PLBs Can Save Your Life

[kelemvor]

Is the lifeline an actual radio too?

The original nautilus lifeline was a 2 way marine radio, yes. The new ones are not - they're emergency use only. That's why the old ones aren't dropping much in price when sold used.

The old one has three buttons. Regular transmit (low power). High power transmit (5w only I think) and "Distress" aka big red button. The one time I tried to use my lifeline, I found that my captain had turned down his radio so he didn't hear me

Generally you set the channel to whatever the boat monitors (almost always the emergency 16 channel.. that has been the case on every boat I've asked).

... and you do have to shake it to get the water out of the microphone. Same for my waterproof home cordless phone. It's not a big deal to do. Apparently some marine radio manufacturers make mic's that vibrate to save you the minor inconvenience.

 

[divinh]

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?

Yes. It's the first Nautilus Lifeline model, which people here have been writing as Nautilus Lifeline Radio. It's much bigger than the new model. It has VHF radio, DSC but no AIS, and an LCD display. There are three buttons: green - for chat to a designated channel (which can be changed on the unit itself with v1.02 firmware, the latest), orange - for chat on emergency channel 16 and GPS via DSC, and red - for sending a distress hail with GPS coordinates relayed over DSC for a period of 24 hrs, every 5 minutes.

When I went to Komodo last year, I made considerations between the different type of devices. The liveaboard I had selected only had VHF with DSC, so my choice narrowed directly to this model. It would have come in handy because the dive group I was with did encounter a problem. Due to strong current, we had to surface sooner than expected, which put us in the wrong location for pickup as well (drift dive). We could see the boat tenders, but they weren't looking for us yet. The guide tried waving the DSMB and we all tried whistles, even my DiveAlert, and none of those worked. The guide asked to try my Nautilus Lifeline Radio and it would auto shutoff every time he tried to chat. The device has a user defined battery threshold that will conserve battery for emergency transmissions, which prevents chat mode from working (though I'm not sure turning off is an elegant way to indicate that). Anyway, we ended up having to wait for the boat tenders to finally perk up and look for us.

Lessons I learned:

1. Make sure the battery is charged every night. I didn't think the battery drain was that much so only charged it well before the trip and expected it to last. It does tell the battery life on the LCD display by mV and percent.
2. Test communicating with the boat radio as soon as you come aboard. I had asked for the boat comm channel before arriving and had set the device accordingly, but never tested until /after/ we had the incident I described above.

 

[letterboy]

The original nautilus lifeline was a 2 way marine radio, yes. The new ones are not - they're emergency use only. That's why the old ones aren't dropping much in price when sold used.

Well, that sounds like the perfect but of kit..

 

[kelemvor]

Well, that sounds like the perfect but of kit..

I will be selling mine pretty soon when if Tug's PLB deal pans out. Lifeline doesn't have the ability to transmit back to a satellite. It's GREAT for diving in Florida because there's tons of boats and shore stations that will hear you. Other countries in the Caribbean... maybe not. The mcmurdo PLB isn't much more than I spent on my lifeline but it does SUCK that nobody makes a dive-ready PLB like the lifeline.

Nautilus should put out a lifeline with PLB guts, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[Tug]

Well, that sounds like the perfect but of kit..

That’s why I’ll part with pretty much any piece of my gear for the right price... except for my Lifeline and Sea Spanner...

 

[letterboy]

That’s why I’ll part with pretty much any piece of my gear for the right price... except for my Lifeline and Sea Spanner...

Lmao

#latetotheparty what about an all expense paid evening to funky Buddha? Lol

 

[Tug]

Hmmm, now you might have me convinced to sell one....

 

[Compressor]

I read some of the FAQs on PLBs and EPIRBs. Why is that the manufacturer has to change the battery? They claim that they will test it to make sure the life is 5 years. Also claimed that the cost of the battery may be more than the unit.

Something is not right.

 

[letterboy]

Hmmm, now you might have me convinced to sell one....

There are a bunch of new small breweries down here... IJS your visit could be a fun one. Lol

 

[JohnnyC]

I read some of the FAQs on PLBs and EPIRBs. Why is that the manufacturer has to change the battery? They claim that they will test it to make sure the life is 5 years. Also claimed that the cost of the battery may be more than the unit.

Something is not right.

1) so they can charge you for it
2) it’s a piece of safety equipment so they don’t want to get sued if you screw it up then die trying to use it
3) they’ll essentially refurb it, new waterproof seals, etc. so that it’s serviceable to their rated specs.

You’re paying for the labor and their liability essentially. Should they be able to get sued by someone who swaps the battery with a cheap-o and the thing dies after 20 minutes and they bite it in the backcountry? Nope, but you bet that some lawyer will try anyway.
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That being said there’s no reason you can’t do it yourself. It’s not a difficult procedure.