SPOT Assist

[Fr. Frank]

naval.com is not even close to Chapman's calculations.
6 ft antenna on either end produced a 6 mile range according to navel.com.

Am I doing something wrong???

This made me think. SO I went to "How Stuff Works" to find the following formula:
SquareRoot(height above surface / 0.5736) = distance to horizon.

That works out to about 1 mile for every 8 inches in height. So a 6' antenna (72 inches) has a line of sight of 9 miles.

I wonder if the current Chapman's still has the old guideline? My copy is from the late 1970's.

[BigLew]

Be sure to add in the length of the antenna PLUS the distance above the water to it's mount. In other words, how far above the water is the highest point on the antenna.

[MasterBaiter]

If you use the non-emergency distress option, meaning you need a tow, there is no way for the receiver, in this case TowBoatUS, to know whether this is a false alarm or not. They also have no way to give you a confirmation that they received the call. So you sit, hoping the thing worked, 40 miles offshore waiting for a tow boat you hope will arrive. Apparently TowBoatUS dispatches on some false alarms from time to time and SeaTow did not want wasted dispatches.

I spoke to BoatUS yesterday and they said there has been only 1 request from SPOT to tow. He explained there are two SPOTs generation I, and gen II. Gen II is a little more power hungry due to increased power to transmit. There is also LED lights to let you know when a msg. has been sent, satellites aquired type stuff.

I was also assured TowBoatUS answers all calls because if the Towboats don't leave the dock they don't get paid.

Any bad experiences out there?

Gen I - $50
Gen II - $150
Both with $99 per year fees. It looks like I might be renting a Sat Phone this year and hope the technology improves for next.

[Fr. Frank]

Just for the record, Coastel Offshore Cellular offers cell phone access from many popular fishing locations in the Gulf of Mexico, including the south end of the Florida Middle Grounds. The also have antennas on the Air Force towers in the Gulf, and many oil rigs. Very expensive, though. Any GMA or CDMA phone can connect.

I made three calls from 91 miles offshore in the Middle Grounds in '06 when a parishioner died, that cost me over $20 for about 16 minutes total.

[76Red18]

I have my vhf with the distress feature connected to my gps which should send my coordinates in an emergency. What would SPOT do in comparison as long as my vhf still has power? I can hail Tow Boat 25 miles out and both signals are pretty clear.

[MasterBaiter]

What I'm basically looking for is a little piece of mind while fishing the Marathon Hump in the Keys. So a distance of 25 - 30 miles would be fine. Up here in NJ there is plenty of boat traffic for a relay if I run into trouble. According to what calculations you use a VHF may or may not make it.

No piece of mind in a may or may not.......

[Rainmaker]

I can't offer the piece of mind you are looking for but I can tell you there are normally plenty of folks on the Humps so you won't be alone. Also you will more than likely find you can communicate with the Coast Guard and Tow Boats at 30-40 miles with no issue. You may want to reach out to the Coast Guard and verify thier antenna height in this area. I did a quick search on line but did not find any good data.

If anyone is on here from the Keys, maybe they have some information that will help.