PLBs Can Save Your Life

[Celt]

Well, divers have been lost and SAR has spent a lot of time & money searching for people with such an attitude. There is a better way, but it looks like you'd rather argue - so ok, fine.

PLBs will do nothing to prevent divers been lost, if you don’t get lost in the first place there’s no need for SAR. No one has a right to expect someone else to come and rescue them if they mess up. Wandering off and making free assents in conditions where there is a possibility of not making it ashore or back to the dive boat is totally reckless.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

I clip my reel to the anchor or mooring rope

I can't do that when I am spearfishing. I would be tangled as tangled could get. Getting lost after a big fish drags you off the wreck is easy too, but I could always surface swim back.

The big worry is if a storm rolls in while I am down there, and the anchors pulls.

 

[-JD-]

@DandyDon

Assuming the UK C8 Mod 1 PLB Canister works out, it will have a MAX diameter of 3" and a height of 7", and clip directly onto my waist belt. The original device has a depth rating of 500', so assuming my mounting holes for the belt clamp don't disturb the structure too much, I imagine I'll be good for any rec or even "normal" tec depth.

For me, it is a matter of compactness. Since I'm already diving with what feels like a "Bat Belt" crammed with too much, I'm trying to get something with the least possible additional bulk to do the job.

That are the dimensions of your HDVSEATEK?

 

[Celt]

I can't do that when I am spearfishing. I would be tangled as tangled could get. Getting lost after a big fish drags you off the wreck is easy too, but I could always surface swim back.

The big worry is if a storm rolls in while I am down there, and the anchors pulls.

When diving a wreck I always tie in the grapple and cut it clear when I return, if I think the anchor might drag on hard ground and I can’t dig it in i return to the boat and move. Some of the sites I dive are 15 miles off shore and I just won’t risk the boat moving. Could you tie in your anchor and use a strobe to keep it in sight at all times

 

[IncreaseMyT]

When diving a wreck I always tie in the grapple and cut it clear when I return, if I think the anchor might drag on hard ground and I can’t dig it in i return to the boat and move. Some of the sites I dive are 15 miles off shore and I just won’t risk the boat moving. Could you tie in your anchor and use a strobe to keep it in sight at all times

We do the same. We are going out up to 70 miles a lot. One day we went down on my buddies 28 World Cat. There was a storm coming but it looked like we had plenty of time. We go down check the anchor all is good. After about 30 minutes, we are all separated now, none of us can find the anchor, or each other. I think we were all going to the anchor and then we moved off the structure looking for the anchor. So we just missed each other, Vis wasn't great cause we were in shallower probably 25 miles offshore.

I come up and and its pitch black and the waves kicked up from 2 feet to 3-5. It happens that quick over here, when the storm rolls over. Tons of spray and white caps so I am have a hard time finding my buddies, and the boat is nowhere to be found. Our line of sight went way down because the waves kicked up so high and the dominant period was so short, it was like trying to look over a window sill.

Finally I find my one buddy and he is literally filling up his mask with rain water. My first thought? Why didn't I think of that lol. We think we are screwed. About 4 minutes later here comes the boat thank god. I guess you could consider it a near miss. So I can see where a PLB would come in handy. So it's like why not carry one?

 

[Steelyeyes]

PLBs will do nothing to prevent divers been lost, if you don’t get lost in the first place there’s no need for SAR. No one has a right to expect someone else to come and rescue them if they mess up. Wandering off and making free assents in conditions where there is a possibility of not making it ashore or back to the dive boat is totally reckless.

To quote Captain Jack Sparrow, "Clearly you've never been to Singapore"

Which in this context means that because you lack the experience in situations where you can't get back to a dive boat due to no fault of your own doesn't mean that it can't happen. Drift diving involved splashing off of a free floating boat and then relying on the boat captain to come get you at the end of the dive. Most of the time it works great. Sometimes not so great. Most times it doesn't work out just having an SMB is good enough to allow them to find you. Very rarely, but not so rarely that the odds are zero, people do get lost.

While it isn't one of the enumerated rights in the US Constitution one of the purposes for our US Coast Guard is to come to the aid of people in trouble at sea. We all pay for that with our taxes. Making their job easier and your time adrift shorter and possibly less lethal just seems like a good idea. The sea is a harsh mistress and even the best planning doesn't guarantee the outcome you expected. Having a backup plan is the opposite of reckless.

 

[rjack321]

I believe it comes with a flotation pouch and lanyard that can be used to attach the PLB to the pouch so they don't get separated. I was really impressed at how small it is when I first found it, but I have to wonder if they have the range and life of the ACR models.

