A welsh corgi name Ole made the news earlier this year when he showed up alive four days after being swept away in an avalanche. Ole was out backcountry skiing with his owners near Yellowstone National Park when the avalanche hit. Sadly, one person did not survive and everyone originally believed Ole had perished as well. If the dog had been wearing the new TX 600 dog avalanche beacon from Pieps, perhaps the family could have located him sooner.
If, like Ole, your four legged friend likes to join you on your backcountry adventures, why not give him all the safety tools available. With only one mode, the Pieps TX 600 acts as a mini-transmitter for finding your dog in the event of an avalanche.
Perhaps most importantly, the transmitter works on a frequency (456,00 kHz) outside of the international standard, so won’t compete with human avalanche beacons. In order to avoid steering a search for other people off track, you must switch to a special mode to begin searching for the TX 600 dog transmitter.
The dog transmitter signal can be received by Pieps DSP and Vector avalanche beacons only, updated to the current firmware. The TX 600 dog transmitter works on one AAA battery, which will last for around 70 hours of transmit time.
To switch into the special dog Search mode on your Pieps DSP, press the Option and Scan buttons simultaneously while in Search mode. Your avalanche beacon will then switch into searching for the TX 600 dog transmitter, indicating the direction and distance to the signal. To go back into standard Search mode, you simply turn your avalanche beacon to Send then back to Search mode again.
The Pieps TX 600 comes with a carrying case for attachment to your dog’s collar, retailing for $150. Pieps also sells a full dog collar accessory, making it easier to throw the transmitter on your dog and go.