This page discusses the range (distance) at which an avalanche transceiver receives a signal. Remember that during the primary search you can slowly rotate your beacon in all orientations to increase the likelihood that your antenna will line up with the transmitting beacon (the Barryvox Pulse and Ortovox S1 have motion sensors and should be held horizontally).

Rescuers Testing Beacons

The following graph shows the distances at which the avalanche beacons received a usable signal. The bars show the distance with the transceivers aligned (i.e., the best orientation).

This graph summarizes more than 190 range tests (view the testing details). I only tested one or two of some models (e.g., the Barryvox 2000 Ext and Pro, Barryvox Pulse, ARVA 9000/3Axes/Evo3, Ortovox Patroller, Ortovox D3, Pieps Freeride, SOS, and Tracker2). The other models were tested extensively (e.g., 3 Ortovox S1s, 4 Ortovox X1s, 6 Barryvox 3000s, 9 Tracker DTS, 13 Pieps DSP, 15 Ortovox M2s, etc.). Even with this large sample of transceivers, differences of 5 meters or less are probably immaterial.

I also tested the range that avalanche transceivers can transmit a signal. You can read those test results here.

A transceiver's range will vary significantly if the transmitting beacon is not at the correct frequency. it will also vary based on other factors, such antenna orientation and battery strength.

Remember that the transceivers with the longest reception range are almost always single-antenna analog. That means they report a signal at a long distance but do not provide a directional indicator that points toward the victim. As explained in the test details, the analog distances in the following chart were when an extremely faint (but undeniable) audio signal was heard. You will not get these analog ranges if there is any background noise. Likewise the digital ranges are with the best case antenna alignment and the transceivers were given a long time (up to 10 seconds) to lock onto the signal.

Avoid the tunnel-vision trap of believing that transceiver range is the only important criteria—it isn't. Range is certainly important, but the difference won't matter if you fumble during your search (possibly due to spikes) or if you can't identify and locate multiple burials. As explained on the discussion on searching an avalanche, it is better to spend a few extra minutes searching a narrower path during the primary search than to end up at the bottom of the slide and have to repeat the entire search.

You can click on the transceiver names (or bars) in the following graph to read more about that avalanche beacon.

Most beacon manufactures recommend a primary search width of no more than 40 meters. The Tracker DTS recommends a primary search width of 20 meters. The Tracker2 recommends 40 meters. The Ortovox S1, Pieps DSP and Barryvox Pulse recommend a width of no more than 50 meters. When in doubt, make narrower search strips! The minute or two you lose making narrower strips won't kill your friend; having to research the entire avalanche might.

Dual Mode Beacons

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Barryvox Pulse

The Barryvox 3000, Ortovox X1, and Ortovox Patroller start in analog mode and then automatically switch to digital mode. (This behavior can be modified on the Barryvox 3000 using a custom setting.) The ARVA Advanced, ARVA 3Axes, Barryvox 3000, and Barryvox Pulse can be quickly switched between analog and digital mode. The Ortovox S1 can be changed to analog via a menu option.

On beacons that support analog and digital modes, two distances are shown in the above graph. The analog distance is labeled "(A)" and the digital distance is labeled "(D)". You can see that there is almost no difference between the analog and digital range of the ARVA Advanced whereas the Ortovox Patroller has a huge difference (the Patroller had one of the best analog ranges at 75 meters, yet in digital mode it doesn't display a direction arrow until it was within 15 meters of the victim).