This last weekend I discovered what I consider a serious design problem with the F1 beacon. This is a pretty old style beacon, but I don't know if the fundamental design issue applies to other newer Ortovox models as well.
After testing the beacon with my partner I switched the dial back to send mode, but the switch must not have fully engaged. Somehow this caused a battery short. I was skinning up the trail, wondering why I was getting so hot when I wasn't even working that hard. Then I noticed that the heat was localized and considerably more than I generate with my bodyheat and ripped the beacon off and removed the batteries which were almost hot enough to burn my hand. If I had been wearing more clothes and unable to dig out the beacon as fast, I might have ended up with a serious burn on my torso.
Although I have never heard of this happening before, the fact that the design of the beacon makes it even possible to short the batteries is pretty scary to me. Especially since this short occurs from a pretty basic aspect of using the beacon: switching between the send and receive modes. I will be returning this beacon to the store and getting a new one.