Alternative to Epirb, water, roof load, roof tents and temperature

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Get yourself a **** (don't want to be accused of advertising but I only know one brand, search the web it has 4 letters) device - message me privately if wanted . Cheaper than an EPIRB by far (but not officially licensed as such but still activates emergency services) and sends a symbol of your position every 20 minutes to a web url and superimposes it on a map. My wife logs in at home and she looks at the trail of points and sees if I have moved recently (it keeps every point and its time and coordinate for up to 7 days, you programme how often you want it to send a message to the satellite and how long to retain points). She also sees a table with all the GPS coords of each point, and can dowmnload the coords as a CSV file for a spreadsheet programme. Has three buttons - emergency services and two programmable from my laptop - you can specify messages from these two go to any combination of miltiple SMS messages on phones or email. One I have saying that I am just checking in (5:30 pm each day), the other is more like ("delayed don't worry"). And if stuck you can re-programme a message, say, "three tyre casings ripped out - please let Bill on Blowfly bore station know but not SES or police yet". remember to turn off before visiting your girlfriend,,,,

I also have GPS, 4G blue tick mobile (Telstra's Dave and its latest equivalent are near-useless as batteries are only screw-in and if the user changes you void warranty - I like to change them once per day because of the apps I use, and I have never had 4G only 3Gg even in places with more than 100,000 people), HF, UHF, Satphone, Epirb (with flashing strobe light for night when working in forests), But news for you - one or more sometimes can't make a connection, and I routinely use the **** first. Deep valleys and tree cover are worst, but satphones often have intermittent reception (never had to activate an EPIRB). The *** comes with a belt connection so you can wear it as well when you leave vehicle, a couple of AAA lithiums give many days of use, fits in your shirt pocket and probably weighs 100 g without batteries.

Two other things re water. You probably know about digging a hole, putting a mug in the middle, piling spinifex around it, covering it with clear plastic and weighting it slightly with a pebble on the plastic above the cup (drip, drip). Or cutting a green branch and hanging it over a billy. Great ideas and better than nothing, but on a hot day in the outback you will need 5 litres per day simply to maintain life (not cook or wash although you can drink cooking water) after about the first day when you are really dehydrating. Drip, drip..... Mostly helps keeps outback survival instructors in business, but I woulkd do it if there was nothing else, every bit counts and I usually have a few mugs - but instead carry far more water than you need. I found that I only use about 5 litres or less for everything in cool weather - but that can be unpredictable and rare in the outback. If in doubt, turn back and get more while you can (same with fuel).

Radiator water - with most alloy heads you will have had anti-freeze put in your radiator water as routine (you may not know), it will killl you. Better to dig your own gnamma hole in a drainage (all hard work after dusk, as much travel as possible after dusk.

It can be cold in the desert (eg minus 19 recorded in Australia near Cloncurry), and minus 10 is not uncommon in the Victorian-NSW mountains. I have been snowed upon in the sand dune desert of Namibia, and in Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey - it also happens in Chile. Hypothermia is real, especially if you spent all day trying to dig out your vehicle from sand (if your mate goes all quiet in the cold and doesn't seem to make sense, get him bundled up in a blanket). Otherwise death follows at surprisingly higher temperatures than you might expect. If it is you, try and be aware of these signs before you can't think (i.e. not thinking too clearly).

Broken coil spring - jack up, cram a rubber boot in it - once got from Arkaroola to Adelaide that way.

Roof load - no problem eh? With water and fuel, stick it on the top in jerry cans plus some gas bottles etc? Except that recommended total roof load for a Pajero for example is only 75 kg, a roof basket for your jerry holders is probably at least 15 kg, a double jerry can holder at least 5 kg, perhaps 1.5 kg for an empty jerry. So four empty jerries already make up 15+10+6 = 31 kg. 20 litres of water is 20 kg, 20 litres of petrol is 14 kg. So 2 of each is another 68 kg and your roof load is already 99 kg, one third above recommended. My dealer says he ocasionally gets a couple of 100 kg guys asking for him to fit a 60 kg fold-out roof tent for sleeping on their 4x4 roof = 260 kg (three and a half times rated roof load). He has to try and fix the roofs..... There are other ways such as fitting a bar frame around and above your vehicle to take extras load, but everything adds to weight and provides places for branches to jam....

