>>643754>How long do PLBs last on one charge?They don't "charge". It's a non-serviceable battery.
Manufacturer (believe it's an industry-standard) specs minimum 24hrs continuous emergency operation once activated, even after all the self-tests (both internal and thru-satellite) are depleted. I'm sure there's some additional capacity built in to account for cell variances and temperature.
The battery is rated at 5 years. After that time, you'll have to send it in for service which includes battery replacement.
You get 10 through-satellite, powers-everything-up-locks-into-position-and-sends-a-test-message-through-the-system tests, and 60 or so quick self-tests (Micro boots up, pings the various other ICs on board (GPS chip, maybe commands it to do an internal self-test; 406meg radio burst; check battery voltage and tamper switch status) over those 5 years.
There's how-to's that show you how to replace the battery pack, but... even being an electrical engineer, I'd rather pay the OEM their $100 fee to service it and know it's done right.
>>643214jesus, the *basic* SPOT plan is now $100/yr... inreach, about $140/yr...
I thought a few years back they had a basic plan that was about $20/yr. Either way, looks like you can do month-to-month with either, so if you only /out/ in one season you can save some cash that way.
But yeah, definitely sticking with my PLB after seeing that...
