snow beacons
- Thread starter EthanWbr
- Start date
beeonaplug
Active VIP Member
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2008
- Messages
- 258
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- Location
- Salmon Arm B.C.
- Website
- www.highcountrytrailrides.ca.
I use a "Pieps beacon". Works good and it's compact.
SLY
Active VIP Member
Tracker. Easy to use, fast and doesn't eat batteries when in search mode. Real easy to put back into transmit quickly. But doesn't have as much range as some of the others. They are all as good as the operator and you must practice with it and get familiar with it. Don't forget the shovel, probe and avy course 
I like my Tracker beacon as well. It is very easy to use. The only complaint that I have is sometimes the neck strap can chaff a little if it's sitting on bare skin. But as said before the battery life is great, also during the startup sequence it tells you with a number of beeps whether you need to change your batteries or not.
sledneck48
Active VIP Member
Tracker 2 love this beacon when you turn it on the screen displays the battery life percentage. Superfast search and the auto-revert to transmit is an awesome feature if you happened to be hit by a secondary avalanche. Overall an amazing beacon and the range is supposed to be greater than the original tracker but still not as long as some of the other beacons. My $0.02
ratpak
Active member
My group just bought the new Mammut Pulse Beacon and it's awesome. We got a great deal buying them out of the states too. They were much cheaper than anyone here.
thunder44
Active VIP Member
I used an SOS Beacon until I took an Avy course. Our group has all changed to the Tracker 3. I tried the Pieps but found the bar you slide to go to search very flimsy and hard to switch with winter gloves and when I practiced with it I had a hard time finding the other beacon.The Tracker 3 is very simple to use and I was able to find the other beacon immediately. I have found the more I practice with it the quicker I and my whole group are able to find the hidden beacon compared to the SOS.
Mine transmits on an olfactory frequency and the benefit is that pretty much everyone has a sensor to pick it up. In fact, roaming packs of wolves and bears may even help in the search and rescue.
The only con is that it stops working after lunch. Here's a picture:
The only con is that it stops working after lunch. Here's a picture:
snoqueen
Active VIP Member
LOL...that's pretty funny!!
On a serious note, my son and I used to have the SOS beacons, and my husband had the Tracker DTS, until we took our AST 1 course. Basically, the SOS beacons work, BUT you have to really know how to hone in your search with them and who's got extra time when a real life situation happens? The tracker 2 was fast on the single burials but VERY confusing on the multiple burial searches. Any 3 antenna beacon is your best bet, whether the Pieps DSP, Mammut Pulse or Tracker 2.
We now have the Pieps DSP beacons, easy to use, like the fact that in a multiple burial situation you can hold the "flag" button to ignore the current beacon and advance to the next beacon. The Pieps DSP also contains firmware that is updatable. The latest version is 6.2. The best way to see which beacon works best is to go to an AST course, on the field day your instructor(s) will have a myriad of beacons on hand for you to try. We decided on the Pieps DSP beacons after using them at our course. Buy what beacon you are most comfortable with, and practice, practice, practice. Good luck.
Here is a website with reviews:
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giddyup
Active VIP Member
the key is to get a beacon that you are comfortable to work with, i would only buy a 3 antena unit, buy the latest technology you want the best when its life in the balance
good luck
giddyup
good luck
giddyup
NotoriousNRB
Active VIP Member
mammot pulse. haven't used it yet, looks pretty though
Ive got a Pieps DSP and find it VERY easy to use found the hidden beacon right away on my first try. Even with the multiple beacon search it was no problem. But I'm sure with more practice I can get even faster. Remember that you are not buying a beacon for yourself but it really for your buddy's. All beacon's send a signal and the three antenna ones I find have better range and are easier to use be it the Pieps Mammot or Tracker 2. Not the thing to cheep out on!!
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