It's things like this that give me hope for the future

Status
Not open for further replies.
caguy

caguy

.
Sep 22, 2006
4,004
Catalina, Luger C-27, Adventure 30 Marina del Rey
A 17 year old Junior at Palos Verdes High School has wriiten and is marketing an ap that should be of particular interest to us sailors.
It is call the Emergency Beacon App. ($.99). It will send with one button, your location to preset contacts in the case of an emergency. Kind of like the DSC on the radio, that is if you have it hooked up to your gps, and if your gps is on, and if your gps can find a satilite.

It's nice to know there is a simple inexpensive backup.

Kudos to Nick Entin :clap: Now just make one for Android based phones.

http://www.emergencybeaconapp.com/
 
Ross

Ross

.
Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
I just sent the link to my grand daughter. She is a computer science major.
 
caguy

caguy

.
Sep 22, 2006
4,004
Catalina, Luger C-27, Adventure 30 Marina del Rey
I got an email back from Nick and he is working on an Android ap but it won't be ready until Summer.
 
Last edited:
Bill Roosa

Bill Roosa

.
Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
And you have cell phone coverage. Pretty sure this thing is not going to work once out of sight of land or in remote locations beyond cell phone/wifi coverage.
With that said, how is this "more effective" than 911 except you have to press 3 buttons (and get an emergency responder) vs 1 button (and get a relative)?
 
J

joes new addiction

.
Oct 21, 2011
109
O Day Mariner 2+2 my driveway/ Lake Wallenpalpac
After I went down on my Harley last summer, I found a device I have to have before I hit the road (not literally this time!) this season- "Findmespot".
It's a small waterproof orange device the size of a cellphone.
It has a few buttons on it,you can send a GPS sign to the nearest Emergency service, as well as programed numbers, you can send a "Check In" signal, as well as a recorded message. Looks pretty cool.
There are 2 out there "Spot 1" and "Spot 2".
The Spot 1 floats, but alas Spot 2 does not.
I don't carry my cell on my boat, (I'm the kinda guy that if I did, the fish would be using it to call Japan by nightfall), but I have a track phone I carry in my saddle bag I haul on the boat. I have noticed twice it didn't have a signal, and it's not waterproof.
Here's the site.
www.findmespot.com
I saw mine in the Aerostitch catalog, but I bet there is a lot of places out there, as well as trusty old Ebay.
I figure it's gotta work on lakes and such, anywhere I can see the sky like a gps.

Joe
So many places to sail so few $$
 
A

alexco38

.
Sep 25, 2008
1,096
CS 30 Toronto
The SPOT use satellite (with an annual fee) but available anywhere. Mobile phone only goes a few miles from shore. Mobile carrier seldom aim their antennas facing the water due to low revenue. WiFi is only good for a couple hundred feet and most are secured these days.

Mobile 911 (for some jurisdiction) already able to get location based information using cell triangulation.

His app is of little value for sailors but a good start for a young fellow. Just keep thinking.
 
Ed Schenck

Ed Schenck

.
Jun 2, 2004
5,802
Hunter 37-cutter, '79 41 23' 30"N 82 33' 20"W--------Huron, OH
We were offshore, outside three miles, a lot and never outside of Verizon towers. Still a satellite device is best. For serious ocean work the EPIRB is a must. For coastal work we had a SPOT and family and authorities were only a button away. As for needing a one button ap you can program that yourself. But at 99 cents why not?
 
Phil Herring

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,924
- - Bainbridge Island
Yeah, for 99 cents it's worth having in your car in case you get into trouble on the launch ramp. :)
 
J

John

.
Jun 3, 2006
803
Catalina 36mkII Alameda CA
A friend of mine has glympse (glympse.com) on his cell phone. You can get location of anybody else with glympse who gives you permission to find their location. He was able to tell how near his wife was to where we were going to meet. Obvious uses for sailors as long as you're in cell phone range. Free app.
 
caguy

caguy

.
Sep 22, 2006
4,004
Catalina, Luger C-27, Adventure 30 Marina del Rey
It would be useful to me in that most of the sailing I do is up and down the coast and to Catalina. Catalina from MDR is 30 nm. Seven years ago I would lose phone signal for the middle third of the trip, but in the last few years I get a signal all the way.

As he points out at his site, sending a text message requires much a much lower signal. This I know because my office at school is located in what appears to be a black hole. I usually have difficulty making a call, but I can send text messages with no problems.
Two years ago on a trip to Santa Cruz we were able to call our wives though the phone signals were weak.
If I were a cruiser I would definitely go for the 99 dollar Spot, but for 99 cents this works as a back up to the DSC for me.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top Bottom