Older Pieps 457 range issues...

[Atrain505]

So I have an older analog pieps 457 beacon. The old yellow one.
I have had it for a few years and have always been just as fast as others during beacon drills, so I'm not concerned with debates regarding analog vs. digital. But when doing some drills the other day I seemed to have some range issues. I don't know if this was possibly because the beacons were hidden in slight terrain traps or if my memory is fading about what the range seemed to be in previous years during drills.
I'm wondering if anyone else has had these issues with this model or if this happens to some older beacons?
Do I need to send it in for service...and will they even service it since its an old model?
When my beacon was buried the range on my buddies beacon (an ortovox) seemed to be fine.
There was brand new batteries in it. The range seemed to be only about 20 meters. Otherwise everything else worked fine it just took a while to get within range.
Thanks

[Summit]

Send it in. They will check to see if it is funcitoning properly.

[Tri-Ungulate]

Wonder if it may be in part due to frequency drift.

[Spats]

I'm with Tri-U on this one. Send it in and get it retuned. Most beacon manufacturers recommend you do this every few years because of frequency drift (yes, even the digital ones).

[Treepinner]

May be easier said than done...the distributor changed since that vintage. The new guys (Liberty) only deal with the DSP so the antique may have to go to Europe...where they will probably laugh and say it's time for a real beacon.

[marshalolson]

dunno if this is useful, but............

my 10 year old otrovox f1 still has close the range to my 2 year old m2.

[Atrain505]

Thanks treepinner...thats the kind of info I need. I've heard of frequency drift before. Not that it really matters, but I'm just curious...what exactly inside the beacon causes this?
If I can't get it repaired I'll go do some more drills to test range against other beacons. If it's no good like I think it is may be time for a new pricey beacon. Damn.

[Atrain505]

So I went on Liberty Mountains website and they just seem like every other website selling outdoor gear. I tried searching for an actual pieps website with no luck. Maybe I'm dumb but who should I be e-mailing about this? Liberty Mountain or hopefully directly to the company (pieps)?
Thanks

[Hugh Jardon]

I don't know, you could be jumping the gun here. What was the orientation of the buried beacon? Maybe your buddy was getting the signal at 30m with his Ortovox and you were getting it at 20m with your Pieps. I used to have the Pieps 457 and I remember it had less range than other beacons. I would re-do some test burials and see how it performs, then deal with the warranty stuff. Just remember that buried beacons oriented any way other than horizontal are going to allow you to receive less range, especially with an analog beacon. I don't know why it seems to be less the case with digital but I have noticed that.

[Treepinner]

Lot of reasons old beacons can crap out...the electronics on that were designed in the early 80's. Ferrite antennaes are fragile so hard drops can crack them with no external sign to the case. The drift thing is due to the crystals (??) changing with time. That particular model had issues with the switch crapping out after a while.

Honestly, I'd retire it and get a Barryvox (personal fav), Arva (cool), DSP (basic model), or M2. They really are a lot better, even for an old pro. You'll waste more time/energy trying to get that one examined than it's worth.

[Spats]

Get a Barryvox. $240 on sale + $25 off coupon WMXY25 = $215.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=9116319&parent_category_rn=40003573&vcat=REI_SEARCH

You can leave it on analog audio while still showing digital direction and distance. Best of both worlds, and will speed up your search considerably.