Beacon Advice...

Hey Gang. Looking for some advice for a new beacon. My old one decided to fall apart over the summer due to battery corrosion and such and I need a new one. I'm not an expert on what is out there or what's the latest and greatest so I thought it would be best to reach out to the community.

Any thoughts or advice on a new beacon?

Thanks.

David

Great resource: beaconreviews.com/transceivers/

Very short answer:
BCA Tracker 3

or

Mammut Element

Very short answer:
BCA Tracker 3

or

Mammut Pulse

Whatever the crystal pros are using, buy it call Lisa and find out what she ordered for the pro's and get it,

FWIW Pieps DSP Sport is rated 5 stars and is $275 vs 4.5 stars and $335 for the Tracker 3. The Mammut Pulse also earns a 5 star rating -- but is $490.

Forum ate my post.

Second vote for the Pieps DSP. And if you're going to compare a few in-person before you buy, try their multiple burial options; most beacons are "about the same" for a single burial, but the really good ones quickly rise to the top when you've got more than 1 signal to search for.

What about ease of use? Is the Tracker still considered the easiest to use vs the Pieps models?

Faster Searching. The directional indicators on the new DSPs sense and display changes in direction almost immediately. The older DSPs felt a little sluggish relative to the BCA Trackers.

Really you should read the reviews for both beacons and draw your own conclusions.

Really you should read the reviews for both beacons and draw your own conclusions.

Agreed. Better than asking a bunch of people who've probably used the same beacon for the past four years and want to feel their choice of beacon is a valid one.

In my personal experience the older DSP was no more balky in processing than the Tracker 2. It did have a few quirks, like showing two victims for my old analog F1 Focus and slipping out of "mark" mode after a few seconds (but the T2 didn't even have a mark/suppression mode).

If you are thinking about the Pieps DSP Sport, I'd consider the DSP Pro for another $100 - twice the battery life and the ability to check for frequency drift in a partner's beacon are kinda cool.

...
If you are thinking about the Pieps DSP Sport, I'd consider the DSP Pro for another $100 - twice the battery life and the ability to check for frequency drift in a partner's beacon are kinda cool.

Plus the Pro has the longest "rough" search range of any digital beacon.

Realistically the Tracker 3, Pieps DSP Sport/Pro and Mammut Element/Pulse. Orthovox 3+ are all pretty fantastic.

The Pieps DSP Pro has one additional feature that some people may find useful -- it supports the Pieps TX600 "dog transmitter" -- which you can attach to your furry friend. The TX600 transmits on a slightly different frequency -- so it's signal wont interfere with searching for people, but once all the people are safe you can search for your pup. The older Pieps DSPs also support this with firmware update 8.2 installed -- Woof!

Just a quick heads-up on a major new redesign of Beacon Reviews -- this summary page is my personal favorite:
beaconreviews.com/transceivers/transceiver_reviews.asp
My role in this was relatively small, but then again almost any role would be small compared to the amazing effort that Steve has put into both the individual beacon reviews and the very readable format.
Almost anyone these days can throw up a good-looking website and write up some authoritative-sounding reviews.
However, Steve has been at this longer than anyone, and the breadth and depth of his beacon reviews are far above anything else.
Although the site does have some ads, Steve is completely independent in his assessments.
In addition to the beacon reviews, the website has info on other avy rescue issues too.
And since the site redesign just went live, if you find any typos or other glitches, please do let us know.

Jonathan and Steve, thanks for maintaining this invaluable resource - the new summary page with pictures of the beacons is great!