Buying used beacon Q's

[badapple]

Looking @ a used BCA tracker for sale. Is this a good idea...buying second hand i mean. Is there a way to know for sure that it transmits/recieves signals? Dont assume any self respecting person would sell a known bad beacon but u never know

 

[Chaos]

USED BEACON

First impression is a valuable indicator. If the thing is dinged and beat or cracked, walk away. The best test is to bring along another beacon. After you put it through it's self test sequence, then do some testing. Place one and then use the other both as a locater and then as a transmitter. If all seems well and each test is reasonable, then you are probably o.k. It is one of those items that they usually either work or they don't.

Good Luck.

 

[bowerman61028]

As long as it is in decent shape you should be good with the BCA Tracker DTS (the yellow beacon with the big red button). They are the most widely used beacon in North America and are built to be used and work every time. If, and that is a big if there are any problems with it Backcountry Access stands behind all their products and you could easily contact them and get anything repaired for little or no money. I sold my 1 year old Tracker DTS last year for $180 and that guy got a great beacon at a great price. Only reason I sold it was I got the Tracker 2 which has a triple antenna opposed to the double antenna the Tracker DTS has.

 

[Dunatic]

Beacons lose their ability to transmit at certain frequencys over time, I replace mine every few years, they are just to important. I would spend a little extra dough and buy a new one.

here is a good read about frequency drift.

 

[badapple]

Thanks for the good info! This would be my first beacon purchase and i dont want it to be the last
Does $250 for a used BCA tracker sound high? (not the tracker2)

 

[wjl]

That seems high for a used beacon considering that a new one is $289 from SnowBigdeal.com. and right now you get a free probe or a shovel.
I have actually saw an ad/sale on them for $239.00 new.

 

[wjl]

An Idea what is here in utah used:
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=23...distance=&min_price=&max_price=&type=&x=0&y=0

 

[Sxrlar]

I was looking for used ones also, but in the back of my mind was the question, buying it sight unseen, will I get screwed? I have never been screwed over by anyone here on snowest though. SO, I decided just to buy new, and I bought from here. http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3667573

I believe the sale ends today though, so, you will have to make up your mind quick. I went with the tracker 2 by the way.

 

[SkiDooHoser]

Nice find, just bought one with free shipping.

Got the Tracker 2 for $268

 

[Sxrlar]

Nice find, just bought one with free shipping.

Got the Tracker 2 for $268

Yesterday they had a 3 hour "power sale" from 9 am to noon eastern time. They knocked another 10 percent off during that time. I picked mine up for $241.

 

[wjl]

That was the site where it was $239.00
Good find.

 

[giddyup]

beacon

not telling anyone what to do, but i dont think a person should look at buying a beacon that is not digital and three antena, new technology is still better that old, if you going to keep your beacon several years buy an new one and you have warranty and you know what you got, just my thought,

ride safe
giddyup

 

[EricW]

In my limited experience the biggest threat to any used beacon is the owner leaving the batteries in during the off season. I did this on a Tracker my first year. There was some corrosion at the brass contact spades and I started to clean it up. The spade broke while I was cleaning it. Sent it back to BCA with a letter explaining what a dork I was and they fixed and shipped it back for free.

I would look for signs of any past corrosion and if you buy used send it back to the OEM to be looked over. Hope ya find what you need. EW