When to retire a beacon

[HHTELE]

My wife has an Ortovox X-1. Probably 50ish days use, always stored inside. And, she takes care of her stuff in general.

Seems to work fine. I bought one at the same time, used it a bit more, and am not especially careful with my stuff. As of last year, it transmits, but does not search. Replace with Pieps.

So- any thoughts on life span of a beacon?

[mntlion]

I have seen almost new ones fail, and 20 year old F1's still function.

test yours, and this is really the best/only way to tell.

guiding companies use them for 3 years and then send back or distroy

[concretejungle]

My wife has an Ortovox X-1. Probably 50ish days use, always stored inside. And, she takes care of her stuff in general.

Seems to work fine. I bought one at the same time, used it a bit more, and am not especially careful with my stuff. As of last year, it transmits, but does not search. Replace with Pieps.

So- any thoughts on life span of a beacon?

Whenever it stops making the check in beacon on the Ridge hike or Slushman's beep.

[F#*k you cat]

Send it back to Otrovox for repair??? - replacement???

[Meadow Skipper]

Here's a test yes/no question to ponder: Would you/she happily trade beacons with me on a sketch tour? I've got a Pieps Sport.

[DropCliffsNotBombs]

50 days of use?
Shit, mine has more than 50 days of use this season alone. I've had my PIEPS DSP for about ten years now including software updates every couple years or so. Mine gets used daily and I check it often. Still works perfectly.

[retirwntm]

Stud finders last for years. May not work for your wife though.

[COpow]

Consider the other technologies out there, and whether the faster search functions are worth it to you. The technology has gotten WAY better in the last 10 years. Extra seconds count, and a new beacon is what $300 MSRP?

[Jacques Sheer-Rocko]

A couple years back I put batteries in a pair of long retired SOS from the 90s and they seemed to work ok. No, they did not come out of retirement.

[xyz]

I retired my tracker 1 after it started to turn off randomly when I was touring. I figured that was a good enough reason...

[HHTELE]

My X-1 got promoted to trainer when it decided to send, not search.

[XXX-er]

if you are not on a digital beacon yet you should be

they have come down in price and its just time

Use your old analog beacon for the practise beacon

do not sell your old piece of shit to a dirt bag skier

[snoqpass]

Use your old analog beacon for the practise beacon

I'm starting to feel this isn't the best way to train anymore since almost nobody i know uses analog beacons anymore and given the fact I'm not skiing BC with anyone who shows up with one

[XXX-er]

what i mean by practise beacon is bury your old analog in the snow to be found or use a digital if you got an extra

[snoqpass]

I'm just thinking people should quit using old analog transceivers for practice if your partners have digital ones, it's the train as you fight and fight as you train mentality with the tools you carry I gotten used to.

[XXX-er]

I'm just trying to suggest people retire their analog beacon and only bury it in the snow for practise, that they have an extra digital beacon just to bury in the snow ... might be crazy

[skibrd]

I was considering retiring my Tacker 2 after 3 years of progressively more and more use.

I tried to use an old analog beacon once. My friends said no. I bought a digital beacon the next day. I learned why a year later and was amazed with how little I knew. Now I'm even considering getting a 3 antenna beacon with the more I learn. I know the first defense is my brain, but we all get pow hungry at times and make mistakes.

[Island Bay]

When it goes green around the edges, starts smelling too much, and attracts flies. Oh, you said bEacon.

[meter-man]

PSA:

BCA will give you 40% of a new beacon if you send in a beacon that is out of warranty. Traded in my 8 year old Tracker 1 with a fried battery connection; BCA sent me back a Tracker 3 for $200. And they got it to me in 2 days.

[sfotex]

How many cell phones have you bought since she got that X-1?

[XXX-er]

My wife has an Ortovox X-1. Probably 50ish days use, always stored inside. And, she takes care of her stuff in general.

Seems to work fine. I bought one at the same time, used it a bit more, and am not especially careful with my stuff. As of last year, it transmits, but does not search. Replace with Pieps.

So- any thoughts on life span of a beacon?

Since she will be looking for you either buy her a new digital OR give her yours

[HHTELE]

Since she will be looking for you either buy her a new digital OR give her yours

Kind of an old thread. we are both using the DSP Sport.

[Pegleg]

PSA:

BCA will give you 40% of a new beacon if you send in a beacon that is out of warranty. Traded in my 8 year old Tracker 1 with a fried battery connection; BCA sent me back a Tracker 3 for $200. And they got it to me in 2 days.

I searched and didn't see anything about this on the BCA website. Do they publish info about the details, or do you just email BCA? I've got an ancient Tracker 1 that I'd love to trade towards a modern one.

[MakersTeleMark]

I searched and didn't see anything about this on the BCA website. Do they publish info about the details, or do you just email BCA? I've got an ancient Tracker 1 that I'd love to trade towards a modern one.

Just give them a call. You know, like old school.

As for old beacons, have a buddy with a modern one do a frequency check.

I still keep an old tracker around for practice.

[Pegleg]

Just give them a call. You know, like old school.

As for old beacons, have a buddy with a modern one do a frequency check.

I still keep an old tracker around for practice.

Yeah, that's what I figured. Just wasn't sure if this was a hookup for a buddy or an actual policy.

My wife has a new beacon so we're set for practice purposes. Would be nice to get $100 or so off a new one by trading in the old one.