What’s New
How To
Frank’s Map →The Beacon, Plainly
Switch it on for the day and name one person. If you are not back when you said, they are told — with your last position and the words to give 911.
The beacon is the one thing on Frank’s Map that sends your position anywhere. It is off until you switch it on; it goes to the one person you name; it ends when you press I’m back; and everything it kept is deleted two days after your back-by time.
Before you switch it on
Fill in the trip note on the map — where you are heading, by what, with whom, and back by when. The beacon needs the back-by time; it is the alarm clock.
Switching it on
Under the trip note: your name, who to tell, their email, and their mobile for a text. Press Switch the beacon on. They are told by email and by text that you are out, with a link to a page that shows your last known position and the code that search and rescue can be given. If the first message does not go, the trip card says so, and you can text them the link yourself from the card.
While you are out
While the phone has any signal, and while the map is following you, your position goes to the map’s home every two minutes or every 150 metres, whichever comes first. With no signal, the fixes wait on the phone and go the moment signal returns. The person you named sees the last one.
Be plain with yourself about what that means. A phone asleep in a pack, with the screen dark, may send nothing until you wake it; phones rest a sleeping browser. The beacon gives your last known position while you had signal — it is not a live track, and it is not a satellite device. If you go where there is no signal for days, carry one.
If you are late
When your back-by time passes and you have not pressed I’m back, the map’s home tells your person by email and by text: that you are overdue, your last known position and when it was taken, and the words to give 911. If a message cannot be sent, the home tries again every five minutes for a while, and their page says so too — but they should not wait on it. If someone is overdue and cannot be reached, call 911.
When you are back
Press I’m back — switch it off. Your person is told, and nothing more is sent. If you forget, the trip ends on its own two days after your time, and its record is deleted.
What stays on the phone
Nothing else on the map leaves your phone. Your marks, your tracks, your notes and your downloaded areas are kept in your browser and sent nowhere. The beacon sends only what is written here, only while it is on.
In British Columbia, no one is charged for a search. Call early rather than late.