[This review got long winded; this isn’t the last post. I was pissed at the incomplete information I had while shopping and inadvertently wrote a treatise to counteract what I perceive as a hole in the universe.]
Maybe I’m going overboard on the SpotX but I waited years for technology to create the thing I wanted. I’m glad it finally happened. (Link goes to Amazon, you know the rest.)
I tested the shit of my SpotX and am trying to answer any conceivable real world question:
Is SpotX messaging instant?
Yes and no. The information is transmitted as a packet. You type the message and then the device sends it (up to) 140 characters. It doesn’t send each letter one at a time like a voice telephone. Also, once you’ve typed your message you can tell it to send right now.
Sometimes the message goes through essentially instantly. However, I usually experienced a lag time of 90 seconds to maybe 6 minutes from when I sent it to when a cell phone (either in my pocket or thousands of miles away) received the message. Again, this freaks out cell phone snowflakes and caused some bad reviews. I can’t see why a 6-minute pause to reach from anywhere to anyone is a problem on a SAR beacon.
Why the lag time?
You can set SpotX to check with the satellites every X minutes. It does sending up and receiving down based on the cycles. If you have it checking every few minutes you run down the batteries. If you set it in cycles of an hour it’s fine for any practical purpose but it’ll freak out Millennials. It’s like the lag time reminds them it’s not a cell phone and the “different-ness” causes them angst? I got used to it after a few days and never thought of it again
Of course, you can always hit the button that says “send now” but you’ve got to remember to do it.
I think lag times caused some people to freak out in the reviews but it’s irrelevant for its intended use. If a 3-minute lag in communication wigs you out, you don’t need a communicator so much as you need a therapist. (Ever watch Millennials in an area with no cell reception? Even when they know there’s no reception, they’ll instinctively check their smartphone every 90 seconds to 5 minutes. Like smokers reaching for the next puff. If you get the chance you should watch them from afar and see what I mean. Smart phones have inflicted very strong conditioning on our fellow citizens.)
With whom can you communicate?
Once the signal hits a satellite it’s routed to any e-mail address or phone (text enabled phone only, my old landline ‘aint gonna’ cut it). You can specify multiple recipients to the same message (which is handy).
You can pre-program contacts (which is wise) or groups of contacts (which would be great for a group camping together). You can also add a contact on the fly. Suppose, you just met a guy at the trailhead who’s wrapping up his day while you’re still heading out. He’s going to check the liquor store closing time back in town and that’s mission critical information. Add him to your SpotX right then.
To the recipient, the text looks like it came from a regular cell phone. Depending on your whitelist settings, they may respond with a text and you’ll get it. They may never know you’re communicating via satellite.
Can a SpotX communicate with a SpotX?
Yes but I haven’t tested it. Buy me a second SpotX and I’ll verify.
What can people communicate to you?
The SpotX will happily receive all the texts sent your way. If someone sends a text to your SpotX’s number, the SpotX will receive it (anywhere on earth). This is a big honkin deal! The older generation SPOT and many EPRIB and SAR transponders couldn’t receive anything.
It won’t receive media, voice calls, dick picks, or Pokemon gameplay. You get 140 characters per message; no more. You can specify (whitelist) who is allowed to send to you or allow the whole universe to send to you. I have under half a dozen people who can text me and that’s an excellent feature. I don’t want spam ruining my nature buzz! (Warning, I don’t think you can adjust the whitelist from the device… only from a computer.)
I shouldn’t have to say this but it’s 2019 so I must: if you turn your SpotX off it won’t receive the message… because it’s a communicator, not magic.
Can it receive a lot of messages?
Sure, but if they come fast and furious it’ll take a while. If someone sends you a barrage of e-mails in short succession it can “pile up”. Same goes if the SpotX is off for several hours. Messages pile up somewhere in the network where they’re buffered until they get delivered. Texts come through one at a time when you turn your SpotX on. Sometimes there’s a lag as it picks up one message per query of the satellite network (which happens every X minutes as specified). If you’re in dire straits or just needy you can hit “check messages now” over and over again to get all the news. None of this is bad performance, it’s just the way it works. Repeat after me, it’s not a cell phone.
If you leave a SpotX off for a long time it may tell the original sender “the message didn’t get through”. I think three days is the threshold.
Is it a cell phone?
It’s not a fucking cell phone. If you want a cell phone get a cell phone.
There were a lot of reviews where I think people that bought a SpotX were triggered because it’s not a cell phone. They’re trained to expect a cell phone like experience. It’s not the device’s fault that they had pre-conceived notions (stupid ones I might add).