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So where are we at with this now? Does the screen issue affect the DSP Sport or just Pro? What are the opinions of the advance features on the Pulse over the Element? Tracker 3?
I've said it before but absolute reliability and easy of use are tops on my list for safety equipment. It is unlikely that I will be able to dedicate time to check out all the options so I'm looking for some advice.
Thanks
no screen issue on my dsp sport or my older yellow dsp (fingers crossed for it staying that way)
can't go wrong with a tracker 3
it has the lowest pickup range but, other than that, easy to use
for easy to use, i was also intrigued by the ortovox 3+ when i was looking for my sport
per beaconreviews, the ortovox 3+ & tracker 3 are 4.5 star beacons
Haven't had screen issues with my DSP sport either. It's stupid easy to use. Multi burial function is intuitive and has worked great when practicing even with transponders very close to one another. Tracker 3 has a faster processor I guess, so someone like a guide who's super dialed could be a little faster with it. But the intuitiveness of the DSP is so nice
1. Yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Boissal
2.a. Agreed, but...
2.b. Not as far as we can tell.
2.c. Ditto.
3. Ours should be up soon ... once I complete my testing. (Unfortunately it's been snowing all day and will continue though the night, setting back all my testing plans, which were further set back by the USSMA Idaho races, but if the local skiing gets really good, then I'll oddly enough have more time since I won't need to drive at all to ski.)
4. Oh, you'll most likely hate this harness even more! (I started laughing -- in a bad way -- just trying to remove the beacon from its pouch even inside with warm ungloved fingers.)
We had a wide selection of beacons at my Avy 1 class. Tracker 2, Tracker 3, DSP sport, DSP Pro, Mammut Barryvox, Ortovox 3, that I remember.
Tracker 2 had by far the lowest range in signal acquisition range of the beacons. Other beacons picked up signals in the 35-45 meter range that the Tracker 2 didn't find until the 20-25 meter range.
Tracker 2 is by far the most intuitive/easiest to switch into search mode with gloves on.
Tracker 3 was usually the first to pick up a signal, but (and this might have been operator error) didn't consistently hold a signal when in the 45 meter range. Other beacons (not including the Tracker 2) would pick up the signal very shortly after the Tracker 3, and hold it better at longer range.
No difference observed between DSP sport and pro models in terms of range.
All models performed reasonably similarly in the pinpoint search. There's probably more going on in terms of practice than technology in this stage of the search.
The instructor had a DSP Pro model. Not sure if it was personal preference or company sponsorship, but he liked it and recommended it. I picked up a DPS Pro in part due to the recommendation and in part due to the BD discount code we got from attending the class.
I ended up getting one from Europe as my sister came to visit and she could get it over there for cheap.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan S.
You're not kidding on the harness. It's the worst I've seen so far and that's saying a lot. I had to cut a bunch of straps, re-stitch the elastic band to make it shorter, tape over the adjustment buckles which created some rub, and still don't like it. I think I'll never take it out of the pouch, just unclip the waist and keep the shoulder strap on when I need to search. I may cut the transparent window too, it seems to gather dust and dog hair.
The bulk surprised / disappointed me a bit, on paper it's not much thicker than a Pieps but it feels like a brick in the holster. I carried my Pieps in the pocket of my pants for years, the Axio definitely has to remain in the holster and it creates a major beer gut. It annoyed the shit out of me at first but now I rotate it to the side and it sits on top of the small zipped pouch integrated in the waist my Float pack. It stays there on the up and I stopped noticing it, I slide it back to center for the down.
As far as performance I can't comment much since I've only had it for a couple of weeks and haven't done much testing (skiing solo these days). Switching to search mode is stupid easy, there's only one button for the rest, marking is intuitive, it's loud and the tone changes nicely with distance. The display changes when you get in close proximity search which confused me a bit at first. I haven't had a chance to use the group check diagnostics at first. It seems to eat more battery that my Pieps DSP but that's not something I've quantified accurately.
I'll fluff this up when I've had time to do a serious practice with it.
I bought a Tracker 1 back in 2007 and while it seemed to be functioning well, I just upgraded to a Tracker 3. I like the simplicity of Trackers and figured it was time for a modern 3 antenna. It just arrived so I haven't had time to use it outside of fiddling in my house but stoked to practice with it this weekend. Didn't hurt that I managed to get it on sale for $260CAD plus tax.
Are you serious that you don't realize this is a designed feature? When you have your beacon out and in search mode and a second avalanche comes down and buries you, that "aggravating" switch reverts back to transmit, and the rest of the rescue party can now locate you and dig you out.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cravenmorhead
I don't buy that the ease of knocking the Tracker 2 back into transmit is a designed feature. There's no guarantee it gets knocked back into place if I'm buried in Slide No. 2. The beacon also automatically reverts to transmit after 5 minutes if selected to do so on startup. Much more likely that Rescuer 2 knocks his beacon back into transmit while pulling out shovel/probe as Rescuer 1 does a grid search and complicates things with another signal.
It's not a major thing to adjust to, and maybe it shouldn't be a deal-breaker, but I think the tab was designed to be easy to use rather than as some sort of fail-safe.
When's the last time searchers were buried looking for an avalanche victim?