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Sailfish
 
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Beginning next month, search-and-rescue satellites will no longer process the 121.5/243 MHz signal transmitted by older analog EPIRBs.
The Coast Guard is reminding mariners to replace these EPIRBs with the newer 406 MHz beacons by Feb. 1. The 406 MHz signal is 50 times more powerful than the 121.5, allowing better detection and providing a more accurate search area for rescue authorities, according to the Coast Guard.
Also, the number of false alerts with digital beacons reportedly is significantly lower than with analog units. Satellites are incapable of distinguishing between beacon and non-beacon sources using analog frequencies, resulting in only about one in five alerts coming from a beacon, according to the Coast Guard. False alert signals can come from ATMs, pizza ovens and stadium scoreboards.
EPIRB users can register their beacons in the U.S. 406 MHz Beacon Registration Database at www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov or by calling (888) 212-SAVE.Click here for more information.
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Dealer for www.stickitanchorpins.com and Sea Tow Located in Navarre just north of the bridge.
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Ruby Red Lip
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| Now that is the kind of information that keeps me checking the forum periodically. Thank you! By the way, what would someone expect to pay for one of the newer EPIRBS?
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Sailfish
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I don't sell them so I can't say. I would check West Marine or Boaters World.
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Dealer for www.stickitanchorpins.com and Sea Tow Located in Navarre just north of the bridge.
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Sailfish
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Mingo
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Isn't the 121.5 MHZ still used for close proximity homing by SAR?
I may hit'em high I may hit'em low So look out fish When this diver's below Cuz I hit'em!
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Sailfish
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Grouper
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| Here's a link to the latest and greatest. http://www.landfallnavigation.com/plb.html The ones with the internal GPS are worth the extra money. I don't know about the coast guard, but all commercial aircraft are required to monitor "Guard" frequency 121.5 If they here a distress beacon it is reported. The commercial pilots cannot DF on the beacon though. All they can do is report a distress beacon being heard. Jim
 Jim
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Grouper
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| I just called the USCG Aviation Training Center in Mobile and was informed that Search and Rescue (SAR) aircraft will still be able to home in on 121.5 beacons. In addition, they will also monitor 243 Mhz and VHF CH 16. . Class A and Class B EPIRBs transmit an analog signal on 121.5/243 MHz. Satellite coverage of these EPIRBs is being dropped, as discussed earlier in this thread, on February 1, 2009. Category I and Clategory II EPIRBs transmit a digital identification code on 406 MHz and a low-power "homing" signal on 121.5 MHz. Here's some information concerning EPIRBs from the USCG website: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/marcomms/gmdss/epirb.htm
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