK which pin points a cas very accurately if they have a smart phone, of course both need some phone reception.

    There is also Echo 112 which is a push in an emergency phone app. Jury is out on how good it is but it's better than nothing...
    Thanks Ian my smartphone is also registered for this http://www.emergencysms.org.uk/ but I am conscious of the short battery life on phones, where long/multiple days out are concerned.
    Last edited by JohnK; 31-08-2014 at 08:55 PM.
    The older I get the Faster I was

  3. #13
    I bought an old "builder's" Nokia on eBay that's shock- and water-resistant, and kitted it out with a PAYG SIM from O2 Eire (others have Manx Telecom ones which may work out better). Here in the UK it's roaming, and will connect to all networks, and I managed to send a text back to my family near every peak and road-crossing on my BGR with it. So it's a kind of "poor man's satphone". And anyway, since 2009? 999 calls have worked on any network in the UK. But of course there are still plenty of places to come acropper with zero coverage where a satellite device would be the business. I also carried a cheapo walkie-talkie, just in case there was anyone nearby using them if I got into trouble (I've heard radio chatter from climbers etc so they are used out there). And a whistle.

    Worth thinking about which satellites your tracker uses (I don't know) -- if you're in a deep valley, it needs to be something in low or medium orbit that will pass overhead now and then, not geostationary where you won't be able to see it if you've a great rock face above you to your south.

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