GPS Tracking

Written by Administrator | 01 August 2009

Since safety is always our number one concern at Heli-Ops we equip each one of our aircraft with a SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker.  It is a device that operates at virtually any altitude, any temperature, and any location on the globe and is a MUST for mountain and high altitude flying. The SPOT is the device the AOPA called “an a-ha! moment for general aviation.” The SPOT lets you live your life and tell others exactly where you are and how you’re doing – in real time. Because SPOT uses satellites, it works in places cell phones never will. SPOT uses the GPS satellite system to determine a user's location and the commercial satellite network to transmit that location and user's status.  The SPOT satellite network is a commercial satellite network with a proven 99.4% reliability rate while processing over 6 million messages a month - the equivalent of 2.3 messages per second.

Here's a quick rundown of the SPOT's special features: 

Track Progress – Save your trip or show others where you are in real time. Press and hold the “OK/Check” button for 5 seconds. Now, Track Progress updates your location every 10 minutes to your SPOT web account. You can fly and your family and friends can see exactly where you are in real time, without interrupting your fun. Give them your password to view your account as you travel, or save your tracks for viewing later using Google Earth (.KML), or GPX, the GPS data format. 

Check-in – Lets your contacts know you’re okay, or save your location for later viewing on the SPOT web service using Google Maps. Great to let your spouse know that you are running late, mark a location, or just remember a special place. Contacts can get a text message with your GPS location and an e-mail with a link to Google Maps. For maximum reliability, Check-in sends the same message from the messenger three times, and delivers the first to all of your contacts. 

Help – Not every situation is life-threatening. Press “HELP” to let friends and family know where you are and what your situation is. They’ll get a text message on their cell phone and an email with a link to Google Maps so they can assist. Help sends a message and location update every 5 minutes for 1 hour or until canceled. 

911 Feature - Press and hold the 9-1-1 button to alert emergency responders of life-threatening events. The GEOS Emergency Response Center will work with public response agencies around the world, and call your emergency contacts to find out more about your situation and keep them informed of rescue progress. GEOS works with all rescue agencies from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and Coast Guard to local urban and rural 9-1-1 call centers. Optionally, GEOS will also dispatch private rescue agencies in those countries where public resources won’t do. 911 sends a message and location update every 5 minutes until cancelled.