You realize that power has almost nothing to do with range?

A 3 milliwatt signal has been bounced off the moon and received at an earth station. That's over 1,000x less power than a PLB and to the moon & back is almost 400 times further away than the low earth satellites used by PLBs and EPIRBs.
Earth–Moon–Earth communication - Wikipedia

NASA's voyager spacecraft has a 22watt transmitter, its still communicating from 13+ billion miles away
Voyager - Mission Status

All PLBs are certified to last at least 24 hrs.

 

[DandyDon]

@DandyDon So you have the HDVSEATEK and happy with it?

If so I will get one and be done with it.

Thanks.

Yep, as I have said all along. Just use silicone grease on the o-ring for every trip, maybe some on the threads, and replace the o-ring every year or two. I couldn't find the o-ring here, so he is mailing me a couple.

PLBs will do nothing to prevent divers been lost, if you don’t get lost in the first place there’s no need for SAR. No one has a right to expect someone else to come and rescue them if they mess up. Wandering off and making free assents in conditions where there is a possibility of not making it ashore or back to the dive boat is totally reckless.

Yes, yes - but the fact remains that divers do get lost at times, and SAR spends loads of time & money searching for them because they didn't think they needed a PLB. I think PLBs are for anyone who ever leaves town - in cars, tractors, hiking packs, diving, etc. I even carry mine when photographing headstones in remote cemeteries with weak cell service but plenty of risks - like that rattlesnake I nearly stepped on.

That are the dimensions of your HDVSEATEK?

Skip down two posts.

We think we are screwed. About 4 minutes later here comes the boat thank god. I guess you could consider it a near miss. So I can see where a PLB would come in handy. So it's like why not carry one?

Wow, 70 miles out in a storm. That was close. I'm surprised you didn't buy one for the next trip after that.

While it isn't one of the enumerated rights in the US Constitution one of the purposes for our US Coast Guard is to come to the aid of people in trouble at sea. We all pay for that with our taxes. Making their job easier and your time adrift shorter and possibly less lethal just seems like a good idea. The sea is a harsh mistress and even the best planning doesn't guarantee the outcome you expected. Having a backup plan is the opposite of reckless.

He's in Ireland. Lovely country I'd love to tour again someday. I was hungover for the Waterford factory tour. I am so glad that I didn't stumble into that huge crystal trophy unprotected in the middle of the showroom. One of the blowers motioned me over to compare the crystal cowboy hat he was making to one I was wearing. Anyway, they have a different lifeboat system, highly regarded.

You realize that power has almost nothing to do with range?

Well, I was wondering if the smaller PLB1 has the same range as the larger ACR2921, but then why do they all boast about having 5 watts? Those weak transmitters you mentioned as examples are built to hit special receivers designed to catch their weak signals, but I am really not knowledgeable about all that. It does seem that power, antenna, receiver, and more would come into to play with how well a signal is received, but tell me.

All PLBs are certified to last at least 24 hrs.

Yep.

 

[rjack321]

Well, I was wondering it the smaller PLB1 has the same range as the larger ACR2921, but then why do they all boast about having 5 watts? Those weak transmitters you mentioned as examples are built to hit special receivers designed to catch their weak signals, but I am really not knowledgeable about all that. It does seem that power, antenna, receiver, and more would come into to play with how well a signal is received, but tell me.

5watts is the PLB/EPIRB standard transmit power. They all use the same polarity antenna which basically means the antenna length is matched to the transmission wavelength. Mismatching the antenna and the transmit length generates a poorly radiating signal. The signal is somewhat tolerate of not having the antenna vertical in part because the receiving satellites are not stationary anyway. Flooding of the battery compartment or dropping/sinking the PLB is a way bigger concern to me than rated transmit power. 5watts is plenty.

 

[DandyDon]

HDVSEATEK

The smaller one is about 2¼" x 5½" inside - big enough for any PLB on the market I think. You'll have to email him about the larger one.

Ah ha! I found the first email I sent him years ago, asking about dimensions. His reply: Internal Dimensions: Large 70mm x 150mm; Small 70mm x 130mm
In inches: 2¾" x 5.9" for the larger; 2¾" x 5.1" for the smaller

Flooding of the battery compartment or dropping/sinking the PLB is a way bigger concern to me than rated transmit power.

Yep, one of the reasons I had my battery replaced by a pro rather than me trying to buy one and do it myself. They all float, either alone for the ACR 2881 and the two new ACR models, or with available flotation pouches attached. I prefer the models that float alone.