I have been looking at the Delorme InReach communicator.
It costs $250, and has service plans from $10 - $50 a month. It uses Irridium satalites to send and recive text messages and position reports like SPOT. It also has a 'track' feature like SPOT and a type of emergency signal button (of course not an EPIRB replacement, but a nice feature anyway).
I already have a SPOT and a Magellan GSC communicator, but the idea of using the Ipad to type out the text's is pretty attractive.
Here is a link to their site; http://www.inreachdelorme.com/ (http://www.inreachdelorme.com/)
Have any here purchased one, or used one yet? Any impressions?
I just learned of a 'hack' delorme has provided on their website that changes the operating permeates to allow use of regular alkaline batteries. I am sure this still will cause a shorter life, it just takes a fair amount of current to get the signal to the satellite...
I will report back after using this one for a while. Good to not have to buy the expensive lithium batteries, hope this works out.
https://support.delorme.com/kb/articles/65-managing-inreach-battery-profiles (https://support.delorme.com/kb/articles/65-managing-inreach-battery-profiles)