Since posting the above, I found this on an electronics blog. It was posted back in May and there have been a couple of software updates since.
The comments at the bottom make interesting reading - giving you the pluses and minuses

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2012/05/delorme_inreach_15_groovy_with_an_ipad.html

Paul,
I looked at SPOT first. The pricing is good, but there 's a huge area of the Pacific that 's not covered. Wouldn 't be any good for going around Cape Horn, either!

I don 't think I 'd want to consider anything that needs its batteries to be replaced, though the electronics blog says there 's a power supply coming for the Inreach sometime.

Simon,
Many thanks for the comparison. But when I looked at the DeLorme site, the specs say that there is a GPS chipset built in. I 'd be surprised if there wasn 't, a device such as this wouldn 't be much use as an SOS panic button if some other bluetooth GPS had to be switched on as well.



David.

David,
Yes that is right

I found this link to the Cerberus device in that blog: http://cerberus.briartek.com/cerberlink/specs
That 's one I hadn 't heard of, it looks quite interesting, and it has a rechargeable battery...

David,

I think battery life is an issue with all of them, but only if you keep them switched on all the time. To be honest, I can 't see a real need to be tracked every ten minutes, or even every four hours.
I work on the basis that I let the folks back home know everything is OK ever 36 hours,or so.
I just switch it on for a while, send a tracking signal, and if the message light is flashing I 'll download that. I can 't give you a figure, but I guess that batteries would last for weeks that way.

On a similar subject, a friend of mine went from Falmouth to C Horn and back on quite a spartan boat. All they carried was a pocket GPS which they switched on at noon to get a fix, and then switched off again.
Their proud boast is that they got from the Horn to Falmouth on one set of AA batteries!

Paul,
I 'd agree that battery life per se is not an issue. It 's more that having to remember to do something manually might be - switch on, switch off, change the batteries... The more I can eliminate my human errors, the better.

I 'm thinking of the folks who use an SSB to send a daily message "I 'm OK", and then one day that message doesn 't get sent, for some trivial reason (bad connection, corroded wire) and then the folks shoreside phone the Coastguard, and set a rescue mission going. It happens.

I 'd say that just to send my noon position is quite often enough for the tracker to be operational, but I might want to receive messages more frequently.

Yes, Mike Richey told me that on his annual trip across the Atlantic in Jester,, he would switch his GPS on for 5 minutes at noon, just to check the fix he was getting from whatever esoteric, archaic navigation tools and methods he was experimenting with - and made the batteries last for the whole passage.

I have a Yellow Brick Tracker. http://live.adventuretracking.com/serendipity It is very reliable - does what it says on the tin.

A few points on this thread.

1 Mine is wired into the boat electronics - so doesnt need to be reacharged

2 The weather overlay feature on the AZAB and World ARC is paid for by those organisations. It does not come with the basic kit.

3 Commercial Fleet managers fit them to their vessels to enable then to track them. Global coverage

4 Some yacht rally organisers do too. They fitted them in the current world ARC. It was a new smaller version which had problems with leakage and failure. Some WorldARC boats had had several replacementzs fitted by the time they left Australia. HOwever, YB think they have it fixed - Oyster are running their own rally starting next year and Yellow Brick have given assuracnes that the problem is fixed.

Hello,

I found this thread and thought I should show my face, as it were.

As has been pointed out, these devices all offer similar functionality - but they 're not the same. We designed Yellowbrick for people like you, and we think it 's the best option for blue-water cruising, but I would say that! :whistle:

Just a few key differences:

- Yellowbrick allow you to purchase line rental on a month-by-month basis, with no minimum contract. If you 're only cruising for 3 months, just pay for 3 months. Our position and messaging credits don 't expire either.

- Yellowbrick allows to you read short incoming messages on it 's own display.

- You can customise your list of pre-set ( 'canned ') messages, which can be sent directly from the unit.

- YBlog is a really nice way to share your travels. See here for a good example.

But most importantly, we 're a small team of people who really understand sailing, and we 're always here to help.

A note on the World ARC problem: Yes, we had a manufacturing problem that affected the waterproof seal on one batch of trackers. The problem has now been resolved, and as a result we now manufacture our trackers in the UK - even the plastics are moulded here.

Feel free to fire any specific questions my way and I 'll do my best to answer.

Thanks,

Richard Searle
--
Yellowbrick Tracking Ltd

Thanks Richard. Any discount for OCC Members?
Simon

Hi Simon,

Yes, we 'll happily offer OCC members a discount. We can reduce the price of the unit, and also offer a deal on line-rental and credits.

I 'd rather not get into the details on a public forum, but please email us (address at http://www.yellowbrick-tracking.com), and we can discuss it further.

Thanks,

Richard