SPOT Satellite Messenger, weighing just over seven ounces and sold at U.S. $149.95 SRP, enables users to send their location and message to friends, family, or emergency responders, and to visually track the location of the SPOT Satellite Messenger through four simple functions:• Alert 9-1-1 notifies the emergency response center of your GPS location• Ask for Help sends a request for help to friends and family• Check OK lets contacts know where you are and that you are OK• Track Progress sends and saves your location and allows contacts to track your progress using Google ™ maps.The SPOT Satellite Messenger uses 100% satellite technology and has virtually complete worldwide coverage including all of the continental United States, coverage throughout Alaska plus the surrounding Pacific and Arctic maritime regions, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia, portions of South America, Northern Africa and Northeastern Asia, and thousands of square miles of offshore waters. SPOT Satellite Messenger is available at more than 5,000 points-of-sale including retailers and dealers in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Continental Europe and Mexico. Iridium® Satellite and its service partners provided critical satellite voice and data links for the 2008 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. IonEarth deployed Iridium-enabled bi-directional GPS tracking devices, which alowed race organizers, volunteers, media and fans to follow the movement of equipped mushers in real-time throughout the race at www.iditarod.com/flashmap. World Communication Center (WCC) has also supplied Iridium satellite phones and pagers, which were used by the Iditarod Race Committee and volunteers to communicate along the course. “While the Iditarod event provided a dramatic showcase for Iridium’s mobile satellite services (MSS), it’s important to remember that Iridium is a public utility and critical lifeline for thousands of Alaska’s citizens, many of whom live and work beyond the reach of terrestrial phone lines and wireless networks,” said Greg Ewert, executive vice president of Iridium Satellite. “Our ubiquitous pole-to-pole gap-free coverage and unmatched network quality are the primary reasons Iridium has surged to become the fastest-growing MSS provider in the market today. Our subscriber base in Alaska continues to grow exponentially, driven in large measure by customers switching from other satellite systems with poor coverage and reliability.” “This was the first time the Iditarod has deployed satellite tracking devices,” said Stan Hooley, executive director of the Iditarod Trail Committee. “IonEarth has developed a remote tracking solution that leverages Iridium’s short-burst data (SBD) service to meet our demanding requirements for reliable operation under some of the most extreme weather conditions on the planet. At the same time, WCC’s donation of satellite phones and airtime helped us keep in contact with volunteers on the ground and in the air, giving an important margin of safety and security throughout the race.” “The IonEarth tracking devices, which were mounted on 20 of the competing sleds this year, consisted of a miniature GPS receiver, Iridium SBD modem, control electronics and lightweight, high-performance batteries especially designed for extended operation in very cold weather,” explained Jerry Miller of IonEarth. “The devices transmit information such as position, speed, heading and temperature through the Iridium satellite network to a central server every 15 minutes. Interested parties logged onto the Iditarod Website, where they were able to view the latest location and details for each musher superimposed on a 3D terrain map of the trail. Reporters and film teams, as well as Iditarod race officials, were also equipped with IonEarth terminals which were connected wirelessly to handheld computers, allowing them to monitor the mushers and each other from remote locations without the need for an Internet connection.” “As the official satellite phone service sponsor for the 2008 Iditarod, WCC provided more than 40 satellite handsets and pager units for use by the bush pilots of the ‘Iditarod Air Force’ and volunteers on the ground along the trail,” said Sam Romey, president of WCC. “Large portions of the Iditarod Trail are beyond the reach of terrestrial landlines and wireless systems, and Iridium is the only mobile satellite system that provides reliable coverage across the entire state of Alaska.” Very popular among mushers, the Garmin Forerunner 201 is a training device with GPS that measures speed, distance, and pace, and runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. After your run, connect your Forerunner 201 to your computer to store and analyze your workout. Most mushers I’ve seen will set the convenient “lap” feature to record and store times for each mile traveled. It is very interesting to compare each mile of a run against other teams on the same course, and against previous runs. You can set alarms that sound when you reach a certain distance or time, when you exceed a certain speed or fall below a certain speed (better start pedaling). Start a new lap automatically after a preset distance with Auto Lap®. Using Auto Pause®, the 201 stops the timer automatically when you slow down or stop during your workout. As an added benefit, you can analyze and store data from your runs using free Garmin Training Center® software, which lets you analyze data with interactive graphs that chart your pace, time and distance. Overlay your run on a map so you can pinpoint specific areas and see how elevation and other factors affect your performance.A PLB is a satellite-signaling device of last resort, for use when all other means of self-rescue have been exhausted and where the situation is deemed to be grave and imminent, and the loss of life, limb, eyesight or valuable property will occur without assistance. All beacons must be registered following purchase. ACR Electronics, Inc. (www.acrelectronics.com), a Cobham plc company, designs and manufactures a complete line of safety and survival products including EPIRBs, PLBs, SSAS, AIS, SARTs and safety accessories. ACR has provided safety equipment to the aviation and marine industries as well as to the military since 1956 and the outdoor industries since 2003.