Sat Messenger rescue services

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mjirving
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Re: Sat Messenger rescue services

Post by mjirving » April 4th, 2021, 2:36 pm

It will behave the same on either the safety or recreation plan. If you start tracking it will track you every 10 mins and chart it on your webpage. But on recreation there is no additional charge. On safety you pay 10 cents for each update.

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Koda
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Re: Sat Messenger rescue services

Post by Koda » April 4th, 2021, 2:46 pm

10 cents every 10 minutes is ridiculous and people still have to ping me for another 10 cents just to see my current position?
lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2

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retired jerry
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Re: Sat Messenger rescue services

Post by retired jerry » April 4th, 2021, 2:53 pm

all I do is one message a day, where I'm camping, so the cheap plan works best. And I could send a message in an emergency.

if you want to send a track point every 10 minutes then you want the more expensive plan

to me, what's the most annoying is that it can take an hour after I turn on the unit before it acquires satellite, and sends a message. And the user interfaces in general are pretty clunky. But, I can successfully send that daily message so it works for me. My wife is happy to know I'm okay. I'm happy to know she's okay. SAR would have a good idea where I was if I just disappeared.

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mjirving
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Re: Sat Messenger rescue services

Post by mjirving » April 4th, 2021, 3:12 pm

Koda wrote:
April 4th, 2021, 2:46 pm
10 cents every 10 minutes is ridiculous
Yeah I wouldn’t use that if I didn’t have the rec plan (which I have). If you do an annual plan then the monthly fee is less too. I do the annual plan and downgrade to safety in the winter and use rec when I’m hiking in the summer. (Use it without tracking for skiing and traveling to remote places in the winter)

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Bosterson
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Re: Sat Messenger rescue services

Post by Bosterson » April 4th, 2021, 3:42 pm

Koda wrote:
April 4th, 2021, 2:46 pm
10 cents every 10 minutes is ridiculous and people still have to ping me for another 10 cents just to see my current position?
If you're going to use tracking, you shouldn't have the safety plan. I have an annual safety plan and I bring the inReach so that I can call for help if I get hurt, not so people can track where I am.
#pnw #bestlife #bitingflies #favoriteyellowcap #neverdispleased

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mjirving
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Re: Sat Messenger rescue services

Post by mjirving » April 4th, 2021, 5:06 pm

Koda wrote:
April 4th, 2021, 2:46 pm
and people still have to ping me for another 10 cents just to see my current position?
Only if they want to see where you are between the 10 minute pings. Every 10 min should be more than enough. Again, I can’t imagine anyone using the tracking feature unless they were on the recreation plan that makes it unlimited with no additional charges. You just need to decide what you care about and match it to the appropriate plan.

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Koda
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Re: Sat Messenger rescue services

Post by Koda » April 4th, 2021, 5:17 pm

I wish the manual was more clear on this, I thought tracking came with all plans and the 10cents was only if I wanted to send my current location to someone (or they ping me). My idea was if I knocked myself out, at some point wife calls 911 and gives SAR my track data from my map explorer webpage where I assumed the 10minute pings went. A bit of a letdown, though still an improvement over my basic PLB with the 10 text messages... well, for a fee.
I don't mind paying for services, just wish it was more clear how it worked.

So there's a $20/mo difference in the next freedom plan.... that works out to 200 extra track points per month. I could technically just set the thing to send the track point once an hour... or less, considering I don't hike as much raising rugrats. Maybe every 30 minutes would be a better rescue safety resolution, assuming an 8 hour hiking day that's 16 track points, $1.60 per day for months I hike more than twice or more. If I leave it at 10min then its $4.80 a day for months I only get out once. Could maybe even argue that rate twice a month... all options still below half the cost of upping the plan.
Something to think about anyways, I'll have to experiment as I start using this thing. Already have a 3 day weekender planned later this month.
lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2

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mjirving
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Re: Sat Messenger rescue services

Post by mjirving » April 4th, 2021, 5:23 pm

You may know this but I just checked my device. Looks like the intervals are 10min, 20min, 30min, 1hr, 2hr, 4hr. So you certainly could experiment with the interval that might work best for you.

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Koda
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Re: Sat Messenger rescue services

Post by Koda » April 4th, 2021, 5:38 pm

It will definitely work out how I wanted it to if I need more than the Safety plan then I might as well buy the annual recreation plan and be done with it. I wanted the tracking feature since I've been doing more off trail solo hikes, I thought of tracking as much of a good feature as the messaging service if I'm going to pay for a monthly service over my free PLB I call the oh shit button that doesn't work if I knock myself out first.
lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2

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mjirving
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Re: Sat Messenger rescue services

Post by mjirving » April 4th, 2021, 5:53 pm

Yeah, that’s kind of how I think of it. If I ever need it, I’d be willing to pay 10x the cost. If I never need it then all the better. It gives me a lot of peace of mind as I do a lot of solo stuff. Rarely when I’m doing something really tricky I’ll send a custom message saying I’m about to do something tricky and to send rescue if I don’t check in again within say 20 minutes or whatever. Then I check in at the end of the crux. (That’s a pretty rare thing for me but nice to have when I get nervous). Super nice that it’s 2-way comms too. It stings a bit at the beginning but I’ve just added it to my budget and don’t think about it anymore. Everyone’s different, but that’s my take on it.

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