That's a legitimate question and one that I have wondered about myself. I've noticed "OK" messages as well as tracking bursts that were on the website and/or delivered to mailboxes within a minute or two and I've seen some take 15 to 20 minutes.
I will offer a guess and its only a guess, that it has more to do with liability than actual performance. Continuing to guess, I would also think that "Emergency" messages would have a priority over "help", "OK", and "tracking." Again those are only guesses One other thing that might play a part in the time is the "human factor". Once the Emergency signal is received it has to be processed by operators. Tommy ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Cooper Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 9:27 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] Re: !21.5 Emergency Freq >> if I remember the company's claims correctly, they claim less than 20 minutes to process an emergency message in the continental US. Any idea why this isn't more like 20 seconds? In a past life I worked on "real time systems" and for the life of me I can't see why it wouldn't be possible to process an emergency message in a second or two. Seems like the device should have some sort of intelligent re-try logic for an emergency message to ensure timely delivery to the system, and from there processing should be near instantaneous. John Cooper Skyport Services www.skyportservices.net ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of JThomas Terry Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 9:11 AM To: Linda Abrams; [email protected] Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] Re: !21.5 Emergency Freq About 2 months ago I purchased the SPOT device. Thus far, I am pleased with it. SPOT has a couple of other functions other than "disaster" mode. It can track, send simple check message, send a "help" message, and of course the "911" message. When you sign up for the service you can set up the messages to fit your particular needs, enter detailed contact information, and several other things. For instance, I have set mine up for ground and air use with notations in the database indicating vehicle descriptions, license & N numbers, basic personnel descriptions, and instances where the device would probably be used (users camp, hike, & fly). All in all I have found it to be a useful tool. Like anything else it does have some short comings: In "track" mode, it will sometimes miss a signal. Possibly the plane was banking away from the satellite or the car was passing under a bridge at the precise second the burst was sent. OK messages sometimes take 30 minutes to deliver. I've not had occasion to check the "help' or "911" features as yet. However, if I remember the company's claims correctly, they claim less than 20 minutes to process an emergency message in the continental US. There is a shared webpage that you can give the address and password to for others to watch your progress when in track mode and they can see your positions with other transmissions as well. Google SPOT and you can read all of their propaganda. All in all, my first impressions are good. Tommy N93929 ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Linda Abrams Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 3:05 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [ercoupe-tech] Re: !21.5 Emergency Freq Ooops; my mistake. Thank you to all who corrected it. Antenna on the belly is transponder; ELT antenna is on the ELT itself which rides in a little cage on the wall of the baggage compartment inside the plane. (But it was worth making the goof to evoke the detailed lesson on emergency SAR from Jim Truxel that resulted -- thank you! And, like Ed, I'm wondering what the best alternative to the expensive new installed-ELT would be, from the point of view of the CAP folks who do the searching. What do you think, Jim? Assuming we leave the old 121.5 ELT in place, is a hand-held PLB or something like Find-Me-Spot a better addition?) Linda N3437H (Sky Sprite) L.A. 2e. Re: !21.5 Emergency Freq Posted by: "Syd Cohen" [email protected] <mailto:sydlois%40charter.net> Date: Mon Feb 2, 2009 5:58 pm ((PST)) ELT antennas are rarely mounted on the belly of an airplane. If you see an antenna on the belly most likely it is the transponder antenna. Syd
