Nautilus Lifeline Radio

[Ankush Mittal]

Most dive boats I have been on recently don't even have a receiver for this.

 

[Kevrumbo]

That PLB and case is a ton of money. The dive canister costs more than the PLB itself. I'm thinking the Nautilus Gen II at $180 which doesnt need the canister is much more affordable.

Even justifying the economy of two Nautlius Lifeline units, Gen 1 & 2, you're still handicapped by the range limitations and dependent on other maritime ships & coastal stations having a VHF unit to receive you.

Where divers get confused in the application, and assume "instant" local alert and rescue capabilities of an AIS/DSC VHF radio unit over a 406 MHz PLB is in the classic MOB (Man Overboard) Scenario:
Tactically this is fine for example, if you're crewing a sailing vessel in the biennial Transpacific Yacht Race from San Pedro Calif to Honolulu Hawaii, and you fall MOB during rough seas at night: Along with your crew, there will be anywhere from twenty to forty or so sailing yachts out there with AIS/DSC within VHF range in the otherwise traceless open Pacific Ocean ready to immediately assist in picking you up.

AIS/DSC VHF MOB devices are not meant to replace but rather augment PLBs. That said, since they alert nearby AIS-equipped vessels, such as the boat from which the person fell overboard, to assist in the search-and-rescue effort, these devices can reduce rescue times substantially. A PLB, on the other hand, works worldwide, well beyond VHF range, to summon rescuers. It’s important to keep a PLB around if venturing far out to sea and away from other boaters.

A Lost-at-Sea/Missing Diver can be considered a special case of a "delayed" MOB Scenario: Delayed in the sense that an elapsed normal recreational depth dive time is about 50 minutes to an hour -->if the Diver surfaces after an hour and does not see any sign of the diveboat, then the Diver has to manually call or activate a VHF DSC Distress Beacon such as the Nautilus Lifeline Gen 1, but the caveat still being the limited range of the VHF signal along with hoping there are other boats or land stations in the vicinity with VHF transceiver capability. Again, if you're at a remote divesite hundreds of kilometers away from the commercial shipping lanes or land VHF receiving stations, then the satellite PLB is your last resort:

 

[TheHuth]

I guess I am a bit confused. I thought the Gen II Nautilus was a PLB, and nothing more. If it isnt, then you're correct that it adds nothing more. The next purchase will be a PLB. So if the Nautilus is not one, then I'll have to find something else.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Perhaps the definition of "PLB" is causing confusion. Both a PLB and the current Nautilus serve to transmit your location to rescuers. A PLB transmits only to a system of orbiting satellites, and from there to a terrestrial monitoring station. The Nautilus transmits only to VHF radios on nearby boats.

 

[Dan]

That PLB and case is a ton of money. The dive canister costs more than the PLB itself. I'm thinking the Nautilus Gen II at $180 which doesnt need the canister is much more affordable.

I got one of these for $200 after rebate.

Then, for diving deeper than 50 feet, I put it in an old camera case that I bought from eBay for $10. It is now good down to 130 feet (40m).

It is registered to NOOA with complete of my emergency contact.

I'm planning to be on a 13-day liveaboard diving in Indonesia next month. I hope I won't get lost at sea, but if I do, hopefully this little guy will alert NOOA to contact US Embassy in Jakarta & they will ask BaSARnas with nearby US Navy ship to come & look for me.

 

[TheHuth]

Dan, can you share a link to the PLB that you purchased? I have to admit, the $200+ canister is the big turn off on the item. But if a cheap solution is to just use any depth proof case that will fit it, I'm good with that.

 

[Dan]

I got it back in September last year from Happy Iguana in eBay store, back then Ocean Signal (OEM) was offering $50 rebate. Happy Iguana do not sell at a good price now, Great deals from Happy Iguana Electronics | eBay stores Also no rebate is offered by the OEM currently. However, you can get the lowest one from this store: https://m.ebay.com/itm/Ocean-Signal-Rescueme-Plb1-/272620992402?hash=item3f797a3792:g:sZYAAOSwVctY5l7R&_trkparms=pageci%3Afd2b578e-aa49-11e7-a311-74dbd1802438%7Cparentrq%3Aefd18d6b15e0ac80363a8ea8fffedb52%7Ciid%3A1 for $214.09 with free shipping for USA resident.

 

[Dan]

I tried a cheap pouch for iPhone6 from Kona ($20) that is waterproof rated down to 100 feet & tested it myself down to 104 feet. The pouch kept the PLB1 dry, but the hydraulic pressure had crushed the pouch to a point of pressing the red emergency button of the PLB1 to ON as shown, below:

So don't use pouch, even using paper clip to provide air gap between the flap & the button. The crushing pressure is just incredible. I remember seeing the PLB1 turned on underwater after going deeper than 80 feet. Once I ascent to about 75 feet, it turned off by itself. Turning it on underwater may not send out any distress signal since the signal can't pass through the water and I didn't pull the antenna out, but I don't like to get the battery used up for nothing. So, get yourself a rigid case or put it in a rigid case before slipping it into the pouch.

 

[Ankush Mittal]

I fear you may have misread the post by "Dan_T"

200 is for the actual PLB1 Device, and the depth proof cannister he bought is $10.

From what I have seen any good PLB device will cost you around 150 - 200 so I doubt saving money there makes sense. After all their main selling point is "Is your life worth saving $100?"

I am waiting for someone I know to come back from the US to India as I will be buying the PLB1 for sure. I will figure out the depth issue later using either a makeshift solution by Dan_T or like him get a cheap camera case.

Dan, can you share a link to the PLB that you purchased? I have to admit, the $200+ canister is the big turn off on the item. But if a cheap solution is to just use any depth proof case that will fit it, I'm good with that.

 

[Land Fish]

I'm planning to be on a 13-day liveaboard diving in Indonesia next month. I hope I won't get lost at sea, but if I do, hopefully this little guy will alert NOOA to contact US Embassy in Jakarta & they will ask BaSARnas with nearby US Navy ship to come & look for me.

How would it work for divers who are not Americans? i.e. who should I register it with? I mostly dive in Asia Pacific region btw

Thanks.