When to upgrade beacon

[summit]

I started with an Ortovox F1 which is what earned Ortovox most of their goodwill in the beacon market because that were THE benchmark (and the Pieps opti). Great analog beacon.

M1 failed me as in turned off during a helicopter deployment drill... Had to switch to my Tracker DTS.

I bought a S1 and a Pulse at the same time. Sold the S1.

D3/X1/Patroller were shit.

I think that the 3+ is good except for the range. Good rental beacon or recreational beacon.

Most things on the market are good right now since Pieps got rid of their shitty little analog skimo beacon. Tracker 3 gives avalanche 1 students a great deal of trouble with the pseuodflagging Signal Suppression function in multis.

I would like to try the Evo 5.

[1000-oaks]

Tracker 2 has pretty lousy range for a 3-antenna beacon, the S1+ has almost double the range. Just be sure to shut off your cell phone when the S1+ is in search mode, or you'll get ghost signals when the phone queries cell data.

[LeoK]

I'm just leaving the most comprehensive and independent test on Beacons here. Try to use google translate or something:

https://www.alpenverein.de/Bergsport...-Test-2017-18/

[Self Jupiter]

The new Evo5 is a sweet little model. Mine arrived just in time for the Eldora skimo races this past weekend. Hoping to run it through some formal testing this coming week.

Those frenchies, they give up too easily

A couple of friends have Arvas. They seem happy, but I haven't played wth them though. The older Neos were definitely a bit bulky in comparison.

Word. I have the NEO+. I’m no connoisseur, but all I can complain about with it thus far in practice is that the harness is a little janky.

[dub2]

Found a nice deal on a Barryvox, seems like it has nothing but positive reviews, any opinions here?

[muted]

Found a nice deal on a Barryvox, seems like it has nothing but positive reviews, any opinions here?

Where's the deal, is it online?

[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.

[summit]

We like our Barryvox (S) and we recommend them to our students.

I also think very highly of the Pieps DSP Pro / Sport which is now the Black Diamond Guide / Recon

The Tracker 3 is a great beacon for singles but I still think it is not an intuitive tool in multis, especially proximity with more than 2. It has notably short range, but that has always been a tracker thing.

I want to play with Arvas more. My friend likes his a lot.

Just don't buy an Ortovox Zoom.

[nortonwhis]

Just picked up a BD Recon.
Will update once i have some time on it.

[happytimefunbox]

It's on my xmas list this year some cheap pl new arvas out there

[dub2]

Where's the deal, is it online?

Currently $260 on backcountry.com with free shipping.

[Meadow Skipper]

Currently $260 on backcountry.com with free shipping.

Uh oh...

[BCMtnHound]

Currently $260 on backcountry.com with free shipping.

Bwahhahaha!

[dub2]

Uh oh...

Damn, guess I live under a rock first time hearing of all that.

[Meadow Skipper]

The Barryvox is a great beacon though. My go-to.

[fleaches]

Currently $260 on backcountry.com with free shipping.

Apparently Evo will price match and beat that price by 5% if you ask

Sent from my Pixel XL using TGR Forums mobile app

[Cocximus]

When I realized the S1+ and S3+ suck balls. When doing a beacon check on trail I was found 10-20 feet after everyone else. In search it's all over the place without any electronics on me.

[Bunion 2020]

What is an S3+?

[Cocximus]

Ortovox

[billyhoyle]

What is an S3+?

Assuming he means the 3+...

I used the Barryvox S for a bit last season, and loved it. Would highly recommend it or the base model Barryvox.

[Bunion 2020]

Ortovox

Really, must be some sort of a new Beacon, never heard of it.

When doing a beacon check on trail I was found 10-20 feet after everyone else.

It is well known that Ortovox Beacons have a shorter range than some others, more like 35-50 feet or about 15 units of measurement. BCAs have an even shorter range.

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".

Here is the things, if you have good familiarity with your Beacon and have confidence in that piece of safety equipment then you will be more proficient with it. Good Beacon searches are all about the user having confidence in what the Beacon is telling you and having a standard set of practices to follow.

The S-1 was plagued by several issues but in my opinion it had way to many features of dubious value. My last year at BB (2 seasons ago) I tried out a Barryvox Pulse and it never clicked for me, too many distracting features. Al Beacon should be designed to do 1 thing, find other Beacons or be found by other Beacons.

That's all I have except; Whatever you use, be good with it and that means practice. That does not mean doing a search for a target beacon buried 12" deep in an area < 100' Sq unless you are honing your fine search techniques. Take the time to set up realistic drills, start slow and when you are feeling good about it, start timing each other.

[reckless toboggan]

Here's a question I haven't seen before, and that is suddenly relevant, to me anyway.

I was starting to look into new beacons to replace our older units. I did a gear closet cleaning a couple weeks ago to see if there was anything I wanted to sell, and came across two BNIB Pieps DSPs (Originals - https://beaconreviews.com/Specs_PiepsDSP.php). I got a good deal on the Originals when the Pro was released and was going to pass them along to friends years ago, but they ended up moving to a skiless location. This was probably 5 years ago.

Stored in a cool, dry, dark location with no batteries installed.

I figure they should be good as new to use. We're used to the the DSP Originals and very familiar with their operation, as we've been using our DSP Originals (which I bought at the same time as the ones for my friends) for about 5 years now.

What says the collective?

[BCMtnHound]

New DSP, stored until now, and with I assume the latest firmware update (2011), and no recalls or other performance issues I am aware, I say use them.

[reckless toboggan]

New DSP, stored until now, and with I assume the latest firmware update (2011), and no recalls or other performance issues I am aware, I say use them.

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.

[Jason4]

I started with an F1 Focus and used it far longer than I should have but I was proficient with it when it was retired. After that I had two Ortovox 3+. The first was returned for being incredibly inconsistent in searches. The second was retired when I was getting false signals during course searches at an indicated 10m. I was practicing with another avalanche instructor that was also using a 3+ and also got sent off track at 10m. I've also had a student with the 3+ that would shut down consistently during searches but had new batteries and checked ok during a trailhead check. I have a hard time recommending Ortovox for anything other than shovels at this point.