GPS tracking

[oldvarnish]

Does anybody know of a system which will track yachts on ocean passages and provide a daily position on a website for the folks back home?
I'm guessing they used such a system on the last OSTAR.

 

[RIB_imposter]

Will you be in mobile phone range? There are several systems which use a mobile phone technology with embedded GPS to send back its location. Check for "GSM GPS tracker" on ebay (or google). They vary from less than £100 to significantly more. If the person you are tracking will have a modern smart/iphone then there is probably a downloadable app to do the same.

If its out of GSM mobile phone coverage something like the "SPOT tracker" www.findmesport.com which uses satelite phone might be better. Initial outlay is similar but the cost of the ongoing contract will be higher.

 

[lenseman]

For ocean passages it is either Iridium or SPOT as the main two contenders, there are others which are available.

There are three guys in a 36 foot yacht sailing NORTH of the 70°N parallel, they are sailing round he North Pole would you believe before the pack ice sets in for the winter. This usually starts before the end of September so they have some way to go!! They started from Norway area and are currently approaching the Baring Straights, heading east. I have been following their journey since it started about 21 days ago.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0sh4D6qB4SbUlL8PQTx67P76naNiL79ys

This is the blog which points you to their venture:

http://oceannavigator.com/ME2/dirmo...80&tier=7&id=D519B5F8B46443FF89BE098159F5964B

and:

http://www.yachtbook.net/drp/content/North-West-and-North-East-passage-one-summer

They are using SPOT which sends back a signal every hour or so but it seems to be 'lost' at the moment (15:40 Sunday 30 August 2009). SPOT doesn't promise coverage that far north anyway.

 

[oldvarnish]

thanks for pointing me towards Spot. Looks terrific. I did a transat a few years ago and something like this would have save a lot of anguish back home.

 

[lenseman]

thanks for pointing me towards Spot. Looks terrific. I did a transat a few years ago and something like this would have save a lot of anguish back home.

Do a Google search for SPOT, there is a forum for users, mainly from the States and a bunch of then say that it is very poor and often does not work successfully. Often they are in woodland (backwoods hunting) and the SPOT units cannot lock or see the satellites.

"SPOT 2" has just been released which promises better service. Watch this space.

Don't forget, you buy the unit then pay a subscription for using the service.

 

[RIB_imposter]

mainly from the States and a bunch of then say that it is very poor and often does not work successfully. Often they are in woodland (backwoods hunting) and the SPOT units cannot lock or see the satellites.

Like any GPS system SPOT needs to see satellites, it also needs to see a (different) satelite for its Sat Phone system to SMS the message back. In that sense you would expect a much better chance of success on a Yacht in the middle of an ocean than in dense forest.

 

[Deleted member 478]

Satellite Tracking

I have a unit from www.GlobalTrack.com - speak to Pieter Smits and please tell him I referred you to them.

Was easy to install and the tracking is done either via their website (shyte) or via GoogleEarth. Have a look at:
http://anecdotesfromstingo.blogspot.com/2007/09/google-earth-and-stingo.html
to see how easy it is for the folks back home to set up a permanent link to your boat on Google Earth.

EDIT: You can change the update period from between 4 minutes and 72 hours or turn it off completely. There is also an emergency facility where you press a button on a remote and it sends an SMS to a maximum of five mobile phones that you have specified. TCM borrowed my unit for his first TransAt - the system has room for improvement, but hey, if your objective is simple tracking, this does exactly that. They were talking about adding reporting facilities eg if your batteries drop below say 11 volts, the system will send you an SMS.

 

[nimbusgb]

I have been using spot for about 12 months now. Works great even with the unit on the chart table under the glasfibre deckhead. yes it misses data call ins but rarely fro more than an hour or so.

Ideal for a transat or such. The big challenge is that it needs 'setting' to track mode every 24 hours. That is of course unless you whip the covers off and wire a microprocessor up to 'press' the buttons every 24 hours for you

Having a 'I'm OK button' and a '911' button is also handy.