Doing stupid things for enough years teaches one well.....
 
Forgot to include a test a mate did - note the accuracy (points plot within road boundaries, accuracy around 5 m as with any GPS device) - be warned, despite removal of the "selective availability" that the USA used to use for defence purposes to introduce survey errors, you can still suddenly get a 100 m shift within seconds on any GPS, and the change can stay around for many readings - I have tested by monitoring against a base station GPS. Damned annoying when I am mapping and come back to the same shaft to continue and find it has shifted 110 m (hence two GPS, one in a single position all day to monitor drift so that I can correct the readings in the one I am surveying with later). It seems to be a shift in accuracy not instrument precision for the statisticians out there.

1478843536_spot.jpg


1478843536_spot_coords.jpg


This entire file will download as a CSV file, which has an advantage over many GPS if you want reading times.
 
Don't worry about advertising goldierocks. The SPOT units have been discussed several times on this forum - I think Tryhard1968 last detailed them.
Damn great advice though mate, on a number of fronts. I liked learning about gnamma holes, and the history behind them :)
 
Quality read goldierocks, very relevant for when I go to w.a. or prospecting in general for that matter. My first realization after the detector purchase was how do I get back to the car ? after being distracted in new found hobby.
In my type of work in summer we drink 5 litres of water by midday and have to be conscious of tinkling because the body just doesn't feel the need to, it just sweats it all out. (sweating is a must, if you are not then you should start to worry in extreme heat).
I hope all member's read your experience especially with so many newbies joining the rush like myself it's far more than just electronics and models :eek: .
 
Gem in I said:
Quality read goldierocks, very relevant for when I go to w.a. or prospecting in general for that matter. My first realization after the detector purchase was how do I get back to the car ? after being distracted in new found hobby.
In my type of work in summer we drink 5 litres of water by midday and have to be conscious of tinkling because the body just doesn't feel the need to, it just sweats it all out. (sweating is a must, if you are not then you should start to worry in extreme heat).
I hope all member's read your experience especially with so many newbies joining the rush like myself it's far more than just electronics and models :eek: .

Thanks Fellas - had a few close calls (OH&S is so much better now, and so much more equipment is available).

Yes, I would go through that much water in half a hot day around Sandstone or Daly River. I find water to be almost the biggest issue when working in very dry and remote areas, You watch petrol and know how much you used getting there and can reasonable estimate it to where you are going. But water is heavcier and consumption is varaiable and you don't know the temperature for the next week (and often aren't quite as continuously conscious of how much remains c.f. petrol, because you are often now camped)

I said "on a hot day in the outback you will need 5 litres per day simply to maintain life", I didn't say "to not feel thirsty" Just to explain - a minimum of 5 litres every day in hot weather or you die (you will cease being able to do anything long before that, and will spend your last days begging to die, lying in the shade of your vehicle, the skin peeling off your tongue). Freezing to death is almost kinder....
 
+1 to these being a great product, pilot here and I fly with them, as do a lot of others I know who venture 'off airport' ... and that's in aircraft that have ELT (emergency location transmitters) hard wired in with automatic activation in the event of a crash, and transponders which 'squark' your location onto any radar that could possibly pick you up. If guys like me still see a need for them then they certainly have their place.

But I think the real message everyone needs to hear is to carry something on your person, even if you are out with a mate it's no good if only one of you has an EPIRB or if you have one but its back at camp. To the best of my knowledge no prospector that has had a blue and set off their EPIRB has ever died.
 
I had a spot for years, and yes it does everything you mention. However, with mine, the one and only time I really needed it, (I rolled my truck out bush) I hit the 2nd pre recorded message, "I'm OK but need assistance". It sent this message to my wife and a few friends no worries, but with a lat and long of 000 000 000.
I had an extremely upset wife that knew I needed help but no idea where I was. It was only when I walked to a phone that I could call her and put her at ease and let her know where to come and get me.
Needless to say the spot subscription was cancelled and I threw the thing out. Since I have bought a sat phone.
Spots excuse was that I must have been under trees, which I wasn't. I mean the message got out, but the location didn't.
My advise, personally, don't trust them, have an alternative.
 
