$50 emergency locator beacon?

[Radar]

for God's sake don't buy a 121.5 mhz beacon- they are obsolete and nor monitored anymore. you will just lie there and die waiting.....and it is probbaly what you are being offered at $50!

.

Gman71 - the $50 price is hypothetical. I started this thread saying "Would you buy an emergency locator beacon on bike trips if it was only $50?"

You will see from my post 79 on the other thread that I mention, that Trig Instruments only stock the new beacons. It would be very unlikely that any distributor would still sell the 121.5 mhz beacons!

What I am trying to find is if price is a barrier. However, from the comments so far, I can see that there is a real advantage to using a VHF Marine or Satellite phone, plus it is unknown how long it would take for the emergency services to be contacted after the beacon is activated.

[Radar]

I carry my handheld VHF marine radio with me when hunting, or on my bike miles from nowhere.

Marine repeaters have massive coverage of NZ, even inland, and many are monitored 24 hrs a day, particularly CH16.

Plus rescue helicopter has CH6 and CH16 onboard, so if you can see or hear the chopper you can talk to them.

You could expect up to 100km of range from a handheld if you are at a high point, even with as little as 5 watts.

From a legal point of view, its not really kosher, but if you only used it in an emergency, you are within the law, as you may use any frequency at your disposal if life is at risk.

Using marine radios seems a good idea, although I would think ham radio VHF repeaters would have greater coverage since they aim for land, not marine locations. As you say, in an emergency situation the 'illegal' use (of not having a license and not using as the license intends) would most likely not be an issue. I held a ham license for over 25 years; it has expired but I will make contact with the NZART regarding repeater coverage with a hand held transceiver.

[Gman71]

Gman71 - the $50 price is hypothetical. I started this thread saying "Would you buy an emergency locator beacon on bike trips if it was only $50?"

It would be very unlikely that any distributor would still sell the 121.5 mhz beacons!

ah gotcha.

wasn't assuming a distributor was selling a 121.5 but some clown will probably be trying to off load one on Tarde me.

Hell, I'd buy a beacon if they were $1500 and I was going back of beyond, let alone $500.


rent one seems like a good compromise

[davereid]

Using marine radios seems a good idea, although I would think ham radio VHF repeaters would have greater coverage since they aim for land, not marine locations. As you say, in an emergency situation the 'illegal' use (of not having a license and not using as the license intends) would most likely not be an issue. I held a ham license for over 25 years; it has expired but I will make contact with the NZART regarding repeater coverage with a hand held transceiver.

Hi Radar, yes I am a "ham", ZL2DR !. The handheld I take is a Yaesu 2m rig which cover all the 2m ham stuff, as well as marine.

You can rent (at modest cost) small H.F. rigs which of course have excellent range. They do require setting up, which can be a bit of a mission as you have to put up a fairly extensive dipole aerial, which can be a trick if you have fallen off yer bike and have 2 broken legs.

PRS is another option and would be completely legal for all users, but there are few repeaters, and they are not monitored 24/7.

I think the VHF marine radio is a good emergency compromise, which most anyone could use.

They are cheap, water resistant, light weight and of course many people already have them.

The key features being that CH16 is monitored 24/7.

Even if you are not in range of a repeater, they are fitted to SAR helicopters, which, once in the air have massive (radio) range.

I guess its a case of being pragmatic. The best item is a new EPIRB, but at $1500 for occasional use it is very expensive, particularly when batteries need to be replaced evry 5 or so years.

A $150 handheld VHF radio would be a much more "budget appropriate" device for most of us !

[Radar]

Hi Radar, yes I am a "ham", ZL2DR !. The handheld I take is a Yaesu 2m rig which cover all the 2m ham stuff, as well as marine.

You can rent (at modest cost) small H.F. rigs which of course have excellent range. They do require setting up, which can be a bit of a mission as you have to put up a fairly extensive dipole aerial, which can be a trick if you have fallen off yer bike and have 2 broken legs.

PRS is another option and would be completely legal for all users, but there are few repeaters, and they are not monitored 24/7.

I think the VHF marine radio is a good emergency compromise, which most anyone could use.

They are cheap, water resistant, light weight and of course many people already have them.

The key features being that CH16 is monitored 24/7.

Even if you are not in range of a repeater, they are fitted to SAR helicopters, which, once in the air have massive (radio) range.

I guess its a case of being pragmatic. The best item is a new EPIRB, but at $1500 for occasional use it is very expensive, particularly when batteries need to be replaced evry 5 or so years.

