Rred
Contributor
A little web searching will turn up many (sometimes conflicting) official SARSAT pages that describe the systems and process. There are at least two satellite constellations, one low and one high, that serve the system. And it is apparently possible to go 12 hours in some locations before you have been heard by the minimum of TWO satellites in order to get a position fix sometimes. So, PLB? Nice concept, remember that if you are in an odd corner of the world (there are coverage maps online as well) it may take 12 hours, typically 3-4, before a taxi is called.
And in the US, that process is set up so that FIRST the mission center calls up your registration data. If the beacon is registered, they will read what you wrote (i.e. that you are a diver not a boat) and they will attempt to CALL every listed number in order to screen out accidental beacons, simply because of cost.
No actual SAR response is launched until your registration has been checked, and the phone numbers called. So, a little more time before the taxi is dispatched.
You can't make any assumptions. In the US, we think of the USCG. Many folks don't realize that is not a military arm--except in time of war. Otherwise, it is an administrative agency. The USCG, and the USN, may be operating globally under signed agreements with other nations, i.e. carrying a UK official on board and operating in UK waters.
But the Australian Coast Guard, despite the Coast Guard name, is an all-volunteer watch organization, much like the UK's lifeboat service. Very different and limited resources!
The only assumption you can safely make, is that the facts will have been distorted before they were all passed around. Like Bill's surprise to find dive boats didn't carry expensive radios. Or any radios. Very different from the US, where radios are mandated, radio watches are mandated, and for something like a decade now, DSC-equipped radios have been mandated for all new sales.
PLB? I'd rather carry a small EPIRB, since the battery size and life will be at least twice as long, and that means a much better chance of being heard. Especially if there's a delay in dispatching my taxi.
And in the US, that process is set up so that FIRST the mission center calls up your registration data. If the beacon is registered, they will read what you wrote (i.e. that you are a diver not a boat) and they will attempt to CALL every listed number in order to screen out accidental beacons, simply because of cost.
No actual SAR response is launched until your registration has been checked, and the phone numbers called. So, a little more time before the taxi is dispatched.
You can't make any assumptions. In the US, we think of the USCG. Many folks don't realize that is not a military arm--except in time of war. Otherwise, it is an administrative agency. The USCG, and the USN, may be operating globally under signed agreements with other nations, i.e. carrying a UK official on board and operating in UK waters.
But the Australian Coast Guard, despite the Coast Guard name, is an all-volunteer watch organization, much like the UK's lifeboat service. Very different and limited resources!
The only assumption you can safely make, is that the facts will have been distorted before they were all passed around. Like Bill's surprise to find dive boats didn't carry expensive radios. Or any radios. Very different from the US, where radios are mandated, radio watches are mandated, and for something like a decade now, DSC-equipped radios have been mandated for all new sales.
PLB? I'd rather carry a small EPIRB, since the battery size and life will be at least twice as long, and that means a much better chance of being heard. Especially if there's a delay in dispatching my taxi.
