Archive for May, 2009
The GME Accusat personal locator beacon exceeds most other PLBs in terms of warranty and battery life. Most personal locator beacons have a five year lithium battery and a five year warranty. GME offers a 7 year battery and a 7 year warranty on the Accusat model. This is one of the smallest and lightest PLBs available anywhere. It also has a unique high power flashing beacon in the unit for search and rescue location as well. One of the best choices in a PLB is the GME Accusat.
Experimental aircraft love the 121.5 MHz emergency locator transmitter for its inexpensive initial cost, maintenance cost, and installation cost. The 121.5 MHz ELT can be purchased for as low as $160.00 compared to $1000.00 for the 406 MHz ELTs. The FAA currently does not require the use of the 406 MHz ELT so the cheap aquisition cost of the 121.5 ELTs (to mee FAA requirements) is perfect for people building thier own aircraft and keeping costs to a minimum. All major manufactuers of emergency locator transmitters make a 121.5 MHz model.
For many people, the FAA still rings a bit of confusion or mystery, particularly for anyone who has seen “Die Hard 2.” Still, some folks wonder what the FAA’s role is in aviation safety for commercial and private airlines. Here’s the scoop:
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is an agency of the United States Department of Transportation with authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S. The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 created the group under the name “Federal Aviation Agency”, and adopted its current name in 1967 when it became a part of the United States Department of Transportation.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s major roles include:
• Regulating U.S. commercial space transportation
• Encouraging and developing civil aeronautics, including new aviation technology
• Issuing, suspending, or revoking pilot certificates
• Regulating civil aviation to promote safety, especially through local offices called Flight Standards District Offices
• Developing and operating a system of air traffic control and navigation for both civil and military aircraft
• Researching and developing the National Airspace System and civil aeronautics
• Developing and carrying out programs to control aircraft noise and other environmental effects of civil aviation
The Artex ME 406 series of emergency locator transmitters are some of the best selling ELTs in the market. A long time leader, Artex has made a quick retrofit ELT for many aircraft known as the “ACE”. This ELT is meant to replace an existing 121.5 MHz ELT and use the same mounting hardware and wiring to keep the installation costs low. Many times the installation costs can cost hundreds of dollars alone so to keeping this cost to a minimum is a is a great attribute. Artex also offers many other 406 MHz emergency locator transmitters for general aviation, corporate, and commercial aviation.
The SPOT personal locator beacon has been highly touted by outdoor enthusiasts ever since its recent inception. SPOT has the unique ability to be tracked live by anyone with a computer. The person carrying the SPOT device can be tracked live anyone with the individual SPOT tracking number. In addition, the SPOT allows the user to send a preset message at anytime to let people know that the user is OK (a check-in feature). If safety of life becomes critical, the user can then send an emergency message to rescue authorities for help. GPS built into the device will send an immediate and exact location so rescue crews know where to go. This SPOT personal locator beacon can be used in a variety of ways. Flying, boating, hiking, skiing, camping, hunting, just bout anything you ca think of, SPOT will have you covered.
The GME Accusat personal locator beacon is gaining popularity due to it’s long battery life and warranty. The Accusat has all the options that all the other 406 MHz PLBs have but it contains a few extras that make it a good choice for some. It is lightweight, floats, has internal GPS, and is very easy to operate as are all the other personal locator beacons. The features it has that none of the others have is: a 7 year battery (compared to 5 year for other PLBs), a 7 year warranty (compared to 5 year for the other PLBs, and a very bright strobe light to use as an added signaling device for rescue. Research all the makes and models and consider the GME Accuast PLB as a top choice.
Faced with life threatening situations in remote areas of California’s backcountry this summer, two unrelated groups of outdoors enthusiasts activated their Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) and waited for help. Search and rescue teams arrived shortly knowing the exact location of the PLB.
The first situation occurred on May 22 when an ice climber fell and broke his leg at 11,000 feet near Mt. Gilbert in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. There was no way for the injured climber to hike out so his partner switched on his ACR Electronics MicroFixTM 406 GPS PLB to summon help.
The second PLB rescue on July 3 involved two horseback riders on a nine-day trip in Kings Canyon National Park. One rider began to suffer respiratory distress and needed medical attention. They activated an ACR Electronics TerraFixTM 406 GPS PLB and, once again a SAR team was called in to execute another successful rescue.
A prsonal locator beacon is a satellite-signaling device of last resort, for use when all other means of self-rescue have been exhausted and where the situation is deemed to be grave and imminent, and the loss of life, limb, eyesight or valuable property will occur without assistance. There are no monthly service fees.
A 62 year old pilot of a small J3 Piper Cub World War II plane, activated his Kannad XS-2 GPS Personal Locator Beacon when his plane went down 80 miles north West of Puerto Plata.
The pilot performed a controlled landing in the sea and his emergency beacon was picked up by coastguards in Miami and New Zealand, where the beacon is registered.
Rescuers stated that the Kannad GPS Personal Locator Beacon may have been instrumental in saving the pilots life.
A beacon signal from a Kannad personal locator beacon quickly pinpointed the place where a microlite aircraft made a forced landing in the Ruahine Mountains today. The Rescue Coordination Centre sent a rescue helicopter to carry out a search when a beacon signal was detected in the Mountains. A rescue helicopter spokesman said the beacon was a type registered to a microlite aircraft which had only been installed last Friday and the plane was quickly found due to the accurate position supplied by the beacon.
“It appeared the aircraft had suffered an engine failure on take off from a bush airstrip high up in the Ruahine Ranges and the pilot carried out a forced landing into tussock,” the spokesman said.
“The pilot was unhurt and flown to Taihape where he had taken off from earlier in the day.”
The spokesman said the value of the more accurate 406MHz beacons over the older 121.5MHz type was clearly demonstrated in the incident, with the accurate position information cutting down search area and time.
The 406 AF-Compact emergency locator transmitter evolves to reduce even more retrofit costs from 121.5 to 406 Mhz using the existing cables, whatever the beacon installed before. Only 2 wires are necessary between the 2 wire Control Panel RC102 and the beacon, so that, the 406 AF-Compact offers several possibilities of adaptation according to the installation and does not require any modification of the cables used for the former beacon. All the beacons on the market can now be replaced by the KANNAD 406 AF-Compact, which increases the retrofit possibilities.
The Compact Universal Mounting Bracket is compatible with the drilling made for all 121.5 Mhz beacons on the market. To sum up, no more drilling is necessary for the retrofit, no cable change is required, which allows a quicker installation at a lower cost.