A $150 handheld VHF radio would be a much more "budget appropriate" device for most of us !

hi dave. fb! wx sunny 24 deg. rig nil bt this internet v gd. wat sa om? 73s de ZL1 / VK3 / N0 / WB0 / WA8 / WN8

Well well, there doesn't seem many of us hams left these days. I must say that Dave Reid sounded familiar and I nearly asked if you were a ham. Were you ever a ZL1 or in the BOP or Waikato?

A VHF marine xcvr does seem good. Only $150? Is that second hand? How about this one, at $228, 1 and 5 watt.

I still think marine VHF would not be as good as 2m ham, but a license is needed to purchase a new transceiver although Tardme is an option I guess.

Beacons do not cost $1500, or maybe you are referring to a special kind. I rang Trig Instruments (see link further above) and the tech there said the $530 unit would be the best (price) option for land.

[Radar]

This afternoon I spoke with the office manager at Life Flight (includes Westpac Air Ambulance Rescue), who was helpful in answering my questions (as far as she could). She will try to get someone who is in the 'search and rescue department' to answer more specific questions of what would be helpful at the time of an accident or medical emergency. When I receive more information from the experts in the field, I will report back here.

[davereid]

This afternoon I spoke with the office manager at Life Flight (includes Westpac Air Ambulance Rescue), who was helpful in answering my questions (as far as she could). She will try to get someone who is in the 'search and rescue department' to answer more specific questions of what would be helpful at the time of an accident or medical emergency. When I receive more information from the experts in the field, I will report back here.

I help out (as infrequently as I can manage) at SAR here in Levin. I am sure you will be given the excellent advice to purchase the EPIRB you linked to, as it is good value at $550.

Even if they privately thought it was a good idea, SAR would never recommend carrying marine VHF into inland areas, so your advice I am sure will (quite correctly) be an ebirb.

Nonetheless, if you are not going to purchase or rent an ebirb or HF radio, and you already have a VHF marine radio, throwing it in your bag may not be a bad idea.

Particularly if the contact people who will be calling SAR on your behalf know you have it, and that you will be "on-air" if overdue 5 mins either side of the hour on CH16.

The radio you linked is a good choice. With a budget pack of AA batteries, it gives you tons of reserve, and it cannot be made obsolete by the manufacturer changing battery packs.

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P.S..... What do I think an EPIRB is worth ? Not $550 anyway. You can buy a PRS handheld operating in a similar frequency band, with lot of flash features like CTCSS, quiet tones, etc for $60. And of course, it also has a receiver with all the same features !

A basic coded EBIRB should realistically cost about $100 and work on inexpensive batteries like AA cells. IMHO (as a professional electronics engineer) there is no reason for EPIRBS to cost more - they really don't have any flash technology justifying a higher price.

[Howie]

Are emergency beacons useful for motorcyclists?

I answered yes even at $550.00:

I think yes they are a useful tool for Biking. So are a lot of other things, and like a lot of other people I have a budget to live within. So it becomes another nice to have item on my wish list.
In saying that it is all about risk management, someone usualy knows roughly what area I am riding in, and I don't tend to do real off road riding on my own.

[Radar]

...Nonetheless, if you are not going to purchase or rent an ebirb or HF radio, and you already have a VHF marine radio, throwing it in your bag may not be a bad idea.


... You can buy a PRS handheld operating in a similar frequency band, with lot of flash features like CTCSS, quiet tones, etc for $60. And of course, it also has a receiver with all the same features !

What is the coverage of PRS repeaters? I tried several googles and found nothing. AFAIK CB radio is not as popular these days, probably due to cell phones. If CB (emergency channel) is not monitored then it would not be worthwhile.

Regarding VHF Marine, I have anticipated the official response to go for a beacon instead (due to legal issues / regulations of recommending marine radio for land use). What I would like to know from the emergency-rescue services is what a typical delay would be from when the beacon is activated to the time local emergency services are alerted.

[CookMySock]

Carrying a UHF CB is almost useless, unless you have a line-of-sight repeater, or nearly line-of-sight, and its a $200 radio not a $35 one. We had a pair of cheapies in the bush, and they were completely useless after about 200 meters.

Marine VHF is not a dumb idea. Even though you are not authorised to be using it under such circumstances, there is no way they will ignore an emergency call from you. Also you need a quality radio with a high gain external antenna, or else you are severely hampered.

2M amatuer radio will be good, if you have a license to use it. The hard part will be finding which is the local repeater channel, and then getting someone to answer your call.

