Personal Locator Becons/GPS Tracking Systems

https://Immersive-optics.com/
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countrryboy

Well-Known Member
Alright i was wondering if many people on here carry a PLB when either stalking, walking or working on there own in remote/rural locations with dodgy/no phone reception.
I'm thinking about buying 1 for my dad for an early crimbo present, and would possibly also buy 1 for myself. Me, my brother and dad all work on our own in pretty rural locations and we never really know where each other are if a disaster happened, my bro said he was going somewhere the other day changed his mind and ened up 70 miles away from where he said he was.

I seen on another thread that someone uses a spot2 which also can monitor/send ur location every 10 mins so as well as ok, non urgent help and sos messages. In wot i could find last nite on net (which wasnae a lot) it looked ideal for wot we're after,
What are the other options and does any one know of any uk based companies that deal in them, would prefer to buy from a company that can advise u rather than internet shop. (There used to be a company that advertised in the SGA mag but i cannae see the advert in the recent 1)


From wot i can gather the spot2 is around the 100euro mark and cost about 100ish euro a year (could only find a dublin based company) but i seen u can pay a lot more 300-600 for a similar system but with no annual charge. Is that correct

I've jist came back from NZ and they are pretty much everywhere, any one who either walks(tramps), boating, hunting usually has there own personal 1 and usually the first thing they pack when going out, plus u can hire them everywhere. They reckon usually about a 1 hr response time pretty much anywhere in NZ and a heli will be there. I done a bit of walking and hunting over there and it is surprising the confidence it gives u when ur on ur own and if the brown stuff hits the fan the resue team will know exactlly where u are instantly.

Cheers for any help and advice
 
We have just got something called 'skyguard', only recieved mine a couple of hours ago and haven't opened the box yet. Glyn
 
Cheers for the replies so far.

It was a mcmurdo fast find i borrowed in nz and thankfully didnae need:-D.

My understanding is the mcmurdo is just a sraight forward emergancy becon with only the 1 button, ie SOS help.
I must admit i quite liked the extra features on the spot2 like:- Non emergancy help, which sends a text to your chosen numbers and not emergancy services
OK button, be handy if got held up at work either done an extra bit or blethering to the farmer at stopping time
Sending ur loctaion every 10mins, would give my mother confidence and piece of mind that she could turn on the computer any time and see where my dad is, infact my mother would love that feature;)

At moment i'm thinking the spot2 would suit us better, esp with the tracking feature as knowing us in time we would probably end up leaving it on the quad all day instead off carrying it (which i know completely defeats the point in carrying a PLB) but were never far away from the bike really so would be in a far better position than we are now where no one has a clue where we are.

Does anyone else know off any systems similar to the spot2, ie a bit more than a simple PLB, which may be dearer but have no annual fee. Can see this be a tool that i will be using (well hopefully not) 6/7 days a week for years to come so
 
I have been looking at one last week here in Aus @$330 AUD equipped with GPS thats good to 100 metres they say with a batt life of 7 years,far better than any without a GPS inside as they are no where near as accurate.
$330 = GBP 215
GME MT410G Accusat PLB with GPS
 
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Apache said:
I have one of these.

Buy MCMURDO BEACON PLB FASTFIND 220 GPS UK Model EPIRBS at Marine Megastore Chandlery 15% off orders over £300!*

They were the cheapest place that I could find, sent quickly etc. No ongoing fees.
Click to expand...

The 406MHz systems are marine based - they are supposed to be registered with Offcom and go on your Offcom Radio License - no fee. Not sure what would happen (if anything?) if you pulled the plug when not on the briny.

Not really sure what the basis is for the issue of these systems - but I can't see how they can work without either registration or an annual fee.
 
kuwinda said:
The 406MHz systems are marine based - they are supposed to be registered with Offcom and go on your Offcom Radio License - no fee. Not sure what would happen (if anything?) if you pulled the plug when not on the briny.

