Ortovox Beacon Retirement Program...

thought I would share, if anyone is considering upgrading their old avi beacon Ortovox will give you a $75 credit to their new 3+ beacon if you send them your old one, any brand.
www.ortovox.com/us/


IIRC The general safety rule is if your old beacon is no longer served by its warranty its time to get a new one.

You mean I am not supposed to be using my Ortovox from 1985???? But I love it and while I have never been fully buried, I would still say it has saved my life because it has always been my friend reminding me that I do not want to use it fully in an emergency, only in practice.

IIRC The general safety rule is if your old beacon is no longer served by its warranty its time to get a new one.

Holy crikey, I've never heard that rule. Sounds like the "oil change every 3000 miles" rule to me.

I'm surprised that beacon makers haven't gone the route of cell phone makers -- make the battery rechargeable, but not replaceable -- so upgrading every two years is de rigueur.

Nobody said it was fair or right. But all you have to do is put a beacon at 30 meters and test searching with beacons of various ages to get creeped out.

Gotta weight in here , Ive had 4 beacons fail or go out of spec. over 36 yrs. and embarrassingly , one was discovered in the middle of a tour and the other during an avy. course. I felt deep guilt because I had been jeopardizing my partners and myself. 2 different brands were involved. I now regularly check there performance and regardless of there performance , after 5 yrs. retire them . I do not loan or sell them , but disable the strap system , permanently mark them and if appropriate convert them into a hidden training beacon. Humble-X