Your thoughts on PLBs

[RIDIVER501]

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.

As far as who would pay for it CD: divers would pay for the dive computers that would be outfited with a locator. Maybe an organization like DAN could run the command center and charge a small fee like the lojack people charge their customers.

The diver's lojack code could be somehow associated with their cert card number and then the boat captain of a charter that comes up one diver short. would contact the command center and say "JOE Diver, PADI #xyzabc is missing."
the command center would look up that diver and activate his locator.

Of course there would be problems with whether the diver is on the surface or still at depth and other electro-magnetic principles but should be fairly effective in theroy.

Or the charter boat could have a scanner that the captain could use to scan the dive computers of all their divers for that trip and have a limited range local control option.

Joe diver is missing, the captain activates his locator and if the dive is still within range he is detected. If not the captain passses the number up to the next level say a regional control center that has a broader search area and then they try to detect the lost diver with their equipment.

just ideas

 

[Bob3]

A couple of my friends spent the night hanging onto lobster trap buoys after their boat got away from them.
**** happens.

hey, at least they knew somebody was bound to come check on the traps

Yah, but I was one of the poor slobs out all night looking for them. :wtf:
It DID give ammunition for endless razzing though.

 

[String]

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

Its not THAT popular. Deciding on a world wide common frequency and protocol would be near impossible. People are still squabbling over the international civil airband, a very minor thing like on/off low range beacon isnt going to get a look in.

Standard sar-sat compatible EPIRB is definately the best solution and it already exists.

 

[cdiver2]

Its not THAT popular. Deciding on a world wide common frequency and protocol would be near impossible. People are still squabbling over the international civil airband, a very minor thing like on/off low range beacon isnt going to get a look in.

Standard sar-sat compatible EPIRB is definately the best solution and it already exists.

thats the point I was trying to get across no one is going to start a new system when we already have one in place.. but some people don't want to make this available to the people that payed for it

 

[cdiver2]

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

If you find it and post drop me a E so I know to look for it
Tanks again

 

[RIDIVER501]

thats the point I was trying to get across no one is going to start a new system when we already have one in place.. but some people don't want to make this available to the people that payed for it

GPS is world wide. GPS is already an established system, and there are already GPS TRACKER/Locators.

GPS Tracker Locators

No need for Squabbling over Freqs like civil air distress, military air distress and international air distress.

GPS systems would be less likely to have false alarms due to the fact that activation of the system would be controlled by the searcher not the searchees.
Notice I say less likely and not no false alarms...any systems is only as good as it's weakest component, and humans tend to be the weakest component of any system.

 

[cdiver2]

As far as who would pay for it CD: divers would pay for the dive computers that would be outfited with a locator. Maybe an organization like DAN could run the command center and charge a small fee like the lojack people charge their customers.

The diver's lojack code could be somehow associated with their cert card number and then the boat captain of a charter that comes up one diver short. would contact the command center and say "JOE Diver, PADI #xyzabc is missing."
the command center would look up that diver and activate his locator.

Of course there would be problems with whether the diver is on the surface or still at depth and other electro-magnetic principles but should be fairly effective in theroy.

Or the charter boat could have a scanner that the captain could use to scan the dive computers of all their divers for that trip and have a limited range local control option.

Joe diver is missing, the captain activates his locator and if the dive is still within range he is detected. If not the captain passses the number up to the next level say a regional control center that has a broader search area and then they try to detect the lost diver with their equipment.

just ideas

on a world wide basis may be in the US (if some one could make money from it) but thats about it. My concern is rescue in a remote part of the world not in the US

 

[mempilot]

Or the charter boat could have a scanner that the captain could use to scan the dive computers of all their divers for that trip and have a limited range local control option.

Joe diver is missing, the captain activates his locator and if the dive is still within range he is detected. If not the captain passses the number up to the next level say a regional control center that has a broader search area and then they try to detect the lost diver with their equipment.

just ideas

Direction Finders, or DF's, are pretty cheap. They just have to be tuned to the transmitting frequency, and they'll point you right to it. Only work on the surface though, but I think that's what we're all talking about. You can buy DF's for the PLB's, but the PLB is not limited range in the traditional sense like what we're talking about now.

 

[cdiver2]

GPS is world wide. GPS is already an established system, and there are already GPS TRACKER/Locators.

GPS Tracker Locators

No need for Squabbling over Freqs like civil air distress, military air distress and international air distress.

GPS systems would be less likely to have false alarms due to the fact that activation of the system would be controlled by the searcher not the searchees.
Notice I say less likely and not no false alarms...any systems is only as good as it's weakest component, and humans tend to be the weakest component of any system.

The only one I see in your link that would do the job is the yellow one next to the bottom right hand side and this is the one Im looking into. works on 460 Mhz and 121.5, sends your Lat Long and has to be activated manually.

 

[RIDIVER501]

The only one I see in your link that would do the job is the yellow one next to the bottom right hand side and this is the one Im looking into. works on 460 Mhz and 121.5, sends your Lat Long and has to be activated manually.

I wasn't advocating any of these I just provided the link to illustrate that the technology is out there.

I would think the best thing would be to have it integrated into your dive computer then it could serve a dual purpose to find you at sea and to locate your equipment in the event it was stolen.