Not really sure what the basis is for the issue of these systems - but I can't see how they can work without either registration or an annual fee.
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You do not require a radio License to own or use a PLB, you do require to register the unit with Cospas-Sarsat http://www.cospas-sarsat.org/index.php. with fast find they come with a six battery life and a five year warranty, no annual subscription and the cheapest i have found with no postage is £199 at http://www.marinesuperstore.com/pos...medium=pcn&utm_term=99336769&utm_campaign=MSS

It is on my Christmas List
 
Huntingstella said:
You do not require a radio License to own or use a PLB, you do require to register the unit with Cospas-Sarsat http://www.cospas-sarsat.org/index.php. with fast find they come with a six battery life and a five year warranty, no annual subscription and the cheapest i have found with no postage is £199 at http://www.marinesuperstore.com/pos...medium=pcn&utm_term=99336769&utm_campaign=MSS

It is on my Christmas List
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You're right the law was changed earlier this year for land based use - http://www.equineramblersuk.co.uk/personal-locator-beacons.php (slightly bizarre link - but there's lots of info there).

Still not clear to me though why there does not appear to be any Ofcom registration - how does the line of alert come about? With Ofcom it goes straight to MCA - this can then be correlated with a DSC alert which has the user MMSI (identity, port of registry, etc).
 
I carry a McMurdo Fastfind 210 and have done since I did a lot of stalking on my todd miles away from anywhere with NO phone signal.. (this was even before land use was legalised.. my theory being, they would/should still respond and I would be facing a fine from Ofcom!) My current patch has half decent coverage so don't really need it but still carry it as I feel safer with it.

I did a fair bit of research before I bought one.. I was originally looking at the Spot because of texting etc but read some pretty damming reports about alleged lack of response, reliability of satelite comms/lock up time etc and poor customer service.. plus there was an ongoing cost issue for something that would only possibly be needed a couple of times a month..

the fastfind plb is a one trick pony but it is, to my mind that's all it needs to be... as a tool of last resort it will get a response team to your location as quickly as possible anywhere in the world!
 
kuwinda said:
You're right the law was changed earlier this year for land based use - http://www.equineramblersuk.co.uk/personal-locator-beacons.php (slightly bizarre link - but there's lots of info there).

Still not clear to me though why there does not appear to be any Ofcom registration - how does the line of alert come about? With Ofcom it goes straight to MCA - this can then be correlated with a DSC alert which has the user MMSI (identity, port of registry, etc).
Click to expand...

No.. you do not need a licence but you do need to register it with the coastguard, they are the ones who monitor/administer it in the UK... Your details are registered against the PLB identifier, when you set it off the details are relayed to the Coastguard and they alert the appropriate response team, be it mountain rescue, lifeboat etc...
 
The Spot seems very popular with adventure motorcyclists, can bring help when needed, has the text options, but seems mainly so people can follow you in real time on a map.
However the updates can be a bit behind at times, and the help button reports to your nominated contact I believe, so official help and rescue is dependant on a 3rd party arranging it.

Neil. :)
 
Vipa said:
I carry a McMurdo Fastfind 210 and have done since I did a lot of stalking on my todd miles away from anywhere with NO phone signal.. (this was even before land use was legalised.. my theory being, they would/should still respond and I would be facing a fine from Ofcom!) My current patch has half decent coverage so don't really need it but still carry it as I feel safer with it.

I did a fair bit of research before I bought one.. I was originally looking at the Spot because of texting etc but read some pretty damming reports about alleged lack of response, reliability of satelite comms/lock up time etc and poor customer service.. plus there was an ongoing cost issue for something that would only possibly be needed a couple of times a month..

the fastfind plb is a one trick pony but it is, to my mind that's all it needs to be... as a tool of last resort it will get a response team to your location as quickly as possible anywhere in the world!
Click to expand...

This is not something I think I would rely on - I have a strong suspicion that the "lack of response" may well be down to Ofcom getting hundreds of false alarms for land based units - maritime units that have been set off accidentaly in a harbour/car/drawer. Unless the unit has either a built in GPS (don't think any PLB's do?) or is linked to a GPS only a very approximate fix is possible without sending a heli. I would suspect therefor that unless there is some other distress signal (DSC alert) or the alert is obviously from the middle of the north sea or sourthern ocean the chances or an immediate response are slim.

In remote areas in winter I always have a body bag, strobe and first aid kit with mars bars.
 
Covered on several previous threads.

We took part/ followed the campaign for land use of PLBs in the Uk - it was getting silly having to crawl into a handy pond to stay legal ;) Not grinding a marketing axe, but still rather depressing that the shooting 'trade' did very very little to support this.:(

PLBs rely on the COSPAS-SARSAT international system - link as given by HS above. This is internationally funded and monitors all the merchant distress mechanisms of this nature - including commercial airliners, tankers etc. There is no annual fee. Buy it, test it and service battery by due date.

