The trackers need a clear view of the sky to report their position. It is possible that teams will be in dense forest or steep valleys. They may also take shelter indoors.
No. Safety procedures put in place by the race organisers are very extensive, and if there is a real emergency they will already be handling it.
When the 'Live Update' checkbox is ticked, your browser will continuously receive the latest position reports, without the need for you to refresh the page or change your view. The time of the last update is always shown in the boxes in the top-left of your window. If you watch a pin for long enough, you should see it move automatically.
Each tracking device is a self-contained GPS receiver and Iridium Satellite transceiver. With a clear view of the sky they will work anywhere on Earth, including the polar, ocean and desert regions where telecommunications are normally challenging. Iridium is the only satellite network to offer truly global coverage.
The compact unit measures 20x10x7 cm and weighs 750g. It is waterproof to 100m, and it floats. It is shock and crush-proof with no external fragile parts. It was specifically designed for adventure sports to be as robust and lightweight as possible.
The tracker sends it's position, course and speed at time intervals set remotely by race H.Q.
Media can be kept up to date around the course with low-bandwidth mobile interfaces and SMS text messaging.
The system includes an emergency help alert which teams can activate to notify race organisers of a problem. Race organisers can also be notified when a team stops moving for long periods or approaches a transition.
Great, we'd love to help. See www.adventuretracking.com for more details.