Monday, May 23, 2011

My newest toy

My latest toy - life saver - insurance
I looked hard and long at using a "yellow brick tracking device". It is a tracker that uses the satellite network to communicate, and not the very iffy cellular network. Every hour it would power up, get a GPS fix and send it's position via satellite to a website that would put a point on a map. Great, but I cannot communicate with it, and if something should happen that I HAVE to communicate, my mobile phone will most likely not work, since there will be no reception. I am going to ride through some of the most remote areas of good old South Africa.
So I came across the guys from zippisat. They were quite interested in my big trip from Beit Bridge to Cape Town, and gave me a special deal on the phone. I have to send the GPS position manually from time to time if my cellular type tracking does not work, but if the paw-paw should hit the fan, I can communicate. My brother who had to evacuate me last year when I broke my ankle during a very remote mountain biking trip is certainly happy with this arrangement, and a couple of my family who does remote 4x4 trips is certainly looking with keen eyes at this unit to borrow, rent, or steal for their security.
A great THANKS to the guys at Zippisat.