Craziness continues

[Mike]

Brad, check this option

Looks like there may be a smaller canister than the gold one that I have

http://www.customdivers.com/custom-divers-200210-fast-find-plb-dive-canister-337-p.asp


Custom Divers US contact is: customdivers@hotmail.com

Ron - I contacted them today trying to find out how to purchase their canister and to ask them if the ResQlink will fit in it. No replies back yet.

I've been searching the internet off and on for a week trying to find a canister for the ResQlink PLB, all I've found is the Mcmurdo dive canister and the one you posted. Mcmurdo is bigger than needed, hoping the custom divers one will work.

 

[oerentals]

Brad, check this option

Looks like there may be a smaller canister than the gold one that I have

http://www.customdivers.com/custom-divers-200210-fast-find-plb-dive-canister-337-p.asp


Custom Divers US contact is: customdivers@hotmail.com

Sweet! I just emailed them. Hopefully this will be a smaller, lighter, and lower cost option. And lower cost also means lower cost to the customer of course

 

[ggunn]

The McMurdo canister is actually much bigger than I thought. An ACR ResQlink and ACR Aqualink fit inside with plenty of room to spare.

As far as how clear a view to the sky they need - waves, etc won't affect it. They are sending a satellite and radio signal....

Are you sure about that? I'm not familiar with that particular unit, but all of the small portable radio/GPS devices I've seen receive signal from GPS satellites but transmit locally. I have my doubts that a small battery powered device will have the transmission strength needed to send a signal to a satellite, and I didn't think that the sats are listening.

 

[Ron Lee]

Are you sure about that? I'm not familiar with that particular unit, but all of the small portable radio/GPS devices I've seen receive signal from GPS satellites but transmit locally. I have my doubts that a small battery powered device will have the transmission strength needed to send a signal to a satellite, and I didn't think that the sats are listening.

Gordon, PLBs get their position info from the GPS satellites. Then the PLB broadcasts on 406 MHz to polar and geosynchronous satellites that monitor that frequency. This link is useful reading:

NOAA - Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking - Emergency Beacons

This link has a chart at the bottom showing how small the search area is for a GPS equipped PLB (or EPIRB or ELT) is compared to 406 MHz signal only or the older 121.5 MHz units

FAQ

 

[oerentals]

Are you sure about that? I'm not familiar with that particular unit, but all of the small portable radio/GPS devices I've seen receive signal from GPS satellites but transmit locally. I have my doubts that a small battery powered device will have the transmission strength needed to send a signal to a satellite, and I didn't think that the sats are listening.

The PLB satellite system is different. A PLB transmits a 406mhz radio signal at 5watts that is picked up by geostationary COSPAS-SARSAT satellites. These are dedicated to search and rescue world wide and receiving these signals. A 5watt signal is pretty powerful, and one of the reasons a PLB is a one time only use - use it once you need to have the internal battery replaced at over $100 (its an internal lithium battery, not double AAs or anything).

Many PLB's, like the ResQlink also have a GPS receiver so that it can calculate GPS coordinates of the device and send them along with the signal, to make it easier for S&R to find you. However, even without it, they will triangulate based on the receiving satellites and get your general location and find you eventually.

A PLB in tree cover, with some waves, etc should be able to get the signal out without much trouble. It may not be able to receive the GPS coordinates and transmit as well, but the overall functionality should work.

Disclaimer - most manufacturers (including ACR) will tell you that you have to have a perfectly clear view of the sky, no trees, water, waves, clouds, etc. I'm sure this is mostly CYA stuff though - they market these toward watersports, backcountry travel etc, so 100% perfect conditions can't be expected all the time.

---------- Post added April 4th, 2012 at 10:00 AM ----------

As usual someone said the same thing I said, before me, and without getting all wordy and babbling on Thanks Ron!

 

[cvchief]

Lemme just ask a question on these PLBs:

In CZM, if you miss the boat, can't we assume that the boat is looking for you or that you likely are being looked for? Are you going to activate the PLB and start a really big deal? I get the PLB if you are out in the boonies all by your lonesome or if you are at sea away from land in a boat. But for Cozumel diving?

