New Beacon time

[vt_ski]

Hey Texass - is the Opto still functioning? PM me - I may have a deal for you

[axebiker]

I use the DSP Sport at work and for fun, and I think it performs solidly and is a great value. The extra features of the Pro don't do much for me, and KISS has always seemed like a good idea to me when thinking about emergency equipment.

My thoughts as well.

I have a Sport in pretty much new condition - used two days - that I could part with for a nice price. PM me if interested.

[TEXASS]

Bought a Mammut Barryvox Element from REI. Looking it over and reading the manual as we speak. And thanks VT, but I will be keeping my old one for practice/friends with no beacon

[mtaylor]

I love my element. Good buy.

[zion zig zag]

Serious question, I have the same beacon as the OP. I bought it new probably 8-9 years ago and last year I sent it to the manufacturer to replace a battery terminal and they tested it, calibrated it and "certified" it. Is there any reason to replace it if it is functioning as normal?

[Meadow Skipper]

Serious question, I have the same beacon as the OP. I bought it new probably 8-9 years ago and last year I sent it to the manufacturer to replace a battery terminal and they tested it, calibrated it and "certified" it. Is there any reason to replace it if it is functioning as normal?

My 2¢, fwiw: no.

It's a good beacon and if you (and your partners) are satisfied with your practice searches then you're good to go.

[adrenalated]

Serious question, I have the same beacon as the OP. I bought it new probably 8-9 years ago and last year I sent it to the manufacturer to replace a battery terminal and they tested it, calibrated it and "certified" it. Is there any reason to replace it if it is functioning as normal?

Do you know what spikes and nulls are and are you comfortable that you know how to resolve them in a high stress situation?

If yes, keep using your beacon. If no, then a modern 3 antenna beacon should be in your future.

IMO.

[vt_ski]

Serious question, I have the same beacon as the OP. I bought it new probably 8-9 years ago and last year I sent it to the manufacturer to replace a battery terminal and they tested it, calibrated it and "certified" it. Is there any reason to replace it if it is functioning as normal?

In all reality, it's probably fine but support for the Opto3000 is harder to come by now (no longer testing them at Mammut NA). Upgrading to the current Element or Pulse would be wise, given the advances in technology and current service/support. There is a trade-in deal for your Opto - if you are interested, send me a PM

[zion zig zag]

Do you know what spikes and nulls are and are you comfortable that you know how to resolve them in a high stress situation?

If yes, keep using your beacon. If no, then a modern 3 antenna beacon should be in your future.

IMO.

Yeah, I'm pretty proficient with it. It is worth noting though that I used to be able to practice with it 3x a week and that has dropped to a couple time a month. Is it worth anything to resell? If I sold it here what should I ask?

[chunder]

https://www.freezeproshop.com/ortovo...5Boffset%5D:14

Link above. Looks like they're now sold out of the element

Legit shop in Edinburgh

Thanks for this. I bought a Mammot Pulse and they included the shovel and probe (I did not order those) $378 shipped FKNA

[cravenmorhead]

Though the BCA Tracker 2 is pretty cheap and really easy to use, it has a flaw that prevents me from recommending it. The tab that you pull out to switch from transmit to search can be bumped back into transmit mode easily. More than once I've bumped mine back into transmit while pulling a shovel or probe out of my pack. It's aggravating because they could fix it with a little catch or something, but as is it makes it hard to recommend.

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

.............Was waiting for a shitload of Bacon reviews

.

i really like maple cured!

[snoqpass]

It Depends (TM)

IIRC the Pro adds the Scan feature (not that useful IMO), can check for frequency drift (very useful for convincing your dirtbag friends to replace their POS old beacons), and works with the dog beacon (useful for dogs and sleds). If you don't care about any of those, just get the Sport.

I really like my DSP Pro, so much so that when it was time to replace my first one, I bought another. But I think that the Ortovox 3+ and Mammut Element are great beacons too.

