These sound like a jolly good idea. Where can one get them

[Ixion]

Personal locator beacon next must-have gadget

A personal locator beacon (PLB) maybe the next must-have gadget after a Hastings man used his to be rescued after breaking his leg.
The Hastings man was carrying a 406 Megahertz PLB when he was injured tramping near Waimarama Beach in Hawke's Bay at 3.15pm today. He activated the beacon and phoned 111.
The PLB's signal was picked up by the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCCNZ).
RCCNZ search and rescue officer Dave Wilson said PLB's, which cost a few hundred dollars, were a "pretty cheap form of life insurance".
"This is a classic case of the injured tramper doing everything right -- not only by carrying a 406 MHz beacon in the first place -- but also ensuring that his ownership details were up to date and registered with RCCNZ, which allowed us to respond very quickly to his situation."
When a 406 MHz PLB is activated it identifies the owner and where they are.
The man was picked up by a helicopter and taken to Hastings Hospital.

[skelstar]

Tramping stores might be able to help. Was thinking about one of these myself as I may have to do a solo trip from Wgtn to Alexandra (WCoast of course) soonish.

[McJim]

Tramp = homeless person of no fixed abode without source of income. Do New Zealanders give up their houses and jobs as a recreational past time? :rofl:

[trumpy]

I do most of my riding alone (no friends Nigel) and I am sure this would give my family some confidence. Good find. Might check this out when I am in Aucks for the next couple of days.

[Ixion]

I wonder how they work. Could one rig them up with a dead man's lanyard? And are they a one shot thing? Or can they be reset and reused ?

[xwhatsit]

Hey that's a great idea. Remember that story a little while ago, about the car crash in the 80s -- undiscovered until last year -- that really had me thinking. So many times, out in the middle of nowhere, maybe one person knows where I am (within a 200km stretch of road). Slip off into the bushes, never found again. Like Nürburgring and Jim Clark. Except they did find him.

[Ixion]

Eeep. They're rather dearer than the paper suggested. I'm seeing prices like $900, and $1300. I'm just a poor old man, I can't afford that.

[sunhuntin]

Tramp = homeless person of no fixed abode without source of income. Do New Zealanders give up their houses and jobs as a recreational past time? :rofl:

tramps also have another use here... mainly they are identified by short skirts and small shirts.

[Patch]

Ixion,

there are certain types of gps units that can be installed, cars, bikes, boats whatever and monitored. They record speed, etc etc. Depending on the type of monitoring plan you have, some even identify that there has been an accident and emergency services are notified. The unit has some type of device in it that detects a crash and is activated.


Can't remember who, where or what but it was on Tardme somewhere. Try googling alarm, gps monitoring.


Any half decent marine retail shop should have the personal beacons - recommended everybody has one attached to their PFD, just not always financially possible tho.

[pritch]

I'm old. Weren't these things called Epirbs or similar?

[gijoe1313]

Hmm more excuse to buy more gagdety bling? :sweatdrop ... interesting, will look into this myself! :yes:

[pritch]

But I like:

http://www.mapworld.co.nz/mt410.html

[skelstar]

Yeah I was wondering about EPRB (sp?) but am thinking thats the avalanche transciever and that has a much shorter range.

[slopster]

Yeah I was wondering about EPRB (sp?) but am thinking thats the avalanche transciever and that has a much shorter range.

The eprb is the marine one. It alerts all the search and rescue people and airforce etc. You can be up for a huge bill if you negligently set one off. Avalanche trancievers wouldn't be any use. They don't alert anyone but simply allow you to home in on one with another avalanche tranciever (if your already withen a few hundred metres).

[Southern man]

The device that they are talking about is called an ACR personal locator beacon they are about 799 and are reusable. They are battery operated and you just need to replace them now and again. They transmit a signal that is picked up by sattelite and gives your position to within meters. When you purchase one you enter your details so that they know who they are dealing with if it is ever activated.They are a great device. I have been looking into them for the local shooters club. The EPIRB is the older ones that were used but the frequency has been changed and these will go out of service in 2009 I think.

[The Pastor]

thats a really cool idea, how big and fragile are they?

