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Avalanche Transceiver Replacement

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Looking to replace my pretty ancient Ortovox F1 Focus transceiver, we've had them serviced in the past but feel that they are getting a bit long in the tooth. We're tempted by the Ortovox Zoom + showing at just under £160 on Amazon as a simple replacement that will do the job without unnecessary bells and whistles. Does this make sense or are there far better ones out there at a fairly reasonable cost?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
That's fairly long in the tooth now in terms of ease of use and they don't last forever. Here's a fairly unscientific test we did on a down day a couple of weeks ago, the F1 Focus was off-frequency

https://www.swissmountainleader.com/2018/01/avalanche-transceiver-frequency-drift/

That will manifest itself as reduced range typically. it's probably temperature dependent as well so that result would likely be worse at the top of the hill compared to our lounge.

The Zoom is about the cheapest device around, you'll save £10 at Sport Conrad I think. The best deal may be on a pack if you renew your probe and shovel as well.

As for the state of the market... The new Mammut Barryvox is nice, taking the place of the older Element and Pulse as my personal favourites. The Pieps Micro is an excellent device as well with, as is usual from Pieps, some great technology. But, you probably can't go far wrong the Zoom really.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@alj, Take a look at http://beaconreviews.com/transceivers/transceiver_reviews.asp

Buying something because it is the cheapest, is always the best way forward. See if you can test/borrow/compare the transceivers from those you ski with (assuming they don’t have F1’s). I’ve tested most of the top end transceivers, and when comparing them in the same test there are differences in the way they behave.

In any case whatever you buy, remember to practice with it.


Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Mon 15-01-18 9:42; edited 1 time in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
Go for a Ortovox 3+ set and sell the shovel/probe if unnecessary. Nicer to use than the Zoom imo albeit a bit bulky. Great trans for the cost.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Link doesn't work because it has an extra full stop at the end
try this instead
http://beaconreviews.com/transceivers/transceiver_reviews.asp
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
I don't think its very responsible to ski with an F1, the technology is just too old, sure you might be found but finding your buddy with an F1 is another story unless you do lots of practice. Add a heli or a snow machine and the peeps become inaudible. IMHO almost any new DVA will be better than an F1. I've had an F1, a BCA Tracker, a tracker 2 & 3 and now use the Barryvox S. On each occasion I've noticed the technology has moved on and is better than the last.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@ajdetpwm, Thankyou, now corrected Very Happy
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I have an Ortovox 3+ but I was really impressed by the Mammut Baryvox. Lightning quick to find the buried pack.

If I wa spooking for a new one I'd go for that.
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 You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions, given us lots to think about
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Pieps Micro looks nice. Anyone got one?
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Just arrived home, intending to start a thread, but you’ve beaten me to it.

Without being a guide, etc. and on the basis of full practice and familiarity, are the additional features of the Barryvox S, when compared to the standard Barryvox? The victim list and ability to switch to analogue sound as if they could be priceless in certain situations but, thankfully, I’ve never had to act in anger.

I appreciate that one is £80 dearer but, assuming that this is not an obstacle, are the extra features ever likely to be used by a “punter”, or just contrive to confuse the user with unnecessary menus, etc.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Just arrived home, intending to start a thread, but you’ve beaten me to it.

Without being a guide, etc. and on the basis of full practice and familiarity, are the additional features of the Barryvox S, when compared to the standard Barryvox, worthwhile? The victim list and ability to switch to analogue sound as if they could be priceless in certain situations but, thankfully, I’ve never had to act in anger.

I appreciate that one is £80 dearer but, assuming that this is not an obstacle, are the extra features ever likely to be used by a “punter”, or just contrive to confuse the user with unnecessary menus, etc.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@sproggski, I’ve just got a Barryvox S, after having a Barryvox Pulse for years.

The basic interface of the new Barryvox and the Barryvox S are the same, and you only access the advanced features if you want to.

Some good details and usage videos on the Facewest site:

http://www.facewest.co.uk/Transceivers.html?BrandFilter=Mammut&GenderFilter=&Filter1=&Filter2=&Filter3=&Sort_by=price_desc
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
sproggski wrote:
assuming that this is not an obstacle, are the extra features ever likely to be used by a “punter”, or just contrive to confuse the user with unnecessary menus, etc.


I have the older Elements model, but I couldn't see much advantage of the extra features in the Pulse. If the smelly stuff should ever hit the fan I couldn't see how faffing around with menus would help the situation. You'd just want something you could pull out switch to search and it starts to work, no messing around.

What if any are the advantages of the new Barryvox over the old Elements?
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
sproggski wrote:
y, are the additional features of the Barryvox S, when compared to the standard Barryvox, worthwhile? The victim list and ability to switch to analogue sound as if they could be priceless in certain situations but, thankfully, I’ve never had to act in anger.


Only you can decide that Very Happy

It's always been the case that multiple burials are uncommon. Should one occur the Barryvox will take you the nearest signal and that remains the best strategy.

Being able to scroll between victims and vital data is a pretty niche thing which would probably need some skills in triage. Some of the other features are probably quite handy in managing training scenarios. One of the more useful features on the Pulse for professional users was probably that it was backlit, that's now standard on both the Barryvox and the Barryvox S.

In my opinion, I really wouldn't worry too much about these advanced features. This isn't a "pay to play" situation, a basic, modern device like the Zoom really is fine for most people. We use Barryvoxes and before that Elements and Pulses, the main features I like are a high initial range and a good, easily accessible group check.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Looking at Back Country Access Tracker 2 - looks like good budget allrounder review states

The Backcountry Access (BCA) Tracker 2 remains the fastest option for the novice and intermediate users (and it's still wicked fast for advanced users) for finding a single victim and it is one of the fastest beacons period. That's the most important thing a beacon needs to do. While it does not have any of the more advanced features of some other products, the Tracker 2 serves the majority of users extremely well. If you like the Tracker 2 but wish it had a flagging/marking feature, check out the Ortovox 3+, which could move nearly as fast and is equally intuitive. If you like the Tracker 2 but wish it had a multiple burial function, then check out the Arva Evo4 at $290 it was a very strong contender for this award

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topics/snow-sports/best-avalanche-beacon
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Given how long you're keeping gear, I'd buy something current, the tracker 2 is 7 years old now.

The zoom you mentioned to start is perfectly OK.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@ise, we're going to test our F1's this today to see what range they've got (Chatel) and look at what's available locally to buy.
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You should recognise that the F1 is obsolete

No idea what the retail experience in Chatel is like but I'd be surprised if the prices were competitive. Vieux Campeur in Thonon will be cheaper I'd expect.


https://www.auvieuxcampeur.fr/activites/ski/securite-avalanches?type_produit_filtre=14007

There's a Decathlon at Publier as well, some good prices on Arva. They're both selling packs with the DTS tracker which is really cheeky I think, it's hard to see that's a good choice for most users.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
ise wrote:
You should recognise that the F1 is obsolete


some info on why you might not want to use the F1 (from 2008)

http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/0805-time-to-retire-the-ortovox-f1/

basically the F1 pulse generator is out of date, the duty cycles are long and somewhat random and risk masking other beacons when marking, the frequency generator is also temperature dependent (as Ise said previously). So the F1 (and similar) doesn't play well with modern beacons even discounting the risk of using aging electronics.

Don't bin your F1 but keep it for practice searching for which a potentially difficult target is ideal.

For amateur users, they should focus on being able to rescue a single victim quickly and for that a good, basic digital beacon is ideal. Rather than worrying about multiple victims focus on safe travel protocols: route choice, spacing when climbing, skiing 1 at a time in zones of risk.
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