I recently updated BeaconReviews.com for the 2011-2012 season.

Here are the main changes:

* Added a review of the ARVA Axis
* Added a review of the ARVA Link
* Added a review of the Mammut Element
* Added a review of the Pieps Tour
* Added a summary of the ARVA Evo3+
* Added a summary of the Ortovox S1+
* Added a summary of the Pieps Backup transmitter
* Added a summary of the Pieps TX600 (dog transmitter)
* Added the latest information about firmware updates
* Added the latest user manuals
* Improved support for non-Microsoft browsers
* Updated the rumors about the Pieps Vector
* Updated the transceiver comparison table
* And a whole bunch of other stuff…

The main news for the 2011-2012 season is a continued trend toward easier to use avalanche transceivers. For example, the new Pieps Tour and Mammut Element are simplified versions of the Pieps DSP and Mammut Pulse. It’s a good trend.

Stay Safe,

Steve Achelis
BEACONREVIEWS.COM • EMEDIC.COM • MOUNTAINRESPONDER.COM • VRIGGER.COM • SMARTMEDIC.COM • WMIQUIZ.COM

Thanks Steve,

Interesting comments on the Element in fine search mode. Did you have any issues with flakey directional indication due to the lack of compass as reported here a few months back ?

I did not have problems searching. The Element wasn’t as crisp at sensing change as the Pulse (whose direction arrow can rotate between beeps due to the internal compass), but I didn’t see anything unusual with the Element. My caveat is that I’ve only had a limited amount of time to test these new transceivers.

davidof - 14 December 2011 09:03 AM

Thanks Steve,

Interesting comments on the Element in fine search mode. Did you have any issues with flakey directional indication due to the lack of compass as reported here a few months back ?

Thanks for your updates Steve!
We use the ‘landing strip system’ with our novice ‘pupils’. A couple of hundred so far. And it works flowless! In a serious research Manuel Genswein proved that this is the fastest way for novices and that’s why we started using this method. Novices are faster probing then finesearching. Crucial is however that you line the transceiver very precise up at (in the elements case just before) 3.0 at the display. Line up when you still have directional arrows!! Slow down at 10, then again at 5, and take a little time at (just before) 3 to line the directional arrow in the center.
We also experimented with allowing them to do one cross to the side. This brings something every now and then: mainly if they didn’t line up properly.

Thanks for the input, Rolf. I’ll be interested to hear how the one cross during the fine search works out. It seems to me that the need to line-up the arrow precisely at 3.0 is replacing one skill (the ability to do a cross search) with another. And when the pressure is really on (your partner is buried), skill is hard to come by. Manuel has undeniably done great research over the years. I’ll keep an open mind.

@Steve,

Another season is gone and we worked with our novices using the landing strip. We decided that, from now on, we use the landingstrip AND one cross search. This eleminates a lot of trouble and is still comprehensive for novices. Espacially with the Pieps DSP we find a lot of problems when lining up at 3. It seems the DSP only lines up correctly if you go well beyond 3. For this reason and to avoid general inacuracies using the landing strip, we added one cross search (and one only!) for novices. This works great!