[Crisis management]

EPIRB: electronic position indicating radio beacon.
The 406 khz is the new frequency which will give an accurate position, and details of person / vessel the Epirb is registered to. There are still old 290? Khz beacons for sale but they are being phased out over the next couple of years, don't buy them!!
Marine units are usually around $700 and about the size of a large coffee mug, personal Epirbs are available and are presumably somewhat smaller.
They require triggering to set off and definately aren't automatic, there are enough false alarms as it is....once triggered they transmit to a satelite and from there the signal (in NZ) goes to the Rescue Co-ordination centre in wellington, usually within 30 minutes of triggering. The location (reasonably accurate) and details are sent to the relevant search & rescue organisation, probably police if it's land based and a response is provided.
It's the only reliable way to get assistance quickly in NZ and worth considering if your going to stuff yourself up big time.
The only problems that can occur are false triggering & poor signal: the recomended response for false triggering is to contact RCCC and tell them you stuffed up and then turn it off...you can't just turn it off cos they know who you are!
Poor signal can occur if your in a steep valley and the signal can not find enough satelites to provide a good fix, you need to be able to see 3 satelites. This is a problem, and you may have to move yourself to achieve a good fix, unfortunately the Epirb won't tell you it can't provide a good location, it is only a dumb transmitter.

Right, all rush out and buy them then.....

[skelstar]

The eprb is the marine one.
When I was doing alpine and rock climbing stuff we referred to the beacon as an EPRB.

In fact there were two climbers who got stranded in Arthurs Pass a couple of years ago that set theirs off and got rescued as a result. Temple Basin ski field.

[ghost]

Garmin Product, MT410/MT410G PLB , the 410 G has built in GPS so it will transpond a 5 meter fix as apposed to the standard unit that the satilites will triangulate to about 1.5 Ks. Not so bad on the water but 1.5 radius in the bush is a large area to search. the gps unit is about $750 the standard is about $550.

[Hitcher]

I work on the assumption that if I lie dead by the side of the road long enough, people will notice the smell.

[skelstar]

I work on the assumption that if I lie dead by the side of the road long enough, people will notice the smell.
...thats assuming you smell different when you're dead :mellow:

[Finn]

The EPIRB is the older ones that were used but the frequency has been changed and these will go out of service in 2009 I think.

Bugger. My christmas present to myself this year was a Breitling Emergency watch. It has a emergency beacon built in and I had to sign my life away to buy it. It's frequency is 121.5 Mhz which is mainly used for aircraft but I figure it will still work if I'm pissed and get lost walking home.

[Big Dave]

Bugger. My christmas present to myself this year was a Breitling Emergency watch. It has a emergency beacon built in and I had to sign my life away to buy it. It's frequency is 121.5 Mhz which is mainly used for aircraft but I figure it will still work if I'm pissed and get lost walking home.

You just want someone to say 'that's a big knob' you've got.

where are you?

[Finn]

You just want someone to say 'that's a big knob' you've got.

where are you?

And girls can polish it for free.

I'm back in NZ. A week and a half early cause I miss the place so much.

[Crisis management]

Bugger. My christmas present to myself this year was a Breitling Emergency watch. It has a emergency beacon built in and I had to sign my life away to buy it. It's frequency is 121.5 Mhz which is mainly used for aircraft but I figure it will still work if I'm pissed and get lost walking home.

Unfortunately Finn, all it tells the aircraft is that your lost, not where your lost......mind you, with radio direction finding gear and a helicopter you may be able to be found!

Welcome back to paradise!

[merv]

I'm back in NZ. A week and a half early cause I miss the place so much.

Welcome back, did you have fun on your holiday you're going to tell us about?

[PrincessBandit]

Hmm more excuse to buy more gagdety bling? :sweatdrop ... interesting, will look into this myself! :yes:

hehehe I'll let you look into it and buy one J then i'll come and pick your brains about it, :whistle: 'cos like Ixion, I'm too poor!

[gijoe1313]

hehehe I'll let you look into it and buy one J then i'll come and pick your brains about it, :whistle: 'cos like Ixion, I'm too poor!

I dunno, why us asian dudes always got a rep for blunging out on bling and bling blinging the blingy bits again on the original bling! :o :blink: