Thread: PLB and GPS or just an inReach?

As on another thread, my GPS62s seems to have gone to the basecamp in the sky, fades out and dies when turning on, which seems like a familiar analogy.... My PLB battery expired in Feb, although it still tests OK, it seems that I could win a Darwin award if I knowingly rely on an expired battery for the PLB function...

So - should I - :

1/ replace the PLB battery and get a new GPS, - if so which one?

2/ Forget the PLB and just get an inReach Explorer?

The context is a few multi day trips a year in places with no cell coverage.

Thanks.

or 3/ replace the PLB battery and get an inreach explorer. PLB's are better for rescuers to find you, but the inreach lets you tell them what the issue is so they know how urgently they need to get to you.

Or forget the Inreach explorer and get the new Garmin with Inreach as its now running Garmin maps instead of the crappy Delorne maps, is touch screen too so bigger screen more like a phone.

Be aware though it took 20 mins to send a text from one of the red Inreach's at the weekend, they are not instant and can take simply ages to send and receive.

agree, what @Cigar said.

This garmin?

https://www.garmin.com/en-NZ/p/561269#overview

Its about 8 years old so well out of warranty....

To the OP, PLBs and satellite communicators are very different devices.
inReach is a great bit of kit but having flown a few rescues, I do not recommend relying on an inReach as a primary means of SOS.

Thanks Moutere. So your advice is that inReach is cool for GPS, messaging, weather, and as a backup for emergencies. But not to give up the specialist PLB using 406 frequency? Is that because of the superior infrastructure of the 406, or the device quality and durability or both?
Thanks.

Yeah I would recommend the PLB as well. 406MHz is good and they also have a 102ishMHz for narrowing down the search area even more.
Good to have a system where the battery is solely used for emergencies and not run down with texting etc...

Originally Posted by Northkiwi

Thanks Moutere. So your advice is that inReach is cool for GPS, messaging, weather, and as a backup for emergencies. But not to give up the specialist PLB using 406 frequency? Is that because of the superior infrastructure of the 406, or the device quality and durability or both?
Thanks.

Sorry, just lost a long winded response into the cyber ether. In short, yes you are correct. PLBs are part of the native and seamless 406 alert system. RCC is well resourced and very good at what they do. It is a superior and more robust emergency alert system for a variety of reasons.
Having some insight into the nature of the emergency via a satellite message is great, however it does not alter the priority or equipment configuration for emergency response.
Aircraft are dispatched and configured for more or less for any eventuality once on scene.

Here is an overview of the Becker used to track the VHF signal from a beacon.
Don’t underestimate how hard it can be to spot people in the wilderness or at sea with a single Lat/Long.

Turn on the beacon and then leave it on until someone is standing next to you.
Recently had a bloke wrap up the antenna and put the beacon in his pocket as soon as the helicopter flew overhead the valley. Probably added 10 minutes to dialling in their exact position on the steep slope under a full canopy. Had to be directly overhead a tiny gap in the trees to pick up the signal.

Do strobes help much?

Yes, but any light source can help looking up from the shadows of a canopy even in daylight.
At night using NVGs most light sources can be seen up to multiple tens of miles.
Heliographs have a similar range in the right conditions during daytime.
For example, you can see the location of the Maui A Platform flare quite clearly at night with a little bit of height from Tasman Bay through NVGs.

I really don't understand why modern PLBs don't broadcast their position data on low power transmitter in the same way ships do with AIS.
Helicopters with suitable recievers could recieve the signal on a moving map and essentially fly to the user directly.

A lot of vessels now give their crews water activated AIS beacons so if they, god forbid, fall overboard a mark pops up on their nav equipment as soon as its recieved by onboard reciever so they can find said person quickly

A PLB can also be gradually homed by de-tuning 121.5 on any VHF radio in a pinch which is some added, if basic but slow redundancy.
Googling AIS, I take it has the same function as an aircraft transponder being interrogated by TCAS in lager aircraft or by controllers looking after airspace.
I’m guessing the payload on a ship for receiving equipment is infinite in comparison to small aircraft?
Also, would AIS be man portable for land based SAR groups.
Dunno, I’m not familiar with it.

Seems a logical thing to enhance an EPIRBs functionality at sea. Maybe the signal is too hungry on power to make the 24 hours for a PLB or 48 hours for an EPIRB.
I also think they’re already too expensive to buy and replace the batteries on, I can’t imagine added complexity would help with unit price.