Sunday, March 18, 2012

SPOT Communicator recall

SPOT-Communicator-recall

UPDATE: DeLorme tells me that SPOT units have been tested and sorted, and that “any new package from DeLorme heading to retail will have a blue sticker on the bottom of the box as the indicator it is a new or tested good unit.”

I received an email overnight announcing a recall of SPOT Communicator units sold with the DeLorme PN-60w. Apparently there is an issue with messages not being sent when temperatures are below 40 degrees F. Affected units include all those with an ESN number range between 0-2000000 and 0-2019999. To make amends, the company is offering a six-month extension on service plans. Hopefully, the company discovered this issue without it impacting any emergency situations. This just goes to point out that there is no substitute for good old-fashioned wilderness preparation.

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DeLorme Earthmate PN-60w review

DeLorme Earthmate PN-60wThe Delorme Earthmate PN-60w updates the PN-40 with improved battery life, expanded internal memory, activities (similar to Garmin’s profiles) and the ability to link wirelessly to other PN-60w’s and the SPOT Satellite Communicator. Power management is one of the biggest improvements, as short battery life was a common complaint about the PN-40.

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