Seriously, wouldn't you be much better off with a Nautilus kind of radio? I remember one time we got a little off course on a night dive and we weren't were the boat was expecting. We signaled with lights for a bit until the Capitan caught on and came and got us. Had he not I wouldn't have activated a PLB. I would have waited or swam to shore. I would, however, have called him on the Nautilus.

If you came up on a northern site and the boat was out of sight, are you going to trip the PLB right away or float awhile and see if the boat shows up? What if you trip it and two seconds later the boat shows?

What if you are down south and somehow get seperated from the boat. Are you going to try to swim to shore before you trip the PLB or for convenience are you going to start a full scale SAR?

What I am getting at is that PLB is the nuclear bomb of search and rescue. Might a quality rifle be of more service? You would never have to hesitate like you probably should with the bomb?

 

[oerentals]

cvchief - I basically agree. Anyone carrying a PLB should be fully aware that it is the last resort option to use. You push that button, the helicopter is on its way! Therefore, for some trips, dives, etc it may not be necessary. However, I think for something like when my father and I go out diving just the 2 of us, I take one. Wouldn't want to surface and find our boat gone 5 miles out, or something. A radio or something wouldn't help in that situation.

Somewhat relevant story - I rented a bunch of avalanche beacons/shovels/probes for a group of guys going snowmobiling in Wyoming this winter. They also rented 1 PLB. Well, I started getting calls from his wife, the Laramie county sherriff, etc that he and his group were missing and hadn't been back the night before like planned.

They all turned out fine - they had gotten lost, it had gotten dark and they were hours away from the hotel, so they decided to camp out for the night and find thier way out in the morning. They were cold and tired and hungry, but made it back the next afternoon. He told me they were all healthy, basically knew where they needed to go, so didn't consider it a last chance emergency, but also said it was nice to have the PLB just in case things got worse, or someone got too cold or injured etc. He did the right thing, and didn't activate it at that time.

Different tools for different needs, I say.

 

[cvchief]

cvchief - I basically agree. Anyone carrying a PLB should be fully aware that it is the last resort option to use. You push that button, the helicopter is on its way! Therefore, for some trips, dives, etc it may not be necessary. However, I think for something like when my father and I go out diving just the 2 of us, I take one. Wouldn't want to surface and find our boat gone 5 miles out, or something. A radio or something wouldn't help in that situation.


Different tools for different needs, I say.

Exactly my point. They would be great for a dive where no one will be looking for you for AWHILE. For the vast majority of Cozumel diving, I think, it would not be of true utility. Unless you are north, your boat sinks, and you are heading to Cuba, you wouldn't want to trip it. Plus you have to get a container and all to dive with it.

If you are renting out this things, you ought to get some Nautilus radios to rent out to these cheap guys who want a back up. It seems a few are sold on PLBs cuz they are too cheap to buy either.

 

[Ron Lee]

cvchief, the Scuba Mau boat sinking in the channel is a case were I would have activated the PLB once everyone was safe and stable. You are correct that most dives in Cozumel a PLB is not needed. A Barracuda site dive is one where a PLB would be a good safety measure. Maybe the east side as well.

If something happens on Palancar and I am all alone. No one to hold my hand. I will float and use conventional low tech devices to be picked up by a passing boat...or surface swim to shore.

The case mentioned in Post #87 was one where they had the tool to alert SAR assets if the conditions deteriorated.

How many Mt Whitney searches have you read about? Climbers go out and a storm closes in on them. Usually one or more end up dead. If they had and used a PLB, there is no search. They know the persons location. Then it is just a rescue mission.

Yes I have a PLB. I go places where that could be the difference between life and death. I have never activated it. Hopefully never will. But if the situation warrants it, I will.

 

[DandyDon]

Gawd, I can't imagine climbing Whitney without a PLB...?!

If you are renting out this things, you ought to get some Nautilus radios to rent out to these cheap guys who want a back up. It seems a few are sold on PLBs cuz they are too cheap to buy either.

Yeah, if I were to buy either - it'd be a PLB that I could use on land too - but I'd still need to rent the dive canister. For now, I'll rent the PLB and canister from OER and think about buying one. Nautilus does seem like a nice too, altho based on line of sight communication, shorter battery life, less likely to work in a really lost situation, and worthless on land - a nice tool, but not the ultimate I'd want in a really lost case.