> Agreed. My mail-server delays delivery for a few hours > quite often. Once in > a while email form somebody else doesn't reach me at > all (not bounced back, > just disappeared), not very often, but happpens. It should be pointed out that the SPOT system does allow you to send your distress signal to multiple email addresses. This does not eliminate possible delay, but it does statistically improve your chances of the message being delivered in a timely fashion. If one of four messages sits in an email server for a few hours, that still means that three messages went out successfully. It would probably be wise to ensure that all of your messages aren't sent to the same email server. Email may be imperfect, but the alternative is a completely independent delivery system. The cost of such a system would likely be comparable with satellite phones. > I do think that there are more people likely to be listening to marine > VHF > channel 16 that are likely to come to your rescue than there are people > likely to be listening to aviation VHF 121.5mHz. It does depend where you are. Some cities have waterfront airports - Toronto being one example. The city was well within visual range. On a recent sailing event, we were far enough out that VHF radio was unable to reach shore and Cell phones were unable to pick up a signal either. In this case, there was no emergency. We were just a little bit late getting back to our destination. This example does show the limitations of our standard communication devices. Since there is a steady flow of traffic out of the city airport, the ability to communicate with a passing aircraft might have proven useful in an emergency. This is also a scenario where SPOT's signal would have clear access to Satellites. Derek *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Oct 02 2008 - 03:53:58 PDT
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