Evo BT Avalanche Transceiver

The Arva EVO BT is a digital three-antenna avalanche transceiver with a 60 m search strip width, run by a rotary selector you can work in gloves. A motion sensor reverts it to transmit if you are caught in a second slide, it handles multiple burials with victim marking, and Bluetooth links it to the ARVA app for settings and updates.

Who it's for

Ski tourers, splitboarders and off-piste riders who want serious search capability without a fiddly interface. Everyone in the party wears one, in its holster over a base layer, screen facing the body. Before you set off, the group leader switches into GROUP CHECK and tests each partner's transmit frequency and power one by one at 1 m. A transceiver is one part of your kit alongside a probe, a shovel and training: practise searching until it is second nature, and let the conditions, not the beacon, make your decisions.

How it performs in a search

• 60 m search strip width in digital mode. When the EVO BT detects interference it shows a warning and reduces the strip to 30 m, and you tighten your search strips to 30 m to match.
• Three antennas to help it lock onto a signal and give precision in the fine search.
• Automatic Gain Control and digital signal processing manage the signals in multi-victim searches.
• Victims ranked by signal strength, up to four on screen, with a "+" when there are more than four.

Using it under pressure

Turn the OFF/SEND/SEARCH rotary selector to SEND and it clicks to confirm it is locked; push the unlock button to move it to SEARCH or OFF. In SEARCH, hold it in your palm, parallel to the slope, and follow the arrow and distance on the backlit screen. Head the wrong way and a U-turn alarm and arrow tell you to turn around. At 3 m the arrow drops away for the fine search (5 m if you change the setting), and the marking button flags a located victim so the EVO BT moves straight on to the next. A probe symbol appears inside 1.2 m (2 m if the fine search distance is set to 5 m).

If you stop moving in search mode for 2 minutes, the EVO BT beeps and asks you to confirm; with no answer it reverts to transmit, in case you have been buried by a second slide. Set the delay to 2, 4 or 8 minutes, or switch it off, in the settings.

Certification and standards

Arva declare the EVO BT compliant with the EU Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU. It transmits in the 456.9–457.1 kHz avalanche beacon band, carries FCC ID O9BARVAEVOBT and IC 22008-ARVAEVOBT, and operates from -20 °C to +45 °C.

Maintenance and checks

Every start-up runs an auto-test: the screen shows "On", the software version, then "OK". The EVO BT takes three AAA (LR03) alkaline batteries, good for 350 hours in transmit mode. Never use rechargeables, change all three at once, and fit fresh ones when the battery indicator drops below 50%. Connect to the ARVA app over Bluetooth to register the unit, adjust settings, install firmware updates and run diagnostics, and send it to Arva for a service every three years.

Looking after it

Store the EVO BT somewhere cool and dry, out of direct sun, and take the batteries out over the off-season. Check the selector, the screen and the battery compartment for corrosion regularly.