Your thoughts on PLBs

[mempilot]

If PLB were to be common place their inadvertent activations would become an annoyance that would mask or gloss over real emergencies.

That's why they cost so much. The device itself is cheap to manufacture. Only those fairly serious about it, will buy one. The difference between a car alarm and a PLB, EPIREB, and ELT is that someone's life is in danger. I can't speak for the Navy, but the other agencies responsible for reacting to these signals don't make light of it the way you do. I have experience with being on the rescue end of an ELT. The AF was over the top of us within 20 minutes of it going off. Otherwise, it may have taken hours, if not days, for someone to recognize that our small plane had gone down where it did.

Using it for extreme diving, far from land or traveled shipping lanes, seems like a good use to me.

 

[cdiver2]

I think I'll classify that as "varus hillariousum"

How about just getting one of those laser pointers that they are complaining about in the news, you could just blind someone on board a boat ar a plane a mile away or so and then they'd find you so you could be arrested

Dive Safe/wlaser!
Caymanaic

Trust you . We will have to get together for a dive I know it would be so "Varus Hillariousum" that I would have to duct tape the reg to my mouth.

Could we put a .50 cal on the laser that would wake the DMs up from the deepest sleep

 

[RIDIVER501]

That's why they cost so much. The device itself is cheap to manufacture. Only those fairly serious about it, will buy one. The difference between a car alarm and a PLB, EPIREB, and ELT is that someone's life is in danger. I can't speak for the Navy, but the other agencies responsible for reacting to these signals don't make light of it the way you do. I have experience with being on the rescue end of an ELT. The AF was over the top of us within 20 minutes of it going off. Otherwise, it may have taken hours, if not days, for someone to recognize that our small plane had gone down where it did.

Using it for extreme diving, far from land or traveled shipping lanes, seems like a good use to me.

Not saying the Navy Takes them lightly. but how many times do you think SAR events spool up becuase someone forgot to turn of the seat switches in an aircraft prior to doing maintenence, or someone on a private sail boat as a guest who takes that funny little orange thing and lays it on it's side (activating the mercury switch) becuase it was in their way. in those instances there is no danger. All the agencies respond appropriately until the find out it's an oopsie.

So now lets take these thing make them affordable, and place them in the hands of the general untrained public. You know the folks who can't set the clock on their VCRs and micro-waves. The same folk who also sit there clicking their pen's nervously or fiddling with every button-laden object they come in contact with. These locator items already have a fair amount of false alarms in the hands of those trained and knowledeable in their use. Placing them in the hands of your "average Joe" will result in a near exponential increase in false alarms from misuse and just plain stupidity.

It might be better to have a lo-jack type system installed in Dive computers so that in the event of a lost diver it could help to isolate their position while being activated and controlled by the SAR team.

 

[mempilot]

Agreed for the most part. We monitor guard freq while flying and pick up ELT signals occasionally. The Civil Air Patrol/Air Force follow up on these signals in a number of ways. In hostile terrain, they are considered real until proven otherwise. In benign terrain, if real, they are usually accompanied by numerous telephone reports by eyewitnesses.

On the sea, which I would consider hostile terrain, receipt of a PLB or EPIREB signal would pretty much have to be considered real. The closer in to shore though, the response may not be quite as dramatic. In other words, local law enforcent, Coast Guard, and Customs Border Patrol aircraft/vessels routinely patrol coastal boundries and could be diverted. The assets are already mobile and could verify a signal. Outside the coastal boundries, you find merchant vessels and hard core yachtsmen. The chance of that signal being real is quite high. If not, fines do exist for false activation leading to the launch of SAR assets.

For divers, I'd tend to only use one when doing "out to sea" type dives. Outside the shipping lanes or outside the recreational boating boundaries. In other words, a 5-6' SMB and signal mirror within the boating lanes would probably be enough. Drop the water temp though, and the argument is there again due to time in water before hypothermia and death.

