 Poster: A snowHead
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Looking for opinions.
I’ve been offered one of these (new), by an acquaintance who’s lost confidence in pieps transceivers after the recent issues with the DSP sport/pro models.
So far as I can find, the issues do not affect this model, but if anyone knows different please let me know.
A forum search has only found opinions prior to this.
The automatic switch seems to be a marmite feature, but having tried it out on an afternoon in the beacons, I found it easy to use.
To be clear, I obviously really don’t mind spending money on essential safety kit, but I have been offered a new piece of kit for nothing (although I will offer to pay…), so trying to work out the downside.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The only negative that I have seen reported is the automatic sensor, other than that it is small and light, as it was originally targeted at the SkiMo racing market after the organisers decided that they really should use transceivers that actually worked.
Nothing serious reported on Beacon Reviews who are one of the respected sources:
https://beaconreviews.com/Specs_PiepsMicro.php
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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?
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@PowderAdict, thanks for the reply.
I’d checked that review, and happy with what I read, but again, predates any issues with the others, and I’m vaguely bothered as to why my friend is keen to dump a brand new unit with no issues.
It was bought for his partner just before COVID, so never taken out if he box (until I took it into the hills with him to try out the aforementioned button…)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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For some just the negative brand association is enough to put them off, even though as you know the mechanical switch that was the DPS Ice issue isn't present on the Micro. If they had been trying to sell it to you for a significant amount I would be asking more questions, but since they appear to be giving it away, it seems more of a personal perception.
The next question would have to be, would you buy this transceiver model if starting from scratch? Do you want/need a small and light transceiver? If the anwer to either of these is no, would you be happy using it knowing it wasn't your first choice?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| PowderAdict wrote: |
| The next question would have to be, would you buy this transceiver model if starting from scratch? Do you want/need a small and light transceiver? If the anwer to either of these is no, would you be happy using it knowing it wasn't your first choice? |
Great question. I’d have looked at smaller models purely because I’m quite small (or short, at least). All of my height is in my legs, so I hate wearing anything around my chest / torso as it impedes movement, so would stow in a thigh pocket. I’m not worried about weight, but the less annoyance the better. I’d worry about battery life, but I’m unlikely to be doing anything where that is an issue so long as I remember to check.
Thanks again for your time / answers
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| PowderAdict wrote: |
The next question would have to be, would you buy this transceiver model if starting from scratch? |
Excellent question. (Ignoring price considerations of course)
Although this device doesn't have the flawed feature I can understand people who might want to avoid the brand, as (IIRC) they did handle the situation particularly poorly. Whether this is a brand that has learned from this or whether this is likely to be a repeating pattern of behaviour with any future faults is presumably going to be a concern for some.
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| Tazz2bme wrote: |
| I hate wearing anything around my chest / torso as it impedes movement, so would stow in a thigh pocket. |
In which case your choice of ski pant is also worthy of careful consideration.
(Seriously)
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| Quote: |
Although this device doesn't have the flawed feature I can understand people who might want to avoid the brand, as (IIRC) they did handle the situation particularly poorly
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They sent me out a new cradle that completely solved the issue* completely free of charge. I wasn't disappointed with my customer service experience.
*I'm still not convinced how much of an issue it was. Clearly there were devices that were "broken", but it's impossible to know if this was due to them continuously moving the slider without depressing the button first. I have tried pretty much everything and haven't managed to get my device in the original cradle to switch. But kind of moot as the new cradle makes it impossible anyway.
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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.
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@boarder2020, as I recall the problem was the extended period of time denying there was an issue in the first place.
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As with anything, the human factor comes into play. There was a period where a small number claimed the second generation Barryvox (not the current model), had a switch fault. But it turned out these users were putting the transceiver in it’s cradle the wrong way round, ie. screen facing out rather than facing in towards the chest. This left the transmit switch partly exposed as it wasn’t protected by the cut out designed into the cradle.
The alleged issue was that the transceiver could be turned off in use, whereas the actual issue was that if you forced the transceiver into its cradle backwards it didn’t work as designed.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| boarder2020 wrote: |
*I'm still not convinced how much of an issue it was. Clearly there were devices that were "broken", but it's impossible to know if this was due to them continuously moving the slider without depressing the button first. I have tried pretty much everything and haven't managed to get my device in the original cradle to switch. But kind of moot as the new cradle makes it impossible anyway. |
Here's the full thread describing the issue and Pieps' various ways of handling it. 4 pages of debate, frustration and in some cases (including mine) good resolution. In short, I managed to replicate the failure mode on a brand new (just replaced due to an antenna fault) DSP Sport. As @Tubaski says, if Pieps had been transparent from the outset then it would not have been such an issue. Personally, if I was happy to buy the Micro, i'd still be happy to use it now. I'm also happy to use my replacement BT. I'm not sure that I would buy another, based on the service.
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