Registering satcomms etc in Russia
 

I've seen snippets here and there about registering dedicated GPS devices (not phones) and PLB when entering Russia, but been able to google up very little authoritative matter. Can anyone point me to an idiot's guide on what the situation is? Thanks!

I am going to guess - strictly a guess - that any requirement to register a GPS device used for vehicle navigation in Russia has long since disappeared.

I do recall discussion about this being necessary back around the turn of the century, but because these devices are so ubiquitous now (and in particular, because most dashcams have embedded GPS, and every Russian gets issued a dashcam at birth) there is likely no requirement to register a vehicle navigator.

As for PLBs, I do not know.

Michael

I have no idea what the official policy is, but I can tell that I lived in Moscow for several years, have crossed the Russian border probably something like 20 times, and rode quite a bit in Siberia and European Russia. I never registered my GPS (and never heard of anyone doing so) and never had any problem; no one--including border guards and police officers--ever asked me about it or expressed the slightest interest in it.

Given how many phones, watches, cameras, etc. have integrated GPS (or GLONASS) in this day and age, I can't imagine what purpose such a policy would serve at this point, or how it could possibly be implemented.

I also used an inReach in Russia and never registered it either, no idea if there is still a requirement to do so.

Maybe it would be an issue if you are monkeying around in some kind of forbidden zone, but I would avoid those with or without an unregistered GPS.