SPOT use geosynchronous satelites. There's no "waiting" for coverage, there is no "low on the horizon" stuff either. You are either in the coverage area or you aren't.
I'll bet you the cost of a real PLB that SPOT does NOT use geosynchronous satellites.
Are we agreed that SPOT uses the Globalstar satellite network for service? If we are, then
here it is right from Globalstar's website(Excerpt from site)
The Globalstar constellation consists of 40 Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites, with an additional four satellites in orbit as spares.
SPOT does show you Globalstar's coverage map, but as any cell phone user can tell you, coverage maps and reality are two different things. What the map means is that under ideal conditions, this is the coverage area you can expect. Conditions are seldom ideal.
Now that this is settled, let's talk about the 911 feature again. If you don't buy the extra tracking feature or have it turned off, I stand by my previous assessment of SPOTs utility.
Here's what the SPOT website has to say about it:
Even if SPOT cannot acquire its location from the GPS network it will still attempt to send a distress signal – without exact location – to the Emergency Response Center, which will still notify your contacts of the signal and continue to monitor the network for further messages.
The part in bold assumes that a message actually gets through, which from my and most other users' experience isn't going to happen if the GPS is unable to obtain a fix. Notice that no mention is made of trying to determine your position from previous fixes? I suppose if your contacts know you have tracking they'll look on the website for your last position, but it doesn't look like SPOT automatically does this.
As I said before - if SPOT works for you, great! But stop spreading misinformation about the system just because you bought one.
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