 

[TwoTanks]

Now this I am very interested in. Do you have any facts or sites you could direct me too. I have done a web search to see what rescue services are available in the more remote parts of the world and came up blank.

You mentioned Palau from what I found in my search is, the nearest US coast guard station would be Guam 400 miles away and only one ship.

The one article that always stuck in my mind was in the December 2002 Issue of Cruising World Magazine. The article was "Without a Trace" by Jenni Griffiths. If I can find my copy I will post it here. I have heard of other cases also, but this is the only one I can direct you to.

If you read it you will be horrified. Private boats were searching for the missing boat because the Gov't wouldn't do anything and no one even told the boats that they picked up an EPIRB.

Now I have also head stories of the US Gov't having a freighter change course to check out an EPIRB in the middle of the pacific and then when an injured person was found on the boat, the army sent a long range plane out and two skydiving paramedics saved the guy. I'm not sure if they sailed the boat back or came back on the freighter. Either way, a great rescue.

TT

 

[TwoTanks]

Not saying the Navy Takes them lightly. but how many times do you think SAR events spool up becuase someone forgot to turn of the seat switches in an aircraft prior to doing maintenence, or someone on a private sail boat as a guest who takes that funny little orange thing and lays it on it's side (activating the mercury switch) becuase it was in their way. in those instances there is no danger. All the agencies respond appropriately until the find out it's an oopsie.

So now lets take these thing make them affordable, and place them in the hands of the general untrained public. You know the folks who can't set the clock on their VCRs and micro-waves. The same folk who also sit there clicking their pen's nervously or fiddling with every button-laden object they come in contact with. These locator items already have a fair amount of false alarms in the hands of those trained and knowledeable in their use. Placing them in the hands of your "average Joe" will result in a near exponential increase in false alarms from misuse and just plain stupidity.

It might be better to have a lo-jack type system installed in Dive computers so that in the event of a lost diver it could help to isolate their position while being activated and controlled by the SAR team.

A lo-jack type system would only work if someone knew you were missing. In my case it would probably go off in the parking lot of a bar several times and then everyone would think I was at a bar when I was in trouble.

I think the solution is serious fines for false alarms on portable units.

 

[cdiver2]

I also agree with RIDIVER to an extent. His idea of a lo-jack is very good...but who's going to pay for it. At present there is a system in place paid for by the tax payer, if you want a system just for a chosen few oil Co, shipping Co then let them pay for it they have the money.
It seems to me that bureaucracy once again has failed us, if you buy a PLB you are REQUIRED by law to register it, why required make the seller do the registering with proof of ID or Coast Guard IE the PLB is sent to the nearest CG station and you pick it up there along with a class of course..... that you pay for.

 

[String]

Such a system wouldnt be practical for diving, offshore you NEED to have something that uses the 121.5/243 mhz band and preferably 406mhz satellite.

The car hijack things are just a line of site low powered signal which need to be in range of a transmitter site.

If at sea out of radio range you NEED something that'll be picked up by sarsat packages.

 

[cdiver2]

A lo-jack type system would only work if someone knew you were missing. In my case it would probably go off in the parking lot of a bar several times and then everyone would think I was at a bar when I was in trouble.

I think the solution is serious fines for false alarms on portable units.

$250000 fine cost of S&R and or imprisonment what we have to do is make sure that this is implemented.....no sob story's and a slap on the wrist.

The PLB that I have been looking at has three steps (after it is taken out of the dive cannister) to start a search 1/ open front 2/ pull a lever down 3/ pull lever out, so there should be no excuse that it went off accidentally. If the children get hold of it and set it off...your fault you should not have left it where they can get a hold of it....pay the fine

 

[cdiver2]

Such a system wouldnt be practical for diving, offshore you NEED to have something that uses the 121.5/243 mhz band and preferably 406mhz satellite.

The car hijack things are just a line of site low powered signal which need to be in range of a transmitter site.

If at sea out of radio range you NEED something that'll be picked up by sarsat packages.

Work world wide. The diving industry is growing and traveling more than it ever did.