That's why I got a delorme inreach as I can send and receive text and have a conversation. It also leaves a bread crumb trail which my missus can check online to see where i am. I bluetooth my phone to it which makes it easy to communicate with any of my phone contacts.
Jon
 
Hi Jon, Do you pay a monthly subscription when around town for extended periods? i.e.: if only out yonkers say 3 times per year, can I have it activated only for the months that I'm away?
 
Yes you can park the service for around $6 per month, or you pay to resubscribe depends on what's cheaper for you. The rates are here with the various package options:

http://www.alwaysinreach.com.au/index.php/component/content/article/11-service/15-rates

I'll see if I can get a thread going on it as it is useful also being hardy and waterproof, I just strap it on and saturate myself around the highbanker or go whitewater rafting no problems.

Jon
 
Thanks Jon. I reckon the "Recreation plan" looks good, with 3 SMS per day and 10 tracks per day (i.e.: one per hour when on the move). I'm planning both WA and QLD next year, so looks like a good option. Don't need voice. Look forward to your thread and others' inputs. I reckon others will mention SPOT 3 and Thuraya XT Lite as alternatives.
 
Simmo said:
I had a spot for years, and yes it does everything you mention. However, with mine, the one and only time I really needed it, (I rolled my truck out bush) I hit the 2nd pre recorded message, "I'm OK but need assistance". It sent this message to my wife and a few friends no worries, but with a lat and long of 000 000 000.
I had an extremely upset wife that knew I needed help but no idea where I was. It was only when I walked to a phone that I could call her and put her at ease and let her know where to come and get me.
Needless to say the spot subscription was cancelled and I threw the thing out. Since I have bought a sat phone.
Spots excuse was that I must have been under trees, which I wasn't. I mean the message got out, but the location didn't.
My advise, personally, don't trust them, have an alternative.

I don't trust any single method - which is why I carry SPOT, Epirb (with strobe light) and Satphone. SPOT is useful for the other messaging and as backup (sounds a bit like it was not locking onto a satellite to get your location, as can happen with any of them). My wife monitors me on SPOT receiving my coords every 20 minutes continuously for multiple weeks, and it has never failed. Satphone often cannot lock on - who knows with Epirb until you are dying because the fine for unauthorised activation is horrendous.

I guess another lesson might be - check your equipment before leaving ;)
 
the fine for unauthorised activation is horrendous.

Cost a Qld bloke $30,000.00 :rolleyes: so yes you would want to make sure you were dying or you may have wished you had after you got the bill :)
 
I think if you had a serious medical problem you'll be fine, if you set it off to get help with a tyre, then you're screwed.
That bloke in QLD here http://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-05-09/man-fined-30000-over-epirb-false-alarm/1748862
Sounds like he was just being a practical joker.
If people have a genuine medical emergency they should not be worried about using it.

Another prankster here http://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-05-09/man-fined-30000-over-epirb-false-alarm/1748862 didn't set off an epirb, but still got fined for making a hoax emergency.
 
Occasional_panner said:
I think if you had a serious medical problem you'll be fine, if you set it off to get help with a tyre, then you're screwed.
That bloke in QLD here http://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-05-09/man-fined-30000-over-epirb-false-alarm/1748862
Sounds like he was just being a practical joker.
If people have a genuine medical emergency they should not be worried about using it.

Another prankster here http://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-05-09/man-fined-30000-over-epirb-false-alarm/1748862 didn't set off an epirb, but still got fined for making a hoax emergency.

OP they are both the one story.
 
the fine for unauthorised activation is horrendous.

Cost a Qld bloke $30,000.00 :rolleyes: so yes you would want to make sure you were dying or you may have wished you had after you got the bill :)
I think that was for intentionally setting it off with no reason, which seems fair enough. Not only the cost, but others might die because you had diverted the only available emergency services to you.

Personally I would be mortified to cause a search. I once did so with my company by forgetting to make the nightly satphone call (the grinding of search vehicles over the sand dunes at 6 am as I put on the billy was a sickening feeling). At least we had internal company search protocols, but you could not afford to forget (it was unusual, having driven at night to finish a job because of a fatality the day before). Another time I was bogged on a riverbank with floodwaters rising but worked all night to jack and put in rocks for traction rather than be embarrassed by calling SES. The instant the wheels grabbed I drove non-stop to the top of the range (the track up was slush and I did not want to pause once moving). When I got to the top I remembered that I had completely unloaded the vehicle to aid getting it free, and that all my gear was still sitting on the riverbank.
 

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