2018 Beacons

[carlh]

I need to update my beacon, currently a 2007 Ortovox D3.

I can get a tracker 3 or a new barryvox for about the same good price so one of these is my top choice. The BD/Pieps beacons will cost me a bit more.

The info I can find says the Barryvox is a bit better performing but possibly harder to use. I am guessing any of these and a practice day at the beacon park will be a big upgrade, any reason to choose one or the other?

[The SnowShow]

Will you be looking to sell the D3?

[SKIP IN7RO]

I am going to throw the Pieps Micro into the mix based on size mainly, plus it's been no worries so far. I really appreciate the pocketability. Old trans. was an Ortovox M2, so the Micro is tiny in comparison.

[PNWbrit]

Will you be looking to sell the D3?

You do not want to buy what was an under performing when new beacon when it is 11 years old.

[Jason4]

You do not want to buy what was an under performing when new beacon when it is 11 years old.

It could be a handy practice target for classes. I wouldn't pay for it but I'd put it to use if I had one.

As for the question at hand, I bought a Pieps DSP Ice (same as the Pro) last winter and it worked very well for me. It's fast, simple, and flags easily. I just updated my wife's transceiver with the new BD Guide BT but haven't had a chance to use it yet. I've had my hands on a lot of Tracker 3s and there's a lot to like about them but very consistently the Mammut transceivers have the longest range by far. It's pretty striking to have a dozen people with transceivers do a range check and have the people with Mammuts keep walking long after everyone else has lost the signal.

[adrenalated]

I need to update my beacon, currently a 2007 Ortovox D3.

I can get a tracker 3 or a new barryvox for about the same good price so one of these is my top choice. The BD/Pieps beacons will cost me a bit more.

The info I can find says the Barryvox is a bit better performing but possibly harder to use. I am guessing any of these and a practice day at the beacon park will be a big upgrade, any reason to choose one or the other?

I'm not sure who said the Barryvox is harder to use, in my opinion it's easier to use.
-longer range
-more detailed audio (tone changes when you're heading the wrong direction)
-more detailed graphics that tell you what you're supposed to be doing
-switch from transmit to search is more obvious (IMO)

You should try both out and decide which one is better for you, but in my opinion the new Barryvox beacons are some of, if not the best beacons on the market.

Will you be looking to sell the D3?

If you want to buy a beacon that is actually appropriate for backcountry skiing, I'm going to be selling an Ortovox 3+ as soon as my new Barryvox S arrives. Meaning, it'll be for sale tonight unless UPS fails.

[Meadow Skipper]

Get the Barryvox. Better range, better features, easier to use, excellent reliability. IME.

[californiagrown]

You do not want to buy what was an under performing when new beacon when it is 11 years old.

I know i will catch some flak for this, but ive never had an issue using my BCA Tracker 1 in my practice searches. Its not noticeably slow picking up signal or changing directions, and it gets me right over the top of the buried backpack with a signal everytime. I realize that a three antenna beacon would be better (faster, larger range, finer more accurate search, etc) but IDK how much better. Being strong and in very good shape, along with staying up on practice is much more important than having the top of the line beacon in my possible rescue scenarios (smaller debris fields). That said, if i were in the market for a new beacon, i would be looking at a Tracker 2 or 3 because there is no reason to intentionally choose the worse model for about the same price and i am a big fan of making equipment as simple and intuitive as possible, and the Tracker beacons seem to be that.

Many folks with the best beacons and partners would risk skiing lines that i wouldn't. Are they more or less safe than my timid approach to terrain and (slightly?) lower performing beacon?

[I've seen black diamonds!]

^^^ this is why you should get a 3 antenna beacon: https://beaconreviews.com/antennas.php

Barryvox or Pieps. Better performance than BCA. I've seen too many Ortovox failures to trust them, but this is not supported by any real data..

Sent from my Pixel using TGR Forums mobile app

[The SnowShow]

^^^Yeah, I’m definitely in agreement with you and am interested in a Tracker 2 for those reasons.

[PNWbrit]

I realize that a three antenna beacon would be better (faster, larger range, finer more accurate search, etc)

Probably time to get one then?

[adrenalated]

BCA has nailed the "simple and easy to use" marketing, that's for sure.
I don't think that translates to actually simpler and easier to use in the field though.

If you've never had a problem with a Tracker 1 you are either 1) exceptionally good at resolving spikes in fine searches or 2) are only practicing simple searches with no difficult beacon orientations/deep burials that lead to spikes. Even is #1 is you, I can almost guarantee that any Tracker 1 that's more than ~5 years old has experienced enough frequency drift to be transmitting out of spec. A check with a newer, high end beacon can confirm or deny this.

[californiagrown]

Probably time to get one then?

Meh. Getting a new car with state of the art safety features would certainly be a better bang for my buck if i was purely focused on risk reduction. But, id rather balance risk with cost and likelyhood. I'll probably try and pick a Tracker 2 or 3 up this spring/summer.

[PNWbrit]

Meh.... likelyhood.

Luckily for you it should transmit pretty well so it's really only your partners at any increased risk.

Hopefully you explain that this is meh as far as your concerned.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

BCA has nailed the "simple and easy to use" marketing, that's for sure.

Well said. I don't think any modern beacon is any harder to use than a Tracker with the possible exception of the S1/S1+ if only because they're a little different than other beacons. You can pretty much always get a Pieps DSP Sport for less than a Tracker 3. The Pieps is a better beacon.

[XXX-er]

Last time I took a aviy 1 course buddy the guide told us that in his experiance on ski weeks when he gave the rank newbie a digital o use he would beat the weekend warrior using his own analog beacon

most guided ops will not let a customer use a non digital beacon any more and some of them just give you one of theirs

I found the Barryvox element easy to use/ reasonable price,

whatever you buy make sure you can actualy read the display, a buddy of mine bought the S1 and couldn't read the display when he went from glasses to contacts

[summit]

I love my Pulse. I'm learning by Barryvox S. I think 99% of users will love the Barryvox more than the Pulse/Element.

My personal gripe as a pro who came from an F1 is that I loved how the Pulse could do analog sound until you were in the fine search, then it went to digital tones. The Barryvox S either is analog sound all the time, or digital tones all the time.

I think highly of the DSP Pro and would also consider giving Arva a try!

Read these:

https://beaconreviews.com/antennas.php

Virtually everything in production these days is good, some are excellent.

[LightRanger]

I can almost guarantee that any Tracker 1 that's more than ~5 years old has experienced enough frequency drift to be transmitting out of spec. A check with a newer, high end beacon can confirm or deny this.

On that note, when I picked up a new DSP Pro a season or two back, I checked my old Barryvox Opto3000. Still in spec. Had it since... 2005? Was kinda surprised.

[alfajores]

I was just in a rescue refresher today and watched a recent but not new Arva Gail to detect a beacon in send mode from 25 meters away. The Barryvox S seemed to have no end above ground.

One peeve, in my use of it, the beacon would not switch between signals using the arrows. I restarted the beacon and it worked fine. Maybe this is something that can be fixed by a software update but it happened more than half the time I went to search mode. Any experience with this?