My son-in-law is going on a mission trip to Colombia and Ecuador in a few weeks and I was thinking of lining him up with a personal locator beacon for that "just in case" situation. Does anyone know if those are available as rentals somewhere? Also looking at renting a satellite type phone but those seem much more available than the beacons. Anyone recommend a vendor they have used?
Personal Locator Beacon
- Thread starter DeepFriar
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If he does need to use it my word of advice would be to stay in place while it is on. I am in Civil Air Patrol so I have an unusually large knowledge base of ELTs and finding them. Trying to track a moving one is next to impossible.
Also know that if they are using the ELT/EPIRB satellites there is usually over a pass over a given location every 90 minutes or so and they tend to wait until the 3rd pass before initiating any search and rescue action. I was sent on a search mission for a super strong signal on 121.5 only to find an arcing power line, got credit for a find though.
Thanks for that. I can see where continued movement would be a problem. BTW I was in the CAP "cadet" program for a time while I was in college and before going in the service. Thanks for all that you guys do. Outstanding organization that doesn't get enough support and not too many people know about. Is your Cardinal an RG? Beautiful airplane in any guise.
This is a long thread and some of the information is quite old:
(be warned, the rules in language and just about everything else are quite different from BITOG)
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/the-great-big-spot-thread.282391/
I have only a basic understanding of it, but apparently it can be quite expensive to get rescued depending on where you are.
(be warned, the rules in language and just about everything else are quite different from BITOG)
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/the-great-big-spot-thread.282391/
I have only a basic understanding of it, but apparently it can be quite expensive to get rescued depending on where you are.
Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
This is a long thread and some of the information is quite old:
(be warned, the rules in language and just about everything else are quite different from BITOG)
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/the-great-big-spot-thread.282391/
I have only a basic understanding of it, but apparently it can be quite expensive to get rescued depending on where you are.
If you need to be airlifted from one of the local state parks it's going to cost you $15k and up.
This is a long thread and some of the information is quite old:
(be warned, the rules in language and just about everything else are quite different from BITOG)
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/the-great-big-spot-thread.282391/
I have only a basic understanding of it, but apparently it can be quite expensive to get rescued depending on where you are.
If you need to be airlifted from one of the local state parks it's going to cost you $15k and up.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
http://findmespot.com/en/
Are very popular on ADV.
Yeah we use one of these when going on deepwater and long distance fishing trips in small boats.
Its neat because if you have the app, you can track folks checking in.
http://findmespot.com/en/
Are very popular on ADV.
Yeah we use one of these when going on deepwater and long distance fishing trips in small boats.
Its neat because if you have the app, you can track folks checking in.
I wouldn't worry to much on land unless your in some remote areas. In that case I'd rather have an Iridium Sat phone.
I wear an ACR P Epirb when I do deck work at night, especially racing when your pushing it. Near shore I have absolute faith in the US Coast Guard, off shore you just hope someone is around.
In another country YMMV depends who is around/who cares. The French, Dutch, and English have excellent SAR, Venezuela? Maybe.
I wear an ACR P Epirb when I do deck work at night, especially racing when your pushing it. Near shore I have absolute faith in the US Coast Guard, off shore you just hope someone is around.
In another country YMMV depends who is around/who cares. The French, Dutch, and English have excellent SAR, Venezuela? Maybe.
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You just have to hope that when the guy answers the phone and it's the US Air Force coordination center calling maybe he'll sit up a little straighter in his chair (or not, as in your Venezuela example that might be a worry).
The nearest ground terminal to where he will be is in Peru. In reality they would likely pulse the US RCCS for them to make the necessary phone calls (Is that person known to be in "X"? Is there a local/satellite phone number there, etc etc). All the things necessary to rule out a false alarm.
I think you are right about the sat phone and those are easy to come by. Thanks for the input everyone.
The nearest ground terminal to where he will be is in Peru. In reality they would likely pulse the US RCCS for them to make the necessary phone calls (Is that person known to be in "X"? Is there a local/satellite phone number there, etc etc). All the things necessary to rule out a false alarm.
I think you are right about the sat phone and those are easy to come by. Thanks for the input everyone.
Just wanted to close this out with the results of my searching. I finally settled on buying a PLB. I got one from "The GPS Store" online. It's a smaller unit that does not support tracking as would a Spot but this one is tougher and floatable/waterproof.
Also small enough to be secreted on your person or knapsack if needs be. I figure we can pass it around to other family as the need arises (has to be re-registered each time though).
It's an ACR 2881 ResQLink unit, about $250 after rebate. It's a 406MHz unit to transmit GPS coordinates and has the old 121.5 signal for final homing if needed. Bottom line, it functions like a newer ELT but in a much smaller package.
The son in law is getting an Iridium 9505A Iridium phone from Verizon I think. So all done. My wife and DIL sleep better and I can get on with it.
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to try and help. Much appreciated.
Also small enough to be secreted on your person or knapsack if needs be. I figure we can pass it around to other family as the need arises (has to be re-registered each time though).
It's an ACR 2881 ResQLink unit, about $250 after rebate. It's a 406MHz unit to transmit GPS coordinates and has the old 121.5 signal for final homing if needed. Bottom line, it functions like a newer ELT but in a much smaller package.
The son in law is getting an Iridium 9505A Iridium phone from Verizon I think. So all done. My wife and DIL sleep better and I can get on with it.
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to try and help. Much appreciated.
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