That may have been me, as I've told this story before. I lost my phone on a powder day in Copper Bowl.I'm pretty sure I heard someone somewhere say most cell phones are almost as reflective/detectable as recco tags are in the snow. The patrol uses the recco detector to help guests find lost cell phones with some success.. or so I've been told.
Copper Patrol offered to search for my phone with Recco as a training exercise after they finished avalanche control work. Fortunately, some kind soul found it and turned it into lost and found, so no Recco training was necessary.
It probably wouldn't have worked, as the signal is really weak from electronic devices compared to a Recco reflector. The recommended search strip width is only 1-2 meters for electronic devices using Recco:
Many electronic devices, including some listed below, may reflect a RECCO signal even when turned off; however, the range will be very short ranging from centimeters to several meters.
To search for these electronic devices requires a slow and methodical search. Search with the detector very close to the snow, and direct all energy directly into the snow. Search corridors should be no wider than 1 to 2 meters.
http://www.recco.com/upload/Global/Images/Downloads/Training material/quick_guide/RECCO-R9-quick-guide-v01_ENG_v05.pdf
To search for these electronic devices requires a slow and methodical search. Search with the detector very close to the snow, and direct all energy directly into the snow. Search corridors should be no wider than 1 to 2 meters.
http://www.recco.com/upload/Global/Images/Downloads/Training material/quick_guide/RECCO-R9-quick-guide-v01_ENG_v05.pdf
That's compared to a 20-meter search strip width searching for a Recco reflector, as mentioned in that same manual.
The recommended search strip width for a transmitting beacon is a little larger at around 30 meters:
http://beaconreviews.com/transceivers/search_strip_widths.asp
The patroller that publishes beaconreviews.com also has experience with Recco:
http://beaconreviews.com/transceivers/recco.asp
Hopefully, someday soon, the new helicopter Recco detector will be widely deployed!
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