ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: LOJAK for Horses?

Re: LOJAK for Horses?

Ramey Peticolas-Stroud (ramey@wvi.com)
Mon, 18 Aug 1997 09:59:07 -0700

Hi Linda,

I don't know about vechicle locators, but we use Personal Locator
Beacons (PLB's) when we train in wilderness areas where there is no cell
service. PLB's are small, battery operated radio transmitters which
can be monitored by SARSAT sattellites or hand-held PBL Locators.

Unfortunately for your use there might be a problem. The signal must be
activated manually. How would you turn on the PLB if it were still on
the horse and you were on the ground? Also, the FCC does not allow
continuous transmission on emergency frequencies. So you could not turn
it on in advance during your ride.

There are models for aircraft use which are activated by preset G-forces
but the cost is high and it's usually the rider, not the horse, who
experiences the impact energy.

Hope there is a vechicle product that might work.

Ramey

Linda B. Merims wrote:
>
> I am about to take up trucking my horse away from home to
> the various Massachusetts State Forests to get longer trail loops.
>
> However, if I fall off, my little guy does not hang around
> even if there are other horses in the group, he just takes off
> back down the trail in his best approximation of a way
> home (often retracing his steps, but not always).
>
> This makes me very nervous. The closest State Forest to me
> is surrounded by very heavily traveled roads. If I fall off
> and my guy does take off, I want the best chance of finding
> him the quickest.
>
> Which would seem to be to be some kind of a radio transmitter
> attached to the saddle that would communicate with a receiver
> I kept in a fanny pack. At best, the receiver would pick up both
> direction and range. At minimum, I would want it to register
> direction. In short, I seem to be wanting some kind of a
> LOJAK for horses.
>
> I've checked in Trail Blazer magazine. Nobody sells anything
> like this. I've checked with the backpacking store. They
> say that GPSs do not come in "two part" configurations. The
> closest thing they know about is some kind of an Avalanche Finder
> used by skiers to be found after an avalanche. To their knowledge
> it is only sold in large ski stores out west, and to check with
> a very large ski store who might be able to get their hands on one.
> Radio Shack has nothing like this.
>
> Anybody have any ideas about where to buy such a radio finder
> item?
>
> Linda B. Merims
> lbm@ici.net
> Massachusetts, USA

Ramey

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