Personnal Location Beacons

solo nomad · Veteran Member

Personnal Location Beacons

Mr Red · Veteran Member

Hi,

Does any one have a gme mt 410g personnal location beacon this what i am thinking about for a emergency use only,also have uhf and blue tick telstra phone.

Any information would be helpful.

Thankyou.

Mr Red.

Baz421 · Guru

justcruisin01 wrote:
Bought one for the boat as we go to remote areas, but I also carry it in the truck all the time & will use if needed.
JC

Likewise here JC,,,

Mr Red,,, you can add any details you like on AMSA website,,, ie we said that if activated it would be for a real life threatening emergency (as we would be within the Aust mainland, not on the sea) and added relevant info like we have water for 7 days and food for 2 days normally, if someone ie family thinks we are lost, for whatever reason.

Highly unlikely family will chase this up as we tell them when we'll be out of comms and back in comms.

I think ALL 406 mHz EPIRBS sold in Oz have the GPS accuracy we need,,,,, but not all have your ID tag as on racing yachts etc.

-- Edited by Baz421 on Wednesday 16th of October 2013 10:26:06 PM

justcruisin01 · Guru

Bought one for the boat as we go to remote areas, but I also carry it in the truck all the time & will use if needed.

JC

Baz421 · Guru

Just found this very good info Mr Red

https://www.whitworths.com.au/main_itemdetail.asp?cat=144&item=74527

it has more explanation than the GME webpage I think.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

This 406MHz beacon is coded for Australia only.
If you are not an Australian citizen or company with an Australian address and contact details then you must not buy an Australian coded beacon because (as a foreign citizen) you will not be able to register it in Australia. You need to purchase a beacon that has been coded with your country nationality.

However, as an Australian citizen with an Australian Registered PLB, you can use it anywhere in the world. You should keep the registration authorities advised of your whereabouts.

We took ours to Fiji for 2 years and have it with us here in Europe.

Cheers,

Peter

Baz421 · Guru

From the AMSA website:

Cospas-Sarsat is a global system and distress beacon alerts are received by the satellites from anywhere on the Earth's surface. If an Australian-coded distress beacon is activated overseas an alert will be sent to the Rescue Coordination Centre responsible for the region in which the distress incident is occurring. A second notification is then sent to RCC-Australia as the registrar for the beacon.

Likewise, alerts from beacons registered in other countries that are activated in the Australian region will be received by RCC-Australia. Australian residents who buy a distress beacon registered elsewhere should have the beacon recoded with the Australian country code by a local agent and have it registered with AMSA.

VKPORTABLE · Senior Member

When you are in remote regions, and you find your UHF CB totally worthless to you because there is no one to hear you - the phone has no service, a PLB is a real nice thing to have. The GME 410G is a nice little unit, I know this because I have one. The biggest benefit of these is when you are out wandering around away from your vehicle etc.

Captain · Veteran Member

I've had a PLB for several years and regard it as a type of insurance. It's like having a winch, you may never use it but it can get you out of trouble if need be. I test it every so often as per the instructions and keep it registered with AMSAR. As previously mentioned, if you are going to purchase one, make sure it has an inbuilt GPS. Mine is a Kennad brand, French I think and it can be worn in its pouch on the belt.

PeterD · Guru

There are three types of distress beacon. They are coded to identify which type they are. You should carry the one applicable to you, AMSA will then know what to look for. This link explains them. This link describes the difference in response time between GPS and non GPS fitted beacons. I suggest you read all the other links on site as they all contain useful bits of info.