Beacon=confused

slomobile · Nov 22, 2013

I'm getting a bca float and im getting a beacon along with it. Question is that it comes with the tracker but I can upgrade and I'm not sure which one to go for. The tracker 2, pieps dsp sport, ortovox zoom+. I've been reading up on them and leaning towards the pieps. I know with any beacon key is practice, practice, practice. Any suggestions? thanks

mtsummitx · Nov 22, 2013

slomobile said:
I'm getting a bca float and im getting a beacon along with it. Question is that it comes with the tracker but I can upgrade and I'm not sure which one to go for. The tracker 2, pieps dsp sport, ortovox zoom+. I've been reading up on them and leaning towards the pieps. I know with any beacon key is practice, practice, practice. Any suggestions? thanks

Somebody will flame me for this, but here it goes anyways. You don't have to have the newest, fanciest, or most expensive beacon out there. We use old analog S.O.S beacons that are at least 12 years old. The best beacon you can have is the one you will wear everytime, keep fresh batteries in, and that you are competent and confident in using. So my advise would be, if you can, play with each one and see which one you feel most comfortable operating.

Edit again: one more opinion, I feel the simplest operating beacon is the best (again, just my opinion). In a time of stress such as a life and death search effort, ease of operation could be key.

slomobile · Nov 22, 2013

unfortunately is all online so I can't see any of them first hand. My problem is i have zero experience with beacons and there are so many to choose from I don't know where to start. I read that the tracker is tired and trued but range is less and has a hard time with multiplies. Can't find to many reviews on the others so maybe they are less popular.

mtsummitx · Nov 22, 2013

I can't give any personal expierence on any of them. But, again my opinion, I wouldn't be too concerned with a multiple feature. Here's why. First, if everyone is following avalanche safety guidelines, you should not have to really worry about multiples. No multiples climbing same slope at same time, and nobody parking in runout path. I know, freak stuff could happen. But secondly, if multiple people with beacons are searching, knowing multiple people are buried I would hope 2 people would not be following each other to the same spot. Lastly, lets say you are riding in a group of 3, 2 of you get buried, how many people can you dig up at one time??? This sounds bad, but more than likely in that scenario you will only have enough time to save one, so you would go to the first one you find, dig them out, then on too what you can do for the second.

POWDR · Nov 22, 2013

mtsummitx said:
Somebody will flame me for this, but here it goes anyways. You don't have to have the newest, fanciest, or most expensive beacon out there. We use old analog S.O.S beacons that are at least 12 years old. The best beacon you can have is the one you will wear everytime, keep fresh batteries in, and that you are competent and confident in using. So my advise would be, if you can, play with each one and see which one you feel most comfortable operating.

Edit again: one more opinion, I feel the simplest operating beacon is the best (again, just my opinion). In a time of stress such as a life and death search effort, ease of operation could be key.

Not gonna flame at all. Practice, practice, practice, then practice in high stress senarios (have friends yelling at you, etc). The beacon you are comfortable with is the one that is best.

When my beacon goes on my body, the power is on and the first thing I do is beacon checks with the party.

In fire we refer to high risk/low frequency situations. You want to practice these situations as much as possible so when to **** goes down you move through the situation automatically.

Meadow Muffin · Nov 22, 2013

I have the tracker II and it is very simple to operate. I have not had any other beacons to compare to but this one is very easy to use. This was the one that Mike Duffy recomended in his avy class.

POWDR · Nov 22, 2013

slomobile said:
unfortunately is all online so I can't see any of them first hand. My problem is i have zero experience with beacons and there are so many to choose from I don't know where to start. I read that the tracker is tired and trued but range is less and has a hard time with multiplies. Can't find to many reviews on the others so maybe they are less popular.

If you have no experience with beacons, i an guessing you have little experience with being avy savy. Not being a dick, maybe I am wrong. Ultimately, I am happy you are being responsible in getting prepared.

Start with classes. Read some snow science books, practice with your equipment (not just beacon-probe, shovel, extraction and stabilization/extraction), practice with friends.

Also, I use to be concerned about range. In my opinion, range is more important if you happen upon an incident. If someone in your party gets buried, you will make visual markers and easily pick up a signal.

Less important thant the beacon itself is your ability to use it. Also, go out and shovel some avy desbris just for kicks. Really to get your nuts kicked in. It is all about practical experiences. Having a beacon with the best range ain't gonna do **** if you are not practiced.Know your probe also. How it deploys, etc.

if I am involved in an incident, I am prepared for it well before it happens. I know who I am with and their skill set and what they will offer to an incident.

Maybe in a group on dude acts as an incident commander and does not search at all. He/she directs the group and commands the rescue mission, tries to contact outside resources, looks for secondary avy's, etc.

I like to mark the last place I saw the victim and the first place I pick up a signal either with a hat or some othe recognizable marker. If you lose the signal, you can always go back to where you first picked up the signal.

My ought is that the range is of less importance due to methodical searching practices.

I hope this all makes sense, I am a few deep on the good ol' Pendies after a long week

mtsummitx · Nov 22, 2013

POWDR said:
I hope this all makes sense, I am a few deep on the good ol' Pendies after a long week

So that's why all the type slurr...lol!! :face-icon-small-hap

POWDR · Nov 22, 2013

^^^^^^ oh man,myou are going to make me go and spell check tomorrow morning.......actually, I am far enough along that I may forget about this thread.

slomobile · Nov 22, 2013

thanks for all the input and yes it all makes sense. so should I stick with the basic tracker or upgrade to the tracker 2 a hundred bucks? or 35 for the pieps dts sport?

