Nautilus Lifeline Radio

[CWK]

I have my own MRG and I have dive with outfits (Carpe Novo in the Maldives and Bali Scuba in Indonesia) that have issued some of their staff with Nautilus Lifelines. I can only presume that my MRG would be of relevance in the Maldives as well as Bali where there are watercraft with marine radios and that it would be more effective in eliciting assistance than a PLB in these places.

 

[Dan]

I have my own MRG and I have dive with outfits (Carpe Novo in the Maldives and Bali Scuba in Indonesia) that have issued some of their staff with Nautilus Lifelines. I can only presume that my MRG would be of relevance in the Maldives as well as Bali where there are watercraft with marine radios and that it would be more effective in eliciting assistance than a PLB in these places.

Did you need to reprogram your MRG MMSI according to the procedure for the country you were diving at that time, as described in the Nautilus MRG manual, and coordinate with the dive operator DSC prior to going diving with them so they can identify your MRG distress signal when you are lost at sea?

 

[Dogbowl]

So with respect to the Nautilus Lifeline, you really have to ensure that the boat captain knows you’re carrying one and to watch out for distress signals; otherwise, it’s pretty much useless? With the boats that proactively issue their passengers one, sure, they’ll know how to use it and will be alert for it. But if you carry your own onto a boat, they may have no idea what it is, and may not know how to use one? Seems to be not very useful.

Whereas a PLB, if you registered it with your government, your distress signals will be watched 24/7 by the government?

I think I’m going to ask my next liveaboard what their experience is with the Nautilus Lifeline. I was going to buy one as a stop gap before figuring out my ideal PLB and canister combo.

 

[Dan]

.....Whereas a PLB, if you registered it with your government, your distress signals will be watched 24/7 by the government?

I think I’m going to ask my next liveaboard what their experience is with the Nautilus Lifeline. I was going to buy one as a stop gap before figuring out my ideal PLB and canister combo.

I registered my PLB1 to NOAA. They have all my contact info. It looks like I need to update it every year. My registration expires on 09/25/2018.

 

[Dogbowl]

I registered my PLB1 to NOAA. They have all my contact info. It looks like I need to update it every year. My registration expires on 09/25/2018.

View attachment 441667

In Canada, we would register it with Canadian Beacon Registry, which is part of our Department of National Defense. It’s actually located at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton. Sounds legit to me!

 

[billt4sf]

So with respect to the Nautilus Lifeline, you really have to ensure that the boat captain knows you’re carrying one and to watch out for distress signals; otherwise, it’s pretty much useless? With the boats that proactively issue their passengers one, sure, they’ll know how to use it and will be alert for it. But if you carry your own onto a boat, they may have no idea what it is, and may not know how to use one? Seems to be not very useful.

Whereas a PLB, if you registered it with your government, your distress signals will be watched 24/7 by the government?

I think I’m going to ask my next liveaboard what their experience is with the Nautilus Lifeline. I was going to buy one as a stop gap before figuring out my ideal PLB and canister combo.

I did this on the recent LOB I was on in Indo. They were very helpful, yet the sound quality was so poor, that when combined with strong accents and varying diction I thought it would be quite possibly worthless.

A PLB in Indonesia -- which government is going to watch, and what are they going to actually do?

- Bill

 

[Dogbowl]

I did this on the recent LOB I was on in Indo. They were very helpful, yet the sound quality was so poor, that when combined with strong accents and varying diction I thought it would be quite possibly worthless.

A PLB in Indonesia -- which government is going to watch, and what are they going to actually do?

- Bill

The new Nautilus Lifeline no longer has speaking radio capabilities. It’s only a distress signal, as far as I’m aware.

A person would register their PLB with their own country’s government or overseeing organization. For Canada, it’s a part of our National Defense, so even if I’m in Indo, my government organization is watching for the distress signals given off by my PLB. They would then figure out who I was since I registered with them, and would alert the Indo parallel organization to send search and rescue to look for me. So it’s important to get one specifically coded for your own country.

The Cospas-Sarsat satellite system is global and is the same system that watches the airplanes as far as I know.

 

[Dan]

....A PLB in Indonesia -- which government is going to watch, and what are they going to actually do?

- Bill

Mine is registered to NOAA. So, “I guess” NOAA would verify my whereabouts with my emergency contact, then the US embassy in Jakarta, whom will coordinate with local SAR agency (BaSARnas) and US Navy to search for me. I hope it’ll never happen to me (knock on wood), but if it did & I were rescued, I’d post the news here.

Check out this very interesting post about @IyaDiver experience of using PLB in Indonesia: Scuba diver's Personal Locator Beacon - how never to be lost at sea

 

[Dogbowl]

Mine is registered to NOAA. So, “I guess” NOAA would verify my whereabouts with my emergency contact, then the US embassy in Jakarta, whom will coordinate with local SAR agency (BaSARnas) and US Navy to search for me. I hope it’ll never happen to me (knock on wood), but if it did & I were rescued, I’d post the news here.

Check out this very interesting post about @IyaDiver experience of using PLB in Indonesia: Scuba diver's Personal Locator Beacon - how never to be lost at sea

I guess we can only hope that whichever agency we’re registered with is watching our distress signal and relaying that info to the local search and rescue, and that the local search and rescue actually has sufficient resources and “intention” to actually act upon such info.

According to Wikipedia, Indo is a “ground segment provider”.

International Cospas-Sarsat Programme - Wikipedia

 

[Dan]

I guess we can only hope that whichever agency we’re registered with is watching our distress signal and relaying that info to the local search and rescue, and that the local search and rescue actually has sufficient resources and “intention” to actually act upon such info.

According to Wikipedia, Indo is a “ground segment provider”.

International Cospas-Sarsat Programme - Wikipedia

My brother will sure make copious phone calls to US Embassy in Jakarta to let them know that the only brother he got is in deep trouble. LOL