Some remarks on this Tracker.
The disabling of the auto-revert feature is clumsy: now if you want to use it, you have to remember to ‘install’ it each time you switch the beacon on. I find the new harness good looking but not very nice to wear: it moves around all the time and ‘feels’ big.
For the future: it seems the handy special mode multi victim search feature will no longer be there on the new 3 antenna Tracker.
Thanks Rolf.
I agree the autorevert should be some kind of setting that is remembered by the beacon.
Interesting information about the special mode as this works well. I will see what they plan for multi-victim searches.
Hi Rolf
I raised the point about the Special Mode on the Tracker 2 beacon with the French representative of BCA and they assured me that it will be on the new beacon. Apparently the plan had been to remove this feature but consumer feedback caused them to reconsider.
Hi Davidof,
That’s good news! It shows though in what part of the developmentprocess this new Tracker is. At ISPO they wouldn’t implement de Sp mode, only an indication for multiple signals. And now they apparantly turned back in their steps.
Makes me curious about the outcome !
Excellent web site. I work directly for BCA and would like to make a few comments:
1. The reason we do not use Auto-Revert as the default setting is that it can hinder searching when a beacon reverts to tranmsit. This has actually been documented and commented upon to us by someone who experienced it in a burial with a beacon that did not have programmable Auto-Revert. The solution to this is that all users should be 100% familiar with their beacon functions but unfortunately this is rarely the case among recreational users. Another reason, and this is more personal, is that secondary slides only happen in the most dangerous conditions. If there is a chance for a secondary slide it is quite likely that a searcher may determine that the area is not safe to search. Current avalanche rescue protocol mandates that the search area needs to be determined to be safe before entering it. If it is not, do not enter it.
2. The beacon being demonstrated here is the current Tracker DTS and has always functioned in this regard and has always excelled in solving mulitiple burials, especially close-proximity which can be very challenging for some people. We are seeing a current trend in AMGA, ACMG, and IFMGA/UIAGM guides setting record-breaking times in their guides exams with the Tracker DTS. I am proud of this fact.
There is plenty of information on multiple burial search techniques at our web site, http://www.bcaccess.com. You can also contact me directly if you ever have any questions, my email can be found on the web site.
Thanks. Excellent efforts here at Pistehors, they are appreciated. Steve Christie