GPS Tracking and Chat Off-grid - Radacat Messenger C1 2 PACK ,No Monthly Fee, No Satellite, Cell service or Wi-Fi, For backcountry, outdoor, Camping, Hiking, Fishing, Skiing, Hunting

I'm not really a doomsday prepper per se, but I love the idea of creating an ad hoc telecom network that is independent of Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile etc. Radacat does this. Whats best about Radacat over its competitors such as: GoTenna (which I've followed on Kickstarter since day 1), and GoTele - is that Radacat does VOICE MSGS, in addition to texting. Other 2 mentioned only do texts. The voice clips are done through the Messenger-type App through a "push to talk" style button that sends it to the chat. Theres also a "whisper" button that presumably only sends voice/text to one individual (I only have 2 Radacats so I can't really verify). But you essentially have a functional phone that lets you leave upto 5-sec voice clips & texts & location links. One of the use cases says that this would be good for foreign travel, so you don't have to invest in a local simcard/service if you're satisfied with keeping in touch with travel companions via short voicemails/text messages. And provided you're satisfied with the range which is stated as: 4 miles open area; 1 mile in city, mountains or forest. Considering trying that when I travel abroad.Some hints:-I bought the 2-pack (you need at least 2) and I initially tried to setup both Radacats with 1 email. Don't do that. I spent an hour trying to scan the QR Code to "join a team" and it wouldn't scan. I tried everything playing with more light/less light, camera up close/far away, even printing the QR Code out on a photo printer then scanning that - but the Android App would not scan. Apparently.....its ONE unique e-mail to a device. As soon as I disconnected and changed email on the 2nd device (and followed instructions for getting the activation code in email) the QR Code for "join a team" worked great.-You have to enable Microphone for the "shake message" to work right, from Android: Apps > Radacat > Permissions > Enable Microphone (I also enabled Phone which I'm not sure it needs).-It seems to use the Phone's GPS which is fine, because I noticed I was getting "no location points" and one Radacat was in Africa (um, I'm in NYC), but once I went to enable GPS "High Accuracy" the data points started coming in and the Chat map showed both Radacat locations accurately.-The "Chat Team" I created survived reboots of the phones and Radacat devices - it all just came up after the phones connected to Radacats via Bluetooth in a few secs.-The email/password you used to register each Radacat does NOT work on radacat.com website - apparently the website is just for putting through orders or order tracking.All in all, this technology is amazing - again the voice msgs are a differentiator between Radacat and its closest competitors. I don't see why they can't just make a special "whisper" mode that sends those clips in real-time dialog like a traditional cell phone conversation but I'm happy with how they implemented the 5-sec clips. Really excited about this company because apparently they're developing a Radacat C2 generation - can't wait to see what it does next!

Our travel group got 4 of these (2 sets of 2) so we could communicate out of service area. In theory, they would have been great. Setting them up was easy. Connecting to our phones was easy. But there were way too many issues to make it worth it.1) The app (or being connected to the device on blutooth - or both) drains phone batteries INSANELY fast. My phone battery typically lasts at least 10 hours without needing a recharge. While connected to this thing, I was lucky if it lasted an hour! So I had to have it plugged in to a battery pack in my bag. It was even worse for the men in our group, who already had a phone and the device in their pockets, but then had to have a battery pack in there somewhere too. Plus it made a few of the phones run really hot.2) The GPS is entirely unpredictable and inaccurate. At one point it was sure that I had teleported to the coast of Western Africa whilst the rest of our group was still traipsing around Northern Mexico. Another time, one of our group had successfully made it to Las Vegas instantly and stayed there the remainder of our 5 day trip. Lucky him.3) Messaging was unpredictable. At times we were able to send a message without having to "retry" several times. But most of the time we had to try 3 or 4 times before it would actually send. And even then, it would take sometimes up to an hour for it to show up for other users.So as a whole, completely useless for communicating off grid. Between battery issues, and unpredictable service, we decided to return them. In theory it is a great idea. The execution perhaps needs a bit more fine tuning.

Muy difícil de anclar con el teléfono, la aplicación no es detectada y te envía a un link en Chino

Instead of shipping two units, which I paid for, only one arrived weeks after the purchase.It doesn't come with an adapter.In 2 to 3 business days someone may reply to my inquiries and complaints... meanwhile I have $138.00 less in my bank account and a useless paperweight beside me.The product is currently listed for however, I paid $138.00 and never received the entire shipment.$76.57I had high hopes... otherwise I wouldn't have pitched over a hundred dollars on said device.Am I mad? The listing does read "2 pack" does it not?"GPS Tracking and Chat Off-grid - Radacat Messenger C1 2 PACK ,No Monthly Fee, No Satellite, Cell service or Wi-Fi, For backcountry, outdoor, Camping, Hiking, Fishing, Skiing, Hunting."

SO this is what the Dr needs when hunting where the cell towers aren't. No signal..... no problem.... want to text your buddy in another stand.... THIS IS FOR YOU...DrB

Not what I was expecting for the price paid. I do notice the price has gone down significantly since. I paid twice as much.

Bought these for my family to keep in touch at a music festival. Tested them out at a very small festival, but they never stayed connected. Out of 3, one was always unreachable, but never the same one. Returned them and bought goTenna mesh. Much more reliable.