Power

SPOT has a separate power button to ensure long battery life and to help avoid sending messages accidentally. To turn SPOT on, press the ON/OFF button. You must then wait an additional 2 seconds before activating any SPOT function. When power is on, the indicator light will blink once every 3 seconds. This is also helpful for making SPOT more visible in the dark. To turn SPOT off, press and hold the ON/OFF button for 3 seconds.

Activate

To activate press and hold the 911 button for at least 2 seconds. A distress signal & your exact location will be sent to an emergancy response centre every 5 minutes until cancelled.Once activated the indicator light will blink green every 3 seconds & turn solid green for 5 seconds when a message is being sent.

To Cancel

Press & hold the 911 button for at least 3 seconds. The blinking green light will blink red to indicate that it is prepering to send a "Cancel" message, & will then turn solid red for 5 seconds to indicate that the message has been sent.

HOW IT WORKS

SPOT is a Satellite Personal Messenger. It has a built in GPS receiver and provides five operational functions

How it Works

The "SOS" button is used to send an alert message to the International Emergency Rescue Co-ordination Centre (IERCC) in the USA, where the international database of SPOT registrations is retained. IERCC qualify the event and, if an emergency response is required, they forward it to the New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre in Wellington. The identification of your unit and its exact location is provided by the GPS data sent with the “SOS” message. Your personal details and two emergency contact telephone numbers are recorded when you first register your unit.
The "OK" button is used to generate an "I'm OK and this is where I am" message to your own managed list of email recipients. It will also generate a text message to a mobile alerting the user to an "OK" message from SPOT.

The email sent to recipients of this message contains a Google Maps link which can be clicked on to display SPOT's exact location and status. The text message displays the "OK" status and the GPS coordinates generated. To guarantee receipt, "OK" messages are sent three times within 20 minutes. Only one of these three messages is processed by the network.

The "HELP" button can be used for those occasions when the user needs assistance but, as it isn't life or death, there is no requirement to call out Search and Rescue. It could be that you are out of petrol and just require assistance. "HELP" also generates email and text messages to recipients with a Google Maps link which can be clicked on to display SPOT's exact location and status. The text message displays the "HELP" status and the GPS coordinates generated. "HELP" messages are sent once every 5 minutes for an hour. A spare function button is provided for users to generate a “Custom message” to their own list of recipients providing the user with additional functionality. This operates in exactly the same way as the “OK” function as three messages are generated within 20 minutes only one of which is delivered to up to 10 email or text addresses.

An independent “Tracking” button is provided for users who wish to subscribe to SPOT’s tracking function. This generates a message once every 10 minutes for 24 hours. Users of this service can use the www.findmespot.com web site to monitor and track individual units that subscribe to this service.

SPOT uses satellite technology for all of these functions. There are 48 orbiting satellites in the network each of which circumnavigates the earth every 114 minutes. For reliability, SPOT sends multiple transmissions. SPOT, like any satellite communications technology, requires a clear view of the SKY to deliver these functions.