NOTE: DME has withdrawn the SATRO PLB from the market. Click here for the final judgement in this lawsuit.
I have been getting a number of inquires about Astronics DME Corporation’s SATRO PLB-110 “world’s smallest and lightest” PLB that we first wrote about back in December of last year (2011). Besides being small, one [...]

(Click images for higher resolution photos)

NOTE: DME has withdrawn this PLB from the market. Click here for the full story about why you cannot buy this PLB
A new entrant in the PLB wars is claiming to be the world’s smallest and lightest Personal Locator Beacon, eclipsing the current record holder in this regard, the [...]

Spot LLC has issued a product recall on the SPOT Satellite Communicator which is bundled and sold exclusively with the DeLorme Earthmate PN-60w. This comes just over a year after Spot had to recall its then recently introduced second generation SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger, or what is now known as SPOT 2. And, as [...]

UPDATE: July 21, 2011: FCC approval granted, now available for purchase.
(3D CAD images provided by ACR – click for higher resolution images – the images are an accurate representation of the new PLB I examined.)
It’s been a long time coming, but I just got a firsthand look at ACR Electronics’ answer to the popular [...]

(Click on images for higher-resolution photos)
(Updated 03/03/2010) While I was away this weekend the replacement for my recalled SPOT 2 arrived, as promised. This morning I unpacked the padded envelope and found a few surprises. Besides the reworked SPOT with a “You’re good to GO!” sticker on it (more on that shortly), there was [...]

(Replacement SPOT 2 received. Check it out here.)
Today I received notice that the replacement for my recalled SPOT 2 has shipped and was happy to see that they are offering those whose SPOT 2s were recalled an additional two months of service beyond the one added month originally announced. I had thought the original [...]

(Replacement SPOT 2 received. Check it out here.)
I received the following email this evening from SPOT regarding the replacement SPOT 2 units for those recalled previously. (Read about the recall of SPOT 2 here.) If you own a second generation SPOT and have not checked to see if your unit is subject [...]

Feb. 17, 2010: Replacements for Recalled SPOT 2s Shipping
Responding to the recall of new SPOT 2 Satellite GPS Messengers, we sent in our SPOT 2 a couple weeks ago and today received the following email from SPOT:

Dear valued SPOT customer,
Spot LLC appreciates your cooperation in the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger (SPOT 2) Product [...]

I have a few more details to provide on the DeLorme Earthmate PN-60w with SPOT Satellite Communicator introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. (read the original post here) However, it is just a few more details because from my discussions with SPOT it is clear that a lot of the [...]

(See latest Update for more information.)
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Spot LLC, and well-known GPS manufacturer DeLorme announced the world’s first handheld GPS and satellite communicator product. The DeLorme Earthmate PN-60w with SPOT Satellite Communicator will be the first handheld GPS capable of sending user inputted real time text messages from [...]