The Great Big SPOT Thread

[HogWild]

Originally Posted by Valmis

I don't recall anyone posting this yet.

It's been posted, but the fine print says it's not available until July 1. Coming soon!

[F1Turbo]

I ordered a SPOT through Mountain Gear with a 10% discount (you have to be on their email list to get it)--hope to get it this week.

I ride with Aerostich Darien jacket and pants. I have one of their Sleeve Window Pockets (http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/...t-p-16487.html) that I use for garage door opener or EPass transmitter. The EPass transmitter is almost identical in area, but a lot thinner than the SPOT. Aerostich also sells a larger Leg Map Pocket (http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/...t-p-16372.html) that I was thinking might work well for the SPOT. This should keep it in a horizontal position (although blocked on one side by the bike, sleeve pocket would be better, but I don't think it's big enough) and keep it on your person.

Has anyone tried these? I'll check fit with my sleeve pocket when I get the SPOT.

[TomW]

Originally Posted by F1Turbo

...Has anyone tried these? I'll check fit with my sleeve pocket when I get the SPOT.

Good idea. Let us know how it works.

Cheers.

[Raoul Duke]

I mounted my SPOT face up on my top case with three strips of super-industrial-soviet-cold-war-era-strength velcro. So far it seems like it should be secure for anything short of a direct meteor impact. Just in case of a "Deep Impact" encounter (sexy!), though, I ran a short bit of nylon rope from around the top case hing and attached the other end to the little metal ring on the back of the device. If I leave my bike somewhere for very long I just open the top case and toss it in there - tether still attached. It's really simple and I think it yields about the highest probability of successful transmissions possible - i.e. far away from obstruction and face up.

[PhilSpace]

Originally Posted by F1Turbo

Has anyone tried these? I'll check fit with my sleeve pocket when I get the SPOT.

I have always tried to not put anything "hard" or sharp, like keys folding knives or small cases in my stitch. They can really hurt in the event of a get off, BTDT while skiing and learned my lesson. A whack in the arm or leg from a get off while having a Spot in the map case might just smart a bit.

[SpotMaker]

Originally Posted by emerson.biguns

A firmware mod to allow a OK button press while in track mode to make the next message an OK would make a lot more sense than the way it works now.

I might get in trouble for posting this but, I pushed for almost exactly that.

Actually, I pushed for a combo Track/Check-in message to occur when you did this. Much like you can get a combo help/911 by pushing both of those buttons.

I was told absolutely not, in no uncertain terms.

[klebel]

Originally Posted by SpotMaker

I might get in trouble for posting this but, I pushed for almost exactly that.

Actually, I pushed for a combo Track/Check-in message to occur when you did this. Much like you can get a combo help/911 by pushing both of those buttons.

I was told absolutely not, in no uncertain terms.

Do you mind telling us their reasoning? It might settle better if we knew WHY they were so against that. There COULD be a perfectly acceptable answer...then again...there may not be.

[SpotMaker]

Originally Posted by klebel

Do you mind telling us their reasoning? It might settle better if we knew WHY they were so against that. There COULD be a perfectly acceptable answer...then again...there may not be.

Because they said so!

I could never get an explanation either.

[klebel]

Originally Posted by SpotMaker

Because they said so!

I could never get an explanation either.

DCR CLOSED. Reason Code: Working as designed.


Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. That sucks. Personally I find it to be missing core functionality. I like to leave the Spot in tracking mode on longer trips and send OK messages to the wife at gas stops. Its a pain the way it is now. Oh well.

[emerson.biguns]

Originally Posted by SpotMaker

I might get in trouble for posting this but, I pushed for almost exactly that.

Actually, I pushed for a combo Track/Check-in message to occur when you did this. Much like you can get a combo help/911 by pushing both of those buttons.

I was told absolutely not, in no uncertain terms.

How would you recommend we provide that input to the company for feedback? I think we could muster a few customer requests based upon just the few posts since yours. (Of course we wouldn't throw you under the bus when we do make suggestions...)


BTW, does the hardware allow for in circuit programming so the MCU can be updated? Has any though been given to firmware updates to units already fielded?

Thanks.




.

[TomW]

Originally Posted by emerson.biguns

...BTW, does the hardware allow for in circuit programming so the MCU can be updated? Has any though been given to firmware updates to units already fielded?

Probably not at this price point. And no external jacks to avoid cracking open the waterproof case.

Cheers.

[SpotMaker]

Originally Posted by emerson.biguns

How would you recommend we provide that input to the company for feedback? I think we could muster a few customer requests based upon just the few posts since yours. (Of course we wouldn't throw you under the bus when we do make suggestions...)

marketing@findmespot.com or
customercare@findmespot.com are probably as good as any.

Those emails are being read by open-minded people. Some of my personal contacts, frankly, probably have their minds more made up than the people answering those emails. They are doing actual market research and seeking opinions.

BTW, does the hardware allow for in circuit programming so the MCU can be updated? Has any though been given to firmware updates to units already fielded?

In the field, no, not really. The circuit board can be jtagged on a "bed of nails" test fixture, but that's hardly practical on a fielded unit.

And in other news:

Our SPoT RMA engineer was told officially by his contacts at SPoT Inc. yesterday that the "shared page" will have a way for the viewer to pull up more than 24 hours of points in the near future!

[torags]

Originally Posted by SpotMaker

marketing@findmespot.com or
customercare@findmespot.com are probably as good as any.

Those emails are being read by open-minded people. Some of my personal contacts, frankly, probably have their minds more made up than the people answering those emails. They are doing actual market research and seeking opinions.



In the field, no, not really. The circuit board can be jtagged on a "bed of nails" test fixture, but that's hardly practical on a fielded unit.

And in other news:

Our SPoT RMA engineer was told officially by his contacts at SPoT Inc. yesterday that the "shared page" will have a way for the viewer to pull up more than 24 hours of points in the near future!

good news...

[markgsnw]

I've got a question about the tracking feature. I just finished a two week road trip and tracked the entire thing. Now I'd like to download my track points ("messages" in SpotSpeak) and plot them on a map. The Spot web site displays the track points in groups of 20. When I do "Select All", it only selects the 20 points that are being displayed. I have 655 points, so I'm going to have to do page 1, select all, save, rename file, page 2, select all, save, rename file, etc etc., and then cat them all together to make a single map from. Yowzer, this is going to be very tedious.

Oh, then there's the part where the session times out after a couple of minutes of inactivity (waiting for the server to download a kml file, in this case).



Unless I'm missing something??

[Squeaky]

Originally Posted by markgsnw

I've got a question about the tracking feature. I just finished a two week road trip and tracked the entire thing. Now I'd like to download my track points ("messages" in SpotSpeak) and plot them on a map. The Spot web site displays the track points in groups of 20. When I do "Select All", it only selects the 20 points that are being displayed. I have 655 points, so I'm going to have to do page 1, select all, save, rename file, page 2, select all, save, rename file, etc etc., and then cat them all together to make a single map from. Yowzer, this is going to be very tedious.


Unless I'm missing something??

There's a little drop-down option on the right for how many track points you want to see at once. Select "ALL" then check them all off to show on the map.