PLBs Can Save Your Life

[CuzzA]

I'm waiting for mine to arrive in the mail. Total cost (converted from pounds) $87.19 for the canister, $26.87 for shipping and a spare o-ring kit.

Hard to beat that. FYI, Ace Hardware carries a perfect O ring replacement for the future. It's slightly thicker, but seals very nice. Cost was around 50 cents.

 

[Steelyeyes]

I got a response back from Nautilus. It had a legal disclaimer about copying, retransmitting, etc. Suffice it to say that rumor has it that 34 mile range is to an antenna on a cliff while the range with diver in the water and a boat antenna only a few meters above the water is probably 10-15 miles.

I've read a couple of reviews of the device but no actual operational test. It would be easy enough to do using the position verification, vs the emergency transmission. All you'd need is a vessel with AIS to play with.

 

[Dan]

Which model case was that?

Can you get o-rings for it?

Yap. It's Sony MPK-PHA

Here's one for $14.99 with spare o-ring
Sony MPK-THA Cyber-shot Marine Pack for DSC-P73 40M 132' Depth Camera Underwater | eBay

It's MPK-PHA, the seller put the wrong model number for P-series camera. MPK-THA is for T-series (thin) camera.

Although I have spare o-ring, I have not replaced my old camera o-ring, yet for 10-years, 700 dives with it. Maintenance is the key. After the trip, I open the case & let the o-ring return to the relax state in my camera drawer. Otherwise, if you store camera case in closed position, after a few months or so, the elastomer memory may not return to its original shape and you will get a flat spot. Then you might as well trash that o-ring.

Same thing with storing your car in garage for few months or so. If you don't rotate its tires once a week or jack the car off the ground, you will have flat spot on your tires. Then you wonder why your car driving as out of balance after a few months of not driving it.

 

[divinh]

But diving off of jersey or even the Carolinas that makes less sense as you said you're boat could have been the only boat for miles around. And without the ability to say I'm at grid 12345678 it's really tough for someone to find.

I've thought about this scenario, where you do need to describe where you're at verbally over VHF. The Nautilus Lifeline Radio has an LCD display and you can see your GPS coordinates, which I suppose you could relay by writing it down on a slate and reading it off, or off the top of your head if you can keep all the numbers straight. Alternatively, if you're talking to your boat, perhaps agree to relay the last number in longitude and latitude as a quick short-hand, as the boat is probably close enough that the preceding numbers are already known.

 

[Ron Lee]

This is the reason I carry PAB & PLB as the MCC response for PLB tend to be delayed.

1) What is a "PAB?"

2) Why do you say that MCC response to a PLB activation tends to be delayed?

 

[Tug]

I’m trying to condense the responses from a mound of PM’s I’ve created a google form. Could you please fill this out even if you’ve already PM’d me? Thanks!

https://forms.gle/q3jTgDteLfK9Ror19

 

[ccannon707]

Personal AIS Beacons (PAB): These new devices gained FCC approval for use in the U.S. in April, 2012. Personal AIS Beacons are intended to be attached to your life vest and activated if you go overboard or encounter some other emergency while you’re in a dinghy. They use both GPS and AIS (Automatic Identification System) technology to send structured alert messages containing your precise location information to any AIS receiver onboard your vessel and to other AIS-equipped boats or ships that happen to be within a typical four-mile radius. In a crew overboard situation, chances of finding and recovering the casualty are greatly increased, thanks to information given by the PAB, which for the first time shows bearing and distance to the person in the water.

from this site: Selecting an Emergency Beacon | West Marine

 

[letterboy]

I've thought about this scenario, where you do need to describe where you're at verbally over VHF. The Nautilus Lifeline Radio has an LCD display and you can see your GPS coordinates, which I suppose you could relay by writing it down on a slate and reading it off, or off the top of your head if you can keep all the numbers straight. Alternatively, if you're talking to your boat, perhaps agree to relay the last number in longitude and latitude as a quick short-hand, as the boat is probably close enough that the preceding numbers are already known.

My thought if you didn't have a GPS was you could say we were diving the so and so wreck and got pushed off by a northern current. It could give some semblance of an idea of where you were, or give a starting point for boats.

Is the lifeline an actual radio too?

 

[Dan]

1) What is a "PAB?"

2) Why do you say that MCC response to a PLB activation tends to be delayed?

1) Personal AIS Beacon as explained by @ccannon707
2) Mission Control Center, in USA it is handled by NOAA

Why the response could be delayed? Because LEOSAR is orbiting only 850 km above the earth so it's not always be directly above the PLB antennae when it is activated. Then NOAA SAR personnels need to verify whether it is a legit or false signal. They may try to call your emergency contacts and mobilize the local SAR / USCG / US Navy to SAR you once they decide that it is not a false alarm.

For PAB, a boat with marine radio would pick up your "man overboard" signal via DSC and for boat with AIS can also receive your GPS location signal. So, the response would be sooner if you dive in busy dive sites.

 

[Johnoly]

...2) Why do you say that MCC response to a PLB activation tends to be delayed?

It is a Delayed response in comparison to a VHF channel 16/9 call for help.

In every USA case of a PLB activation I've seen, they will first telephone call your registered 24 hour emergency contact and also your 24hr alternate contact before deploying or forwarding any information to rescue assets. Once information is forwarded to a rescue asset they are required no matter what to investigate. There are ALOT of false alarm activations in the US. If MCC can't reach your EM contacts they may even contact local police and request a home visit by an officer to your address listed to gain any information about where you had plans to be and attempt to verify the activation is valid. In several instances the 'delayed response' can be 1 to 3 hours or MORE (this again is for USA activations). For that reason alone, it is why I don't like PLB's for MY STYLE of diving Florida's east coast and my u/w VHF is much quicker and effective. If I was diving very remote with no other boats around, I'd rent a PLB for that trip in addition to my VHF.