The two leaders in this gear are McMurdo and ACR. McMurdo is Uk based and seems to have a widespread service and dealer network. We looked at dealing in them - but there just wasn't demand for it - and far more cheaply served by the boating retailers. But we absolutely support the concept.

Downside is its a one function deal - distress. Upside is its not 'commercially operated' - you hit the switch on a UK registered unit and the alert flags up at the RAF Search & Rescue Co-ordination Centre - not a commercial call type centre, who check if your subscription is current. The Cospas link above will show you how the system works - its frankly like a Thunder Birds script.

Doug Ritter of Equipped To Survive ( http://www.equipped.com/ ) has reviewed the various systems and pulls few punches in which they advise.

I can see that the messenging service makes for a much more flexible system - but the bottom line for me is wanting a safety net. If something goes badly wrong, I want the 'comfort' of knowing that a tiny yellow box is going to bring help more reliably and faster than anything else in existence.

The key behind PLBs is that the unit is registered to you. If activated the control centre will try to contact the number you provide. If that verifies you maybe in the location of alert and at risk or they cannot make contact, you go to full SAR alert - end of story. Its because the system is so robust that it gets a response - false alarms can be verified very quickly - saving money for the rescue services.

Approved units require a minimum of two distinct moves to activate - usually deploying antenna and pressing button. Once activated two layers of Satellites detect the signal - Geo and Leo Star - Geostationary and Low Earth Orbit. Coverage over the UK is virtually blanket for Geostar. Leostar sats track the entire globe. If they detect a signal they record and hold it until in range of an earth station - max 15 minutes. The alert is beamed down and automatically routed to the registered co-ordination centre - no matter where in the world you are. The two satellite systems overlap.

GPS units include your location to within 20 metres in the signal, the unit identity and your personal code. So they know who, where and when right from the off. The units mentioned here and the ones I'd recommend - McMourdo Fastfind 21o series / Ranger are GPS equipped. GPS acquisition adds 30 seconds or so to the 'warm up' but worth it.

In the Uk, the estimate ( SAR not manufacturer ) is 45 seconds after you hit that button an RAF SAR Co-ordinator is looking at your details. That suits me just fine.

Keep in mind it has only been UK land use legal for a year. The system is a decade or more old - it works.

The unit also tends to have 121 Mhz local beacon included - so, whilst UK SAR units remain equipped, they perform a homing function as belt and braces.

In terms of response time - the security of the system means it gets a response. In the UK we are still not bad, but it beholds us all ( PLB users or not ) to really support these services - which remain under constant budget threat. The PLB helps because it cuts SAR costs. But we each should be fighting to keep such services a priority.

Details of all this in the various links provided.

Final thought -

In local paper earlier this year. A guy bought a PLB years ago - he was a boater and lived in Plymouth. Stuck it in his day sack and forgot it. Moved to NZ and at some point went walking. Slipped and broke leg/ knee joint - serious trouble where he was. Rummaging through his pack, found PLB and activated it.

50 seconds later alert received at RAF Kinloss SAR Centre. Called his registered number and spoke to his sister in law in Plymouth. She confirmed he was in NZ and very likely hill walking - 2 minutes elapsed. Alert rerouted to NZ SAR - 4-5 minutes after activation a helo is warming up. Injured man has it over his position within 27 minutes total time elapsed.

Or buy another shooting jacket...:D
 
As I stated above, I would not rely on it. See here:-

http://www.cfvsea.com/EPRIB.pdf and here:-

http://shop.sailnet.com/ and here:-

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=113758 ..........

OK, OK these are US examples - but given the current reduction in CG and SAR services in the UK I have no doubt the load of more land based 406 PLB's is not going to help much. There is obviously no way to know how 406 alerts are followed up but I have several times been out on the water when multiple VHF DSC alerts went out - similar coded data bursts on VHF Ch 70. CG did follow up - but only so far as asking vessels in the area to report anything unusual - on only one occasion was anything untoward - the others were false alarms. EPIRB's/PLB's are on the same GMDSS system for reporting as DSC alerts and supposedly should have the same end result.

I say again - do not rely on any one 'get you out of trouble' card if you are in any out the way spot - speaking from several horrible personal experiences.
 
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