When to upgrade beacon

**1000-oaks** · 12-03-2019, 01:52 PM

Ghost signals sure sound like someone nearby didn't turn off their cell phone. Were the ghosts intermittent, like every minute and then gone? I suspected the ghosts were my cell phone making periodic data queries. Ghosts stopped soon as I shut off my phone.

**californiagrown** · 12-03-2019, 03:36 PM

Originally Posted by Telemarketeer

I’ve always used Trackers. Simple and easy to use without a ton of bells and whistles I don’t need. They’ve helped me locate buried people so I’d say they did their job fine. Range has been sufficient as well.
Usually replace when new model comes out or every 5 ish years.

Just got the Tracker S... looks pretty functionally like a Tracker 3 for a simpleton like myself. Anyone have thoughts on it?

**east or bust** · 12-03-2019, 03:51 PM

My Barryvox S arrives Wednesday, looking forward to testing the new features. Really couldn’t find anything negative about it. Probably spent too much.

**Cocximus** · 12-03-2019, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by 1000-oaks

Ghost signals sure sound like someone nearby didn't turn off their cell phone. Were the ghosts intermittent, like every minute and then gone? I suspected the ghosts were my cell phone making periodic data queries. Ghosts stopped soon as I shut off my phone.

Maybe soome guy was buried with a Nokia 3310 and it's still working. I tried my ortovox side by side with the barryvox and the barryvox constantly outperforms it. I practice with it a lot so I know it's quirks, but I would not trust lending it to friend.

Originally Posted by Marmot or Fox

As for the "Being all over the place", I have no idea what that means or your experience level and we are again wandering off topic and into, "My beacon is better than your Beacon".

On the contrary, this is "My beacon is shittier than your beacon".

**Peruvian** · 12-03-2019, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by reckless toboggan

Yes. Latest firmware, no recalls. Stored in thier retail boxes, cool, dry, dark place. No batteries. Turned on and tested when purchased, but never used.

Don't have all the extra options or speed of newer 2018/2019 DSP Pro units, but we've been fine using our DSP Originals, so I'd assume no difference in performance or reliability from those.

Heck, the only reason I was considering retiring our current in-use DSP Originals is because we're coming up on 5 or 6 years of use. Our current in-use pair still seem to work fine as new, as far as we can tell.

I personally think the NIB DSP Originals I re-discovered will be fine, but I wanted to hear from the collective in case I'm missing something or not considering some factor.

My original DSP just went out of warranty last month. It was registered with Pieps and I just called BD about it. They said as long as it field tests and has the latest firmware (v 8.2) it still should be fine this winter.

**Shredhead** · 12-10-2019, 07:01 AM

Any current deals out there?

**reckless toboggan** · 12-10-2019, 07:24 AM

Originally Posted by Peruvian

My original DSP just went out of warranty last month. It was registered with Pieps and I just called BD about it. They said as long as it field tests and has the latest firmware (v 8.2) it still should be fine this winter.

Thanks for the info.

**Peruvian** · 12-10-2019, 07:29 AM

Originally Posted by reckless toboggan

Thanks for the info.

That being said, I did get an RA number and plan on mailing it to the them to run a full test.

**reckless toboggan** · 12-10-2019, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by Peruvian

That being said, I did get an RA number and plan on mailing it to the them to run a full test.

Yes. Good call. Based on your post, I was going to contact Pieps/BD and get an official recommendation.

**Peruvian** · 01-03-2020, 10:14 AM

Originally Posted by reckless toboggan

Yes. Good call. Based on your post, I was going to contact Pieps/BD and get an official recommendation.

As a follow up, I just received a beacon back from BD/Pieps. It's not the 5 year old DSP Pro I mailed in, but instead they sent me a brand new Pieps Powder BT! I am very grateful for the brand new beacon but I'm a little ambivalent as it is new to me and I now have a learning curve with this new transceiver.

Does anyone have any experience or insight into this model that you can pass along?

**reckless toboggan** · 01-03-2020, 11:21 AM

Originally Posted by Peruvian

As a follow up, I just received a beacon back from BD/Pieps. It's not the 5 year old DSP Pro I mailed in, but instead they sent me a brand new Pieps Powder BT! I am very grateful for the brand new beacon but I'm a little ambivalent as it is new to me and I now have a learning curve with this new transceiver.

Does anyone have any experience or insight into this model that you can pass along?

Crazy!

We're doing a bunch of tours in Feb and March so I'll get on sending these back to Pieps.

Thanks for the follow-up info!

**adrenalated** · 01-03-2020, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by Peruvian

As a follow up, I just received a beacon back from BD/Pieps. It's not the 5 year old DSP Pro I mailed in, but instead they sent me a brand new Pieps Powder BT! I am very grateful for the brand new beacon but I'm a little ambivalent as it is new to me and I now have a learning curve with this new transceiver.

Does anyone have any experience or insight into this model that you can pass along?

