PLB Activation - help them help you!

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Good advice Baz. I would guess that some new PLB owners just buy the device and chuck it into the glovebox.
You have described the response of AMSA on receiving a PLB signal. The person activating the PLB will expect prompt response but that will be delayed if AMSA have to waste time validating the signal. The more info they have will ensure a more prompt response.

Thanks Baz for posting this. I've back-linked your post to our EPIRBs & PLBs article so it keeps this useful post easily accessible from there in the future.

And don't forget - your Australian purchased PLB will work world wide.
When we go overseas, we register those travel plans too and take it with us.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

I do this for all multi day bushwalks, and remote 4WD trips.

Did you know you can even upload a photo of vehicle(s) on a trip, so rescue knows what to look for ?

I loaded a couple of standard pics of the Ranger there, and each trip lodge itinerary for upcoming trip, afterwards remember to delete the trip to keep your list clean.

Same deal with Spot.

Under the SOS message in your account you can add some notes - health condition is suggested but intentions can be added too.

And of course it makes sense to let your primary contact know your plans.

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Wiki has a heap of info on not only the 406 epirb, plb arrangement, but also spot, inreach, and a host of others, very interesting reading and explains a lot that is in the above posts from members.
WIKI - PLB ERPIRB BEACONS

I was just checking around to see if the PLB 406 was also monitored by commercial aircraft too, always had it in my head that they also monitored them, or the old 243 frequency when it existed.

Apparently not as the 406 sats are almost perfect guaranteed coverage, and besides gleaning a bit more info about all those options in the link, I picked up this gem . . .

The longest period that all satellites can be out of line-of-sight of a beacon is about two hours.

PLB and EPIRB do also transmit on 121.5, which S&R aircraft (maybe what I recall from with aircraft thing) can use to close in on the signal (somehow combines with the 406) and find you very accurately on the ground.

How does an informative thread become so mine is bigger than yours. I don't know how the system works regarding priorities, but I do know they come looking for you pretty quickly once they receive a mayday.

Any info helps them and that is what Baz has tried to convey.

THIS is from someone who was SAVED by the then Brisbane radio and then conveyed to Canberra for help deployment. That help arrived pretty quickly and I doubt things have changed many years on.

Thanks Baz

@Baz:

Re adding trip intentions to SPOT ...

Under the SOS message in your account you can add some notes - health condition is suggested but anything can be added.

I think a few things in the discussion about Spot, beacons and Globalstar need a bit of clarification.

It's an EPIRB, with an I before the R. Not an EP*E*RB

It's Globalstar, not Globalstat.

Globalstar is a constellation of low earth orbit satellites, not a single geostationary one.

Spot does not rely on Globalstar for position fixing, as implied somewhere in the thread. Spot is a GPS receiver, so has much the same positional accuracy as any other consumer GPS device. Therefore it can find itself whether or not it can talk to or "see" a Globalstar satellite.

Spot uses Globalstar's simplex data system to log its position with the Spot system. Globalstar's simplex coverage is far better than its duplex coverage, which is used for voice. Here is Globalstar's Australian duplex coverage. Because Spot uses Globalstar's simplex system, the known deficiencies of Globalstar's duplex coverage in Australia do not affect Spot's ability to report its position or to send an SOS.

A friend who used to work in AMSAR operations advised me that there is a formal agreement between Spot and AMSAR whereby an SOS originating in AMSAR's area of responsibility which is received by the Spot organisation will be handed off to AMSAR. It was not made clear to me what would happen if the SOS came from an expired or unpaid Spot account.

The two AA lithium batteries in my Gen 1 Spot tracker last about 3 weeks with the unit continually left on. During the day it is in tracking mode (10 minute intervals), at night it is idling after sending an OK message to my family - ie not switched off. The newer, smaller devices using AAA batteries might have a lesser endurance, I don't know.

Hope this helps

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I'm confused......

If a SPOT device is "the same as" or "as good as" a PLB, as some are claiming, then why are some people carrying both?