T&T: replacement battery for NAT Satfind 406

[Milt Baker]

Bruce,

This is not a direct answer to your question, but I've been sufficiently impressed with the new "Spot" satellite transponder that I bought one yesterday to serve as a backup to my own EPIRBs.  This 7-oz. unit is essentially a GPS and satellite transmitter packagaed in a waterproof case and programmed to send canned messages including its lat/lon.  It sells for about $150 and annual service is another $160, allowing owners to send the following to up to 10 e-mail or cell phone message addresses:

--Check in giving lat/lon
--Ask for help giving lat/lon
--Track progress giving lat/lon

In addition, the service includes a 911 alert key.  If this is pressed and the resulting signal is received by the the Spot emergency call center, the center reportedly puts a rescue in motion.  The rescue service varies depending on location, but it might include coast guard, police, or private rescue services.  

This unit is being pitched by its company, a Globalstar subsidiary, mainly to outdoor people: hikers, skiers, and the like, who venture outside normal cell phone coverage areas.  The unit floats and is waterproof to one meter, according to the instruction book.  It runs for weeks on a couple of lithium AA batteries.  From what I have read, it uses entirely different technology than what has given Globalstar such a bad name over the past couple of years.  My own limited tests have shown Spot to get out a signal with my position quickly, accurately and efficiently, and the Internet interface for setting up who is to be notified and how is straightforward.  Coverage is not worldwide, but the company's website indicates coverage of all of North and Central America, northern South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Med, and other areas.

For further information, see the review by Ben Ellison, the very erudite observer of the marine electronics world who writes the electronics columns for Power & Motor Yacht and Sail magazines and runs the excellent marine electronics website, www.panbo.com  Here's a link to the review.  You can also check out Spot on the company's website at: www.findmespot.com

Is Spot as good as an EPIRB?  Almost certainly not by most measures.  But its low price and handy size probably means it'll be carried by many people who would never buy an EPIRB.  Its price and small size alone will probably make it a lifesaver.  

Full disclosure: I have no connection, business or otherwise, with Spot, Globalstar, or Panbo, other than as a new Spot owner (about 36 hours now!) and frequenter of the Panbo board.

--Milt Baker, Nordhavn 47 Bluewater  



badornato adornato at gmail.com wrote:

anyone know where i can get a replacement battery for a Northern Airborne
Technology Satfind 406 GPIRB?
i am googled out without any luck.

last saturday we lost two sailors 5 miles outside the Golden Gate for want
of an EPIRB.  (31 foot wooden cheoy lee sloop broke up and sank without a
mayday or 911 in a local ocean race)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/18/MN58VLMSO.DTL