Fireman78
Expedition Leader
Hey guys and gals, this only pertains to you if you own or plan on using a SPOT Connect device (the one the goes with a Smartphone).
I just got back from rafting the Grand Canyon and was exited to have my new SPOT Connect and Droid phone along for the ride in a Pelican box so I could send my wife messages and such. I love being able to send custom texts to her when I'm away somewhere wild. Anyhow, After I got "Off the grid" and into no cell /3G world I fired up the Spot Connect and was gonna let her know that I was safetly in the canyon and starting the trip, and then I realized that even though I downloaded the SPOT APP to my Droid, and even though the SPOT was working properly I couldn't send any message because I forgot one HUGE step in the set up process.
I forgot to "Log In" FROM the Droid App into the Spot system..and you must have internet access (from the Droid) to do this!!! Once you log in and it hooks up with the SPOT then you are OK to dvie into the wilderness, but once you get into the void, thees no way of getting the system to work until your back to the world.
My hope is nobody else makes this huge mistake. For me it was a minor inconveniance, but who knows what may happen in the future with someone else. This critical step is not outlined or emphasized in the SPOT instructions at least from what I've seen, although only I can take the blame, really, for not doing a systems check first.
I just got back from rafting the Grand Canyon and was exited to have my new SPOT Connect and Droid phone along for the ride in a Pelican box so I could send my wife messages and such. I love being able to send custom texts to her when I'm away somewhere wild. Anyhow, After I got "Off the grid" and into no cell /3G world I fired up the Spot Connect and was gonna let her know that I was safetly in the canyon and starting the trip, and then I realized that even though I downloaded the SPOT APP to my Droid, and even though the SPOT was working properly I couldn't send any message because I forgot one HUGE step in the set up process.
I forgot to "Log In" FROM the Droid App into the Spot system..and you must have internet access (from the Droid) to do this!!! Once you log in and it hooks up with the SPOT then you are OK to dvie into the wilderness, but once you get into the void, thees no way of getting the system to work until your back to the world.
My hope is nobody else makes this huge mistake. For me it was a minor inconveniance, but who knows what may happen in the future with someone else. This critical step is not outlined or emphasized in the SPOT instructions at least from what I've seen, although only I can take the blame, really, for not doing a systems check first.
