epirbs

[Parker Paul]

The boat EPIRB has a floating balance such that it sits in the water upright with the antenna pointed upward and out of the water. Water and especially salt water are conductors. Electrical conductors to ground.
The PLB floats flat in the water and the antenna will sit in the water.
Therefore any of the radiated power / signal is "grounded" into the salt water if you don't hold it up out of the water. Afain, if the antenna is in the salt water, the transmitted signal is effectively shorted to ground.

Further, as far as the CG looking for a person or a boat, all we need is one of them to be found so the situation can be related to the CG. I
would expect the crew to stay with the person with PLB. If the boat is nearby, good, If they are all with the overturned boat, good. If the CG finds the person in the water, they will want to know what happed to the boat anyway. So it would seem that the boat EPRB or PLB will get the same job done, just comming at it from different perspectives. If my son's PLB goes off, it doesn't matter if our boat is at the slip if he is on another boat, it means that something not good probably happened either on our boat - if he had taken our boat - or on someone elses boat and either situation needs attention.

Regards, Paul

2005 2310WA / F250
Pt Judith Salt Pond
Marina Bay Docking
Wakefield, RI

 

[bean]

I have a spot locater it is setup on your computer you can check it out on
there website.
www.findmespot.com

I got mine for $ 150.00 with a $50.00 rebate use it on boat land or on your travels worlwide I think it is the best bang for the buck that I have seen.

" BEAN "

 

[ppem45]

Don't you have to pay every year for the service with the Spot? As for the ResQFix not floating, they have a flotation case that is connected to the lanyard (which cannot be removed) and the unit itself therefore making it a floating PLB. I think it is all preferance, what ya want is what ya get.

 

[sparky]

The boat EPIRB has a floating balance such that it sits in the water upright with the antenna pointed upward and out of the water. Water and especially salt water are conductors. Electrical conductors to ground.
The PLB floats flat in the water and the antenna will sit in the water.
Therefore any of the radiated power / signal is "grounded" into the salt water if you don't hold it up out of the water. Afain, if the antenna is in the salt water, the transmitted signal is effectively shorted to ground.

Further, as far as the CG looking for a person or a boat, all we need is one of them to be found so the situation can be related to the CG. I
would expect the crew to stay with the person with PLB. If the boat is nearby, good, If they are all with the overturned boat, good. If the CG finds the person in the water, they will want to know what happed to the boat anyway. So it would seem that the boat EPRB or PLB will get the same job done, just comming at it from different perspectives. If my son's PLB goes off, it doesn't matter if our boat is at the slip if he is on another boat, it means that something not good probably happened either on our boat - if he had taken our boat - or on someone elses boat and either situation needs attention.

Regards, Paul

2005 2310WA / F250
Pt Judith Salt Pond
Marina Bay Docking
Wakefield, RI

This is not true. The antennae are not unshielded, sitting in the water. The signal isn't "shorted to ground" if its in the water. The water absorbs EMR very effectively, so PLBs work BEST if held out of the water, however they do transmit even if they are floating in the water. EPIRBS are designed to be free floating, and don't need to be held. The distinction is small, but very important.

PLBs are allowed on land, and can be carried for hiking, biking, and whatnot. EIPRB's are not allowed on land.

Here are the real differences between a PLB and an EPIRB:
EPIRBs float in an upright position to transmit (perform best when floating)
PLBs float so they won’t get lost (need to be held out of the water for best transmission)

EPIRBs transmit for 48 hrs at temps down to -40C
PLBs transmit for 24 hrs at temps down to -20C

EPIRBs can be manually activated in or out of their bracket or automatically activated when out of the bracket and in the water
PLBs are manually activated

EPIRBs have a strobe light
PLBs have no strobe (keep a strobe on you life vest anyway)

EPIRBs are designed to be mounted in a bracket or carried in a ditch bag
PLBs are designed to be worn or carried on your persons

EPIRBs have two different types of brackets. Cat 1 will automatically deploy the beacon should the bracket be submerged between 4 and 13 ft. Cat 2 is a manual deployment. Cat 1 can be manually deployed also.

EPIRBs are registered to the vessel only.
PLBs are registered to the person and are legal to be used on land

Both transmit on 406MHz and 121.5MHz (406 for satellite communication and 121.5 for local homing)

I'd say an EPIRB for the boat, and a PLB personally. If you only boat in inshore waters, a PLB will probably take care of things. If you go offshore, an EPIRB and a PLB should be considered requisite. If you can only afford one, an EPIRB is superior for boating.

 

[DaleH]

I don't know about self checks - or how many permitted in the life of the units.

Paul:

As per self-testing:

* Per the manual of the McMurdo FastFind 210 units, "Self testing of the in-built GPS is restricted to a maximum of 10 tests throughout the 5-year
storage life of the battery."

* I have an ACR Aquafix, I think they only recommend it once and it happens SO FAST, after waiting so long, that many miss the single flash ...

I tell you, I kind of like the FastFind, specially changing the batttery myself, so I may just buy one to keep with my boating bag! I'll keep the Aquafix on my Pahka (that's a 'Parker' in Bostonese , for Capt John Deering)

Link to the McMurdo FastFind 210 Operator's Manual is click here.