I like the scan feature if used right you can narrow the search area down quicker

[Boissal]

Has anyone looked at / seen / fondled the new Arva Axio? Interesting design with a full-size 3rd antenna which rotates out to get into search mode, supposedly giving it a significant edge in speed and accuracy. My sis is visiting from France in a couple weeks and can get it for cheap over there, I'm tempted but a bit worried about the lack of reviews. I also can't find a pic of the harness and knowing how much I hate the Pieps one I'd like to know what I'm getting into...

See here:
https://www.arva-equipment.com/en/product/axio/

[sfotex]

Has anyone looked at / seen / fondled the new Arva Axio? Interesting design with a full-size 3rd antenna which rotates out to get into search mode, supposedly giving it a significant edge in speed and accuracy. My sis is visiting from France in a couple weeks and can get it for cheap over there, I'm tempted but a bit worried about the lack of reviews. I also can't find a pic of the harness and knowing how much I hate the Pieps one I'd like to know what I'm getting into...

See here:
https://www.arva-equipment.com/en/product/axio/

I believe they have them over at Milo, I was over there checking out the reactor bag Sunday.

[Foggy_Goggles]

So where are we at with this now? Does the screen issue affect the DSP Sport or just Pro? What are the opinions of the advance features on the Pulse over the Element? Tracker 3?

I've said it before but absolute reliability and easy of use are tops on my list for safety equipment. It is unlikely that I will be able to dedicate time to check out all the options so I'm looking for some advice.

Thanks

[::: :::]

no screen issue on my dsp sport or my older yellow dsp (fingers crossed for it staying that way)

can't go wrong with a tracker 3
it has the lowest pickup range but, other than that, easy to use

for easy to use, i was also intrigued by the ortovox 3+ when i was looking for my sport

per beaconreviews, the ortovox 3+ & tracker 3 are 4.5 star beacons

[claymond]

Haven't had screen issues with my DSP sport either. It's stupid easy to use. Multi burial function is intuitive and has worked great when practicing even with transponders very close to one another. Tracker 3 has a faster processor I guess, so someone like a guide who's super dialed could be a little faster with it. But the intuitiveness of the DSP is so nice

[Jonathan S.]

Has anyone looked at / seen / fondled the new Arva Axio? Interesting design with a full-size 3rd antenna which rotates out to get into search mode, supposedly giving it a significant edge in speed and accuracy. [...] I'm tempted but a bit worried about the lack of reviews. I also can't find a pic of the harness and knowing how much I hate the Pieps one I'd like to know what I'm getting into...

1. Yes.
2.a. Agreed, but...
2.b. Not as far as we can tell.
2.c. Ditto.
3. Ours should be up soon ... once I complete my testing. (Unfortunately it's been snowing all day and will continue though the night, setting back all my testing plans, which were further set back by the USSMA Idaho races, but if the local skiing gets really good, then I'll oddly enough have more time since I won't need to drive at all to ski.)
4. Oh, you'll most likely hate this harness even more! (I started laughing -- in a bad way -- just trying to remove the beacon from its pouch even inside with warm ungloved fingers.)

[FormerKnuckleDragger]

We had a wide selection of beacons at my Avy 1 class. Tracker 2, Tracker 3, DSP sport, DSP Pro, Mammut Barryvox, Ortovox 3, that I remember.

Tracker 2 had by far the lowest range in signal acquisition range of the beacons. Other beacons picked up signals in the 35-45 meter range that the Tracker 2 didn't find until the 20-25 meter range.

Tracker 2 is by far the most intuitive/easiest to switch into search mode with gloves on.

Tracker 3 was usually the first to pick up a signal, but (and this might have been operator error) didn't consistently hold a signal when in the 45 meter range. Other beacons (not including the Tracker 2) would pick up the signal very shortly after the Tracker 3, and hold it better at longer range.

No difference observed between DSP sport and pro models in terms of range.

