Questions.
What happens if a boat flips?
Under water a tag cannot send, so a flipped boat goes quiet. Staff see lost contact afterwards, and how soon depends on how often the tag was reporting at the time. Hodalo shows where boats are. It is not a distress beacon or a lifesaving device.9
Is there a button for the person on the boat?
No. There is nothing for the person on the boat to press, and no screen, light or sound on the tag is specified.
How often do I see a position?
On a trip the tag takes a position every minute by design, or every 2 minutes at lower charge. With mobile signal, each one is sent as it is taken. By satellite, the tag sends an estimated every 2 minutes for the first hours of a trip from a full charge, then every 5 minutes as the battery drops. Boats in a group of 4 or more share one satellite message and keep sending every 2 minutes (in development).3
What if there is no mobile signal?
Out of mobile range,4 the tag reports by satellite instead, which needs open sky.2
If your site has no mobile signal at all, tags are designed to report by satellite. They get no over-the-air software updates, so an update needs a service visit, and the setup route for these sites is not yet decided.
Does it need charging?
It is designed not to. A ring of solar cells under the clear top charges a sealed battery. The tag is welded shut, so the battery cannot be changed.
What happens over a run of cloudy days?
Can it stay out over winter?
It is designed to. The storage target is −40 °C to +85 °C.7 In deep cold it rests: the targets are to report from −20 °C and to charge from 0 °C.
How does it fix to the boat, and can a guest take it off?
A cradle is bonded to the deck with high-strength foam tape and primer, which needs 3 days to cure.10 Polyethylene hulls get two stainless screws as well, and inflatable paddleboards use a glued patch. The tag twists into the cradle and a latch clicks shut. Taking it off again needs the site key.
What does the Hodalo desk run on?
It is a web app, made for a tablet at the rental desk and for phones. It has light and dark modes.
What about guest data?
Guests are recorded by first name and cabin only. Session records are purged after 30 days.
What does it cost?
Not set yet.11 Talk to us
Is the satellite service proven?
No. The service is new and is being rolled out gradually. We have not yet sent a message from a tag over it, and coverage where our customers are is not yet confirmed.2
Know where every boat is.
If you run a resort, a camp or a rental dock, tell us about your site and your fleet, and we will tell you plainly whether Hodalo fits.
A short call, no slides. Or write to hello@hodalo.com.
Where we are
This is a plan, not a promise.
- Now Design on paper. No tag has been tested yet.
- Next Satellite link test from a real tag.
- Then Pilot season with a small number of sites, 10 tags per site.
- 2028 First paid deployments (target).