It's more of a revision than a new beacon. The basic functionality isn't dramatically different.
I haven't used the new ones very much, but the one notable thing I noticed is the marking button has changed. The old one you held the button down until it marked. The new one you just press and release.
I'm sure there are other differences too.

**Peruvian** · 01-03-2020, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by adrenalated

It's more of a revision than a new beacon. The basic functionality isn't dramatically different.
I haven't used the new ones very much, but the one notable thing I noticed is the marking button has changed. The old one you held the button down until it marked. The new one you just press and release.
I'm sure there are other differences too.

Thanks, J. Working my way through the manual for now and then time to practice, practice, practice.

**Falcon3** · 11-11-2020, 12:53 PM

Bumping this for wintertime-

Somebody convince me to keep or upgrade from my original Pieps DSP (not the one currently under fire).

bought in 2011, no idea if it's got the firmware upgrade, has seen mostly light use, maybe 100 days over the last 9.5 years. This year I'll be in the BC a lot more with COVID and doing more mountaineering come spring as well.

Good deals coming up, 20% off BD/Pieps at REI, I've got access to shop pricing for Mammut as well.

**Bobcat Sig** · 11-11-2020, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by Falcon3

Bumping this for wintertime-

Somebody convince me to keep or upgrade from my original Pieps DSP (not the one currently under fire).

bought in 2011, no idea if it's got the firmware upgrade, has seen mostly light use, maybe 100 days over the last 9.5 years. This year I'll be in the BC a lot more with COVID and doing more mountaineering come spring as well.

Good deals coming up, 20% off BD/Pieps at REI, I've got access to shop pricing for Mammut as well.

I'm in the same boat as I have an OG Peips DSP that's still going strong.

**dub2** · 11-11-2020, 08:04 PM

After starting this thread I upgraded to a Barryvox and couldn't be happier. Noticeably better range in practice, signal updates quickly, and peace of mind knowing I have new tech if something ever happened to my partner.

**Cocximus** · 11-14-2020, 09:58 AM

Check out it's interference warning. I have to be on a call and right near it for it to trigger the interference warning and mitigation.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

**glademaster** · 11-14-2020, 10:24 AM

My $0.02, but a beacon is something that should be replaced every 5 years or so. I wouldn't feel comfortable touring with someone who whipped out a 10+ year old beacon. That's right up there with bringing a ski pole probe or a plastic shovel on the "no-go" list.

**Falcon3** · 11-14-2020, 11:32 AM

Just pulled the trigger on a new BVox, stoked.

**skibrd** · 11-15-2020, 07:39 AM

I have my beacon on me 80-100 days a year. I’d like to say I get 5 years out of one, but they rarely last more then 3 years. I’ve crashed and broken one (Arva replaced it, then asked how it broke, told them I crashed dropping into Corbets, they said rad), had one stolen, traded another to my roommate so she could have her first and I got to upgrade, things seem to happen where I end up with a new one every 3 years. Currently have a 3 year old Arva Neo and a new Mammut Barryvox. The Arva will now be for friends when they visit. I used to have a ski locker at the resort, so having two beacons made life easy. One in my work pants and one at home.

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**milestogo** · 11-01-2022, 07:17 AM

Revival post. Headed out west this winter and am getting mixed messages about my beacon. Just to confirm, I have the original Mammut Barryvox and have had it for a while (but not really used it in 4 years). Should I be getting a new one?

**Meadow Skipper** · 11-01-2022, 07:28 AM

Do you have time to send it to Mammut for a check? I have no idea how long it would take, maybe contact them.

From the manual.

To ensure the proper performance of the transceiver, it is
highly recommended that you send your device to an official Barryvox® service center once every three years for a functional test. The recommended date of the next check can be viewed under “Maintenance” in the shut down sequence of the device. (See „Periodic check by a Barryvox® Service Center“.)

https://downloads.ctfassets.net/l595...Guide_2021.pdf

Otherwise, I’ve been using a +/- 5 year timeframe for replacement.

**milestogo** · 11-01-2022, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

Do you have time to send it to Mammut for a check? I have no idea how long it would take, maybe contact them.

From the manual.

https://downloads.ctfassets.net/l595...Guide_2021.pdf

Otherwise, I’ve been using a +/- 5 year timeframe for replacement.

I do have time. I should send it in. I was reading about 1v2v3 antennas as well. Happy to get a new one, just don't want to contribute to the waste stream if not necessary...

**adrenalated** · 11-01-2022, 10:16 AM

When you say "original Mammut Barryvox" which one do you mean exactly?
The Barryvox name has been around since at least the 1960s. I'm assuming yours isn't that old. https://beaconreviews.com/Specs_BarryvoxVS68.php

If it has less than 3 antennas (Barryvox VS2000, Opto3000, etc.), in my opinion it is obsolete. Use it as a target beacon for practicing and nothing more. If it's a Pulse or an Element, those are still good beacons and I don't think need to be upgraded yet if they're still in good working order.