All models performed reasonably similarly in the pinpoint search. There's probably more going on in terms of practice than technology in this stage of the search.

The instructor had a DSP Pro model. Not sure if it was personal preference or company sponsorship, but he liked it and recommended it. I picked up a DPS Pro in part due to the recommendation and in part due to the BD discount code we got from attending the class.

[Boissal]

1. Yes.
2.a. Agreed, but...
2.b. Not as far as we can tell.
2.c. Ditto.
3. Ours should be up soon ... once I complete my testing. (Unfortunately it's been snowing all day and will continue though the night, setting back all my testing plans, which were further set back by the USSMA Idaho races, but if the local skiing gets really good, then I'll oddly enough have more time since I won't need to drive at all to ski.)
4. Oh, you'll most likely hate this harness even more! (I started laughing -- in a bad way -- just trying to remove the beacon from its pouch even inside with warm ungloved fingers.)

I ended up getting one from Europe as my sister came to visit and she could get it over there for cheap.
You're not kidding on the harness. It's the worst I've seen so far and that's saying a lot. I had to cut a bunch of straps, re-stitch the elastic band to make it shorter, tape over the adjustment buckles which created some rub, and still don't like it. I think I'll never take it out of the pouch, just unclip the waist and keep the shoulder strap on when I need to search. I may cut the transparent window too, it seems to gather dust and dog hair.
The bulk surprised / disappointed me a bit, on paper it's not much thicker than a Pieps but it feels like a brick in the holster. I carried my Pieps in the pocket of my pants for years, the Axio definitely has to remain in the holster and it creates a major beer gut. It annoyed the shit out of me at first but now I rotate it to the side and it sits on top of the small zipped pouch integrated in the waist my Float pack. It stays there on the up and I stopped noticing it, I slide it back to center for the down.

As far as performance I can't comment much since I've only had it for a couple of weeks and haven't done much testing (skiing solo these days). Switching to search mode is stupid easy, there's only one button for the rest, marking is intuitive, it's loud and the tone changes nicely with distance. The display changes when you get in close proximity search which confused me a bit at first. I haven't had a chance to use the group check diagnostics at first. It seems to eat more battery that my Pieps DSP but that's not something I've quantified accurately.

I'll fluff this up when I've had time to do a serious practice with it.

[gramboh]

I bought a Tracker 1 back in 2007 and while it seemed to be functioning well, I just upgraded to a Tracker 3. I like the simplicity of Trackers and figured it was time for a modern 3 antenna. It just arrived so I haven't had time to use it outside of fiddling in my house but stoked to practice with it this weekend. Didn't hurt that I managed to get it on sale for $260CAD plus tax.

[Dee Hubbs]

Though the BCA Tracker 2 is pretty cheap and really easy to use, it has a flaw that prevents me from recommending it. The tab that you pull out to switch from transmit to search can be bumped back into transmit mode easily. More than once I've bumped mine back into transmit while pulling a shovel or probe out of my pack. It's aggravating because they could fix it with a little catch or something, but as is it makes it hard to recommend.

Are you serious that you don't realize this is a designed feature? When you have your beacon out and in search mode and a second avalanche comes down and buries you, that "aggravating" switch reverts back to transmit, and the rest of the rescue party can now locate you and dig you out.

[cravenmorhead]

I don't buy that the ease of knocking the Tracker 2 back into transmit is a designed feature. There's no guarantee it gets knocked back into place if I'm buried in Slide No. 2. The beacon also automatically reverts to transmit after 5 minutes if selected to do so on startup. Much more likely that Rescuer 2 knocks his beacon back into transmit while pulling out shovel/probe as Rescuer 1 does a grid search and complicates things with another signal.

It's not a major thing to adjust to, and maybe it shouldn't be a deal-breaker, but I think the tab was designed to be easy to use rather than as some sort of fail-safe.

[snoqpass]

When's the last time searchers were buried looking for an avalanche victim?