RobertTrivanovic · Nov 22, 2013

I recommend the tracker 2 simply because of how easy it is to use, you literally turn it on in the back and then to search pull out the giant search tab, of course you still need to know how to search properly but doesn't get much easier then the tracker 2. And of course multi burial is more confusing but like said above if your in that situation in the first place you did something seriously wrong.

Also to the person who mentioned 12+ year old beacons…(Ps. Not trying to flame you here
mtsummitx) If the beacon is not AT LEAST a 3 antenna beacon DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT USE IT. It will not pick up the signal fast enough and often will be harder to find the signal in the first place. When talking to a BCA rep he explained the antenna thing and believe me, do some research you don't want anything less then 3 antenna when your dealing with your life.

Yes practice is key, and yes you don't need the latest and greatest, but if its not at least a 3 antenna beacon the only place I hope to ever see it is on the wall as a decoration, thats what we do with old beacons at the ski shop I work at.

Just my .02

POWDR · Nov 22, 2013

RobertTrivanovic said:
I recommend the tracker 2 simply because of how easy it is to use, you literally turn it on in the back and then to search pull out the giant search tab, of course you still need to know how to search properly but doesn't get much easier then the tracker 2. And of course multi burial is more confusing but like said above if your in that situation in the first place you did something seriously wrong.

Also to the person who mentioned 12+ year old beacons… If the beacon is not AT LEAST a 3 antenna beacon DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT USE IT. It will not pick up the signal fast enough and often will be harder to find the signal in the first place. When talking to a BCA rep he explained the antenna thing and believe me, do some research you don't want anything less then 3 antenna when your dealing with your life.

Yes practice is key, and yes you don't need the latest and greatest, but if its not at least a 3 antenna beacon the only place I hope to ever see it is on the wall as a decoration, thats what we do with old beacons at the ski shop I work at.

Just my .02

3 antenna is better for sure. However, BCA still sells 2 antenna. If you have used both, with the 2 there is an occassional blip in reception. 3 is better for sure, but that is not to say 2 is inadequate. I have used EVERY beacon and still own a tracker1 with 2 antenna.

It all comes down to practice. I know EXACTLY where my blip occurs in my BCA.

However, I will add that at 12 years old, it is a good idea to get a new beacon. They do get tired and do not react the same as day one. I change mine out no more than five years.

RobertTrivanovic · Nov 22, 2013

One more thing I should mention, if you have an old beacon and want a new one contact BCA directly and they will give you a discount on a new one if you ship them your old beacon. Not sure on any restriction to that though.

mtsummitx · Nov 22, 2013

No problem Robert. Here is what is said about the SOS F1ND beacons we use:

The SOS F1-ND now has seven volume ranges instead of five, giving it the best audio signal of any analog beacon on the market. Changes in volume make it simple to determine how accurately you are aligned with the flux line and help you sense your proximity to a buried victim.

SOS has also increased the number of magnitude LED's from three to seven, which gives it a clearer visual signal when searching.

The F1-ND's LED's begin indicating a signal long before any other beacon gives any visual clues. This gives the F1-ND a greater "usable" range than other beacon when audio signals are very weak. The combination of superior audio and visual signals make staying lined up with the flux line easier than with any other analog beacon

I am not sure how many antennas it has, but I know through lots of practice that it will pick up a signal from a long ways away, no matter what direction you hold it. Also, my dad and I were told by the instructor of the avy course we took, that the older analog beacons actually have a longer range than the newer digital unit.

mtsummitx · Nov 22, 2013

We thought we would get laughed at by the instructor for how old are beacons are, but he told us they are excellent beacons.

POWDR · Nov 22, 2013

mtsummitx said:
We thought we would get laughed at by the instructor for how old are beacons are, but he told us they are excellent beacons.

My ski patrol buddies are REQUIRED to practice with the old analog beacons. Well prior to the 3 antenna. 3 IS better, but 2 digi and old analog ARE NOT obsolete. Know your gear and practice.

My group creates high stress envronments to practice in. Timed/race with $$$$$ on the line, etc.

The 3 antenna thing is better, but remember, they are SELLING a product.

slomobile · Nov 22, 2013

Ended up spending the extra and getting the tracker 2

RobertTrivanovic · Nov 22, 2013

POWDR said:
My ski patrol buddies are REQUIRED to practice with the old analog beacons. Well prior to the 3 antenna. 3 IS better, but 2 digi and old analog ARE NOT obsolete. Know your gear and practice.

My group creates high stress envronments to practice in. Timed/race with $$$$$ on the line, etc.

The 3 antenna thing is better, but remember, they are SELLING a product.

Thats a great thing to know how to use the older beacons, because if you are good with the older style you will be great with the newer style. And who doesn't like a little competition with some money on the line, makes things fun!

Also he did tell me directly, that he doesn't really care what beacon people use, yes he wanted people on BCA but he said as long as they are on a newer style good beacon he doesn't really care.

And I'm not saying 2 antenna beacons don't work, and yes certain people can make them work well. But at the end of the day if you are looking to get a beacon and have the best possible chance of survival when being burried the 3 antenna beacons are best.

When I go back and read my old posts they always come across more aggressive then I thought they were when I was writing them…

mtsummitx · Nov 22, 2013

RobertTrivanovic said:
When I go back and read my old posts they always come across more aggressive then I thought they were when I was righting them…

LOL!! I have that problem when I speak!! :face-icon-small-hap

mtsummitx · Nov 22, 2013

slomobile said:
Ended up spending the extra and getting the tracker 2

Great, now as stated. Practice, Practice, Practice. It's actually pretty fun, hide and seek for grown ups!!!

And take an avy class, and at least basic first aid course if you haven't.

Beacon=confused

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