 

[Parker Paul]

I sent an e-mail off to ACR and asked them why they don't offer a
styrofoam / foam base, that would float upright in the water. It would need a small weight in the bottom to keep it oriented vertically. There
would be a molded slot opening in the top so that the PLB could be inserted somewhat snugly. Then it could all be tethered to a person with a life vest and it would float upright without having to hold it. There may be design reasons for not doing this, but I'm just curious. Engineering can always figure out a way to do anything.

Regards, Paul

2005 2310WA / F250
Pt Judith Salt Pond
Maraina Bay Docking
Wakefield, RI

 

[Parker Paul]

I like the idea of the PLBs because my sons go fishing on other boats that may not carry a ditch bag with emergency gear.

As for the McMurdo Fastfind 210, why not the Fastfind Max G? It is less than $200 more. It floats, and is rated for 48 hrs transmit time. Also
I think that I read somewhere that the Fastfind 210 was not recomended for the marine environment, but not sure. It was more of a land PLB.
I would NOT want to see a person drop one of these into the water and
have it disappear just when your life depended on it. That is why I'm looking at the Standard Horizon handheld that floats. I think it is the model 750. My boat radio is the Standard Horizon quantum. It has the DSC, but I don't think it is getting GPS information from my GPS because it doesn't display the lat / lon. It used to display the lat / lon, but I think a wire got disconnected. I also think that the DSC has to be specially set up, and I had read where the USCG was not really all set up for the DSC.
Is the DSC worth setting up for my main boat radio? Also, any recommendations on strobes?

Regards, Paul

2005 23130WA / F250
Pt Judith Salt Pond
Marina Bay Docking
Wakefield, RI

 

[DougP]

Found this site about CG VHF radio updates related to DSC radios

http://www.uscg.mil/ACQUISITION/rescue21/

Here is information about the MMSI number for your DSC radio registration.

http://www.boatus.com/mmsi/

For what its worht I spoke to a former Coastie and he suggested the EPIRB versus the PLB.

 

[Parker Paul]

OK, I understand that holding the PLB up with one hand is a big drawback. What I do like is the ability to take it on other peoples boats who may only have minimally required safety devices. And I could be convinced that something like a Cat 2 ACR GlobalFix is worthwhile. Now, since some of you have coastie friends, I have some questions that need answering because if I do get the EPIRB, I could be in this situation.

1. Being a Cat 2 EPIRB, it would be stored in the ditch bag with a PLB, strobe, and some other assorted safety devices. And when my sons go out on someone elses boat, they will grab the bag - including the EPIRB and take it with them. If something bad happens, would you or any of the coasties expect them to leave the EPIRB in the bag and say that we are not supposed to use this because it is not registered to this boat?

2. Would you use it in life threatening circumstances on another boat?

3. If the EPIRB went off, and the CG called me, I'd tell then that the EPIRB was taken on a fishing trip on another boat which may be in trouble and I'd recommend that they go looking for it. Would they tell me that they rescue the registered boat only and that if that boat is at the dock, then no search is initiated?

3. To me, it seems absurd that a throwable EPIRB would be associated with a boat (rescuing a boat) rather than resuing a group of people. I
know that it is probably done to eliminate false alarms. But if a telephone call tells then that it may not be a false alarm, then what?


Regards, Paul

2005 2310WA / F250
Pt Judith Salt Pond
Marina Bay Docking
Wakefield, RI

 

[pelagic2530]

from what ive heard, if an EPIRB signal goes off, the coast guard must respond to it, regardless of its orientation in regard to the boat with which it is registered. i think that is why they phased out the 121.5 beacons, as they were prone to malfunction and the CG had to check it out each time. i would think (and i would HOPE :shock: ) that the CG would put a beacon activation, and thus the possibility of lives at risk, over any technicalities of the boats registration. at the end of the day, an EPIRB is a safety beacon, and if my safety r the safety of others is at risk i would not hesitate to use it. however, i am not a member of the Coast Guard (yet) and therefore i could not confirm this. but it seems to make sense to me, and i will continue to bring my EPIRB on my friends boat, exactly the way you described it, until i am told that it is illegal.

 

[Megabyte]

it seems to make sense to me, and i will continue to bring my EPIRB on my friends boat, exactly the way you described it, until i am told that it is illegal.

Makes perfect sense to me.

 

[Parker Paul]

That would be my thinking also. So others also bring their EPIRB onto other people's boats. Great. As I thought of it more, an answer might be this.

The EPIRB is registered not to a boat, but to the boat's owner / owners.
It would not be registered to people without a boat such as a PLB can be.
The owner / owners would be responsible for knowing where the EPIRB
is at all times. In the event of a signal transmission, the CG would have
the contact numbers of the owners or owners and would call them to find out if the beacon was on their boat or was on a trip on another boat. I
assume that the CG makes these phone calls anyway. It would not be a big deal for the boat owner to say that our boat is at the dock, but the
beacon was with my son and his family aboard another vessel who's owner did not have his own EPIRB, and that vessel may be in trouble.

For those of you that have coastie friends, is this reasonable? That ability of selected freedom of movement between vessels would give me the impetus to buy one.

Regards, Paul

2005 2310WA / F250
Pt Judith Salt Pond
Marina Bay Docking
Wakefield, RI