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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
    Posts
    50

    BCA Tracker 3 issues

    Curious to hear thoughts on the tracker 3. Was in an avy rescue class this week and we found 2 to be faulty. One would go to search mode when set to send. Mine only picks up a signal in search mode when with in 20 "meters". and that was with good coupling, only 10 with poor coupling. Both instructors said they wouldn't be comfortable using it in the field like that. Sent in a warranty claim but they say 5-6 weeks for that...

    Opening a can of worms I assume here but curious if others have had issues.
    Also open to recommendations on what beacons might be the best option. Im thinking the BD guide/recon BT or Mammut...

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Driggs
    Posts
    549
    Three years ago mine did the same "going to search instead of send" thing. BCA was quick to warranty it, but I sold the brand new model they sent me and went to the Mammut Barryvox S and haven't looked back. It's all anecdotal, but I've seen enough Tracker 3's act up that I'm not stoked on using them.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Not Brooklyn
    Posts
    8,320
    -Mammut and BD are better than the rest and have been for a while, especially in terms of range (https://beaconreviews.com/).
    -BD just bungled a recall around the previous version's flawed button design and people are pretty pissed.
    -The button on the new BD is still inferior to Mammut's.
    -All the noise you may have heard about Trackers being easier to use is bullshit.

    So...

    -Get a Mammut.
    -Sell the replacement Tracker when it comes.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    idaho panhandle!
    Posts
    9,952
    Have not experienced that with mine or heard of it within the group of people I know, definitely not saying it doesn’t happen. I have witnessed and read of major failures from other brands so there’s that. They are all electronic devices and can/will fail eventually, or not. Unfortunately that’s the reality. Personally I would warranty it for a new one and keep using the new one.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    558
    I've used a 3 for the last few seasons without problems. Did you update the firmware? There was a firmware update last season or the season before, I wonder if that has something to do with the issue? Definitely makes me a little leery now though...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    none
    Posts
    8,340
    My 1st gen Tracker acted the same and BCA replaced it, even though it was well out of warranty.
    I’m a couple of beacon since then and also have a Mammut.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Kootenays
    Posts
    1,496
    I have seen enough issues with BCA beacons that I would never buy one, and I would never recommend any else does either. My work now supplies BCA, and when my current issued Mammut gets retired, I will happily (?) purchase my own beacon (likely Mammut) instead of using a BCA.

    Lots of fit & finish issues as well as design weirdness. Not that those necessarily disrupt function, but they indicate a lack of attention to detail that I'm not sure I want to see in life safety gear.

    I also see a lot of the fleet fail range tests every year. Sounds like that's what is happening with yours.

    That said it's not all bad - I think they make great shovels.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Colorado Front Range
    Posts
    4,644
    Let's put this way ... If my partner had a BCA, I'd encourage him to swap my Barryvox for the day, because you know ... you want your partner to have better rescue gear than you do ;-)

    Of course a "slipping out of send into search issue" might have me rethinking that strategy.

    ... Thom
    Galibier Design
    crafting technology in service of music

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Tahoe-ish
    Posts
    3,141
    IDK about the Tracker 3, but my GF consistently finds my beacon whenever I hide it in snowfields using her Tracker 2. She wanders about for a bit and then makes a beeline for it. Is the T3 worse, somehow?
    ride bikes, climb, ski, travel, cook, work to fund former, repeat.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Posts
    213
    For what it's worth, I am getting the same issue now with a Tracker3 I got last winter and only used a handful of times. Just sent in a warranty request. I guess I'm gonna have to change my touring plans for this week. In hindsight I should have held on to my Tracker1.

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