I'm in Costa Rica and I haven't noticed any decrease in track points or OK messages going through since my ride started in Texas.

I hate spot for a couple of other reasons other than its connectivity: 1) The shared spot site sucks because it is clunky, uses unnecessary space on the screen (impossible to use on my eee), and is down quite frequently
2) The interface is terrible. Everyone seems to use tracking on the unit, why not have a tracking button instead of having to press and hold the ok button for so long. Also.. Why do I have to power cycle the unit in order to get out of tracking and send an OK message??

I agree with Bananaman's advice 100%, get a sat phone or(and) PLB if you want to be safer in remote areas where your cell phone doesn't work. I try hard to convince my family and friends that it is just a toy and because it is such a pain to use (set up a clear line of site, wait for enough messages to go out with you never knowing if they actually make it).

I am also confused by the "life or death" aspect of 911. Should I have pressed the button when I had guys running at me with guns drawn in Guatemala? They would have had to give me 5 seconds so I could get it out of the tank bag and Press and Hold 911.

That being said, spot is extremely cheap for a satellite tracking device, IMO. I think it is pretty cool that I have a tracklog for my trip from a cron script that scrapes spot's site.

I have an Iridium phone that works amazingly. I was in a valley in the middle of nowhere Guatemala when I needed to get some mechanical advice AND it was raining... no problems! It was great. It only worked for about 10 minutes at a time before it cut out, but atleast it worked. I would just have to wait another couple of minutes to get a satellite. I bought one and plan on selling it and my minutes when I'm done on ebay.

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http://davegtravels.com - RTW on a DRZ
All the way south - Texas to Tierra del Fuego in '08-'09