Maybe I got a dud?

By dav100523918 Ranked #293 - Avalanche Beacons April 28, 2010

I bought a Patroller beacon about 2 months ago to replace my Ortovox F1, which I had for about 9 years and loved. During a week of touring in the Canadian Rockies the Patroller proved very unreliable. When we did transceiver tests the others in the group sometimes could not detect my beacon at all. This was especially true if there were multiple beacons transmitting simultaneously. The signal from my beacon seemed to get drowned out by the others. Once the other transmitting beacons were shut off, my beacon would be picked up again, although not always in quite the right direction.

When searching with the Patroller, I found that it was functional but imperfect. The range was about 25 yards and it tended to detect the signal 180 degrees from the transmitter stronger than the signal in the direction of the transmitter. I realize it is normal to pick up a signal in the opposite direction from the transmitter, but it was surprising that that signal was clearly and consistently stronger. This could lead to wasted time during searches. I found it much more difficult to determine the direction to the transmitter accurately than with my old F1, which seems strange since the Patroller is supposed to have lots of new technology (e.g., 3 antenna digital) that the F1 doesn't.

My batteries were brand new and were reading 99%, so I don't think that was the problem. Maybe I just got a defective unit. Generally I'm a fan of Ortovox products, but I returned the beacon and think I will buy the Pieps DSP.

David

View Details: Ortovox Patroller Avalanche Beacon

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