RV and vandwellers wiki

These devices communicate with satellites to give emergency-only communication anywhere in the world.¹⁾. They can typically be tracked from a website, which is nice for letting friends and family keep track of where you are, and have an “SOS” function that will alert a central monitoring center who will alert local authorities. More expensive models have the ability to send 160-charecter text messages.

These require monthly subscriptions, and due to the cost are primarily useful only for people spending extensive time in extremely remote locations.

They can roughly be broken down into Uni-Directional or Bi-Directional.

• PROS
• Cheaper
• Simpler operation
• Longer battery life

• CONS
• Communication is only one-way (out)
• Limited communication abilities
• May not be taken as seriously in an emergency

Common Models - SPOT Gen4, SPOT Trace

• PROS
• Allows two-way communication
• Allows for more detailed or fully custom messages
• Can receive data such as weather reports
• May be taken more seriously by emergency services

• CONS
• Expensive
• Configuration and operation can be complicated
• Takes more battery power, needs to be charged regularly