HF (amatuer or otherwise) radio will be awesome, provided you have a license for it, and know how to use it, and how to find someone to talk to, and provided you don't hook it up for fun and blabber on it all evening!

What we really need, is a tiny low-power (1 watt) PSK31 Beacon simultaneously transmitting on 7 and 3.5 MHz, broadcasting a continuous help message and a GPS location, on a set frequency. It needs to be no bigger than a pack of smokes, with a little pull out antenna a few metres long. That little unit will instantly get a distress signal and position out for a thousand mile radius, day or night. Maybe if there are automated stations that scan for them and alert the authorities.

Interesting.
Steve

[mujambee]

What I would like to know from the emergency-rescue services is what a typical delay would be from when the beacon is activated to the time local emergency services are alerted.

See here: Australian Maritime Safety Authority

I've also found this in the news: Woman rescued in 4,500-mile alert

Your $525 is with or without a GPS? The cheaper I could find over here was $1016 (415€) w/o a GPS and $1640 (655€) with GPS included.


Anyhow, all that is being discussed here (beacons, radio,...) needs your intervention. What if you have gone down and lay inconscious just behind those bushes so no one will see you from the road?

[Kerosene cowboy]

could come in handy if in middle of nowhere

[mujambee]

What we really need, is a tiny low-power (1 watt) PSK31 Beacon simultaneously transmitting on 7 and 3.5 MHz, broadcasting a continuous help message and a GPS location, on a set frequency. It needs to be no bigger than a pack of smokes, with a little pull out antenna a few metres long. That little unit will instantly get a distress signal and position out for a thousand mile radius, day or night. Maybe if there are automated stations that scan for them and alert the authorities.

Is that a proposal or there exists something similar to that?

That (and this thread) has sparked a new idea: What about a bike2bike alert system?

Each bike could be fitted with a small unit. It usually is on receive mode, listening into a fixed frequency. If it receives an emergency signal it starts a warning (maybe horn and lights flash), so it's rider knows someone is in trouble nearby.
The emergency call could be started manually or automatically if the bike is down.

That would help find a lost biker by other bikers around.


Obviously this would require a lot of develoment and a lot of licensing and a lot of cooperation and a lot of money and ....

[mctshirt]

Anyhow, all that is being discussed here (beacons, radio,...) needs your intervention. What if you have gone down and lay inconscious just behind those bushes so no one will see you from the road?

Ride with a buddy or tell someone where you're going and when you will be back - not very hi-tech but most effective

From an old 121 MHz PLB instruction book:
GEOGRAPHICAL VISIBILITY AREAS 121.5/243 MHz
BEACONS BY COSPAS-SARSAT LUTs
The visibility area from existing LUTs already covers most
countries and surrounding waters in the northern hemisphere as
well as South America and Australasia (see diagram).
Planned extensions to the system will further increase the area.
Depending on the distress position and the satellite overflight path, the
Mini Res-Q-Sat EPIRB activated within 900 km of the Australian coast
should be detected by the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite system within 6
hours of activation. This time lapse will reduce to 3 hours or less, the
closer the position is to the coastline, where Mini Res-Q-Sat, the
satellite and LUT are more likely to be in mutual visibility.

Which is around the time given on Aussie Maritime Safety Authority site:
NOTE: Polar-orbiting satellites over-fly the Australian region on average every 90 minutes but passes may be anywhere from minutes to 5 hours apart. To improve response times, ensure distress beacons are registered and inform emergency contacts of trip details.

You have to get lucky to get a helicopter leaving moments after you push the button and IIRC without the GPS system the first satellite past can only give a position within 15-20 square kilometres. The next satellite past 90 minutes later narrows down the position and then the next one although aircraft are fitted with receivers so you might get lucky.

PLB's aren't useless but they aren't magic either.

[sunhuntin]

Ride with a buddy or tell someone where you're going and when you will be back - not very hi-tech but most effective

thats generally what i do when travelling, and thats accompanied by ph calls home at the end of each day. during that call, i give the folks an estimate of where im heading the next day. they know i tend to stick to the main roads, which is a bonus. they also know that if i dont phone at the end of the day, or early the next morning at the very latest, theres something wrong. a few times there has been a bit of worry when ive been late getting in and considered it too late to call, so left it till the next morning. but that doesnt happen too often.

but a beacon like whats being suggested is something i would carry just for peace of mind. i do like the idea of something that activates a passing bike, but some roads dont get much bike traffic, so thered need to be a back up to that.