StephenSails
Well-Known Member
McMurdo Precision EPIRB and FastFind Plus PLB
perform “faultlessly” in new tests
(Portsmouth, 16-00 hrs BST 7 July, 2004) – McMurdo Limited today announced outstanding performance results for its upgraded FastFind Plus PLB and Precision EPIRB products after earlier tests questioned product performance.
The new tests were designed to replicate the earlier Equipped to Survive Foundation tests as closely as possible. The PLB land tests took place on the sites of the original study in Santa Cruz, California. The EPIRB and PLB marine tests took place under very similar conditions, but in UK waters.
The McMurdo tests also incorporated pre-upgraded products that were the subject of the original Equipped to Survive Foundation trials. Peter Forey and the McMurdo team observed significantly superior product performance compared to that reported by Equipped to Survive.
“All the updated beacons performed faultlessly, acquiring and transmitting an accurate GPS location within a few minutes, even under adverse conditions,” said Peter Forey, Managing Director of Sartech Engineering Limited. Mr Forey is an internationally acknowledged expert in the field of 406 MHz beacons and acted as an independent witness at all the tests.
Also present at the Land tests in California was a representative from West Marine, the US boating and leisure retailer, who supported the original Equipped to Survive tests. “Under severe forest canopy and canyon obscuration, the improved beacons worked reliably in the trials. The performance of the upgraded FastFind Plus products improved dramatically. The tests highlighted the difficulty in testing GPS based products in a forest environment due to the periodic variability in satellite coverage,” said Chuck Hawley, Vice President of Product Development at West Marine.
PLB Results
The FastFind Plus PLBs were tested under 11 scenarios ranging from expansive sky views to a small forest clearing and in a life raft. The average time to achieve a GPS “fix” was 1:28 minutes. The average time for the PLB to transmit a position signal was 3:08 minutes.
In every case where GPS functionality was originally demonstrated, the McMurdo PLB successfully acquired and transmitted GPS position.
EPIRB Results
The Precision EPIRB (G4) was tested under 7 scenarios ranging from expansive sky views to operation at sea in simulated rainfall and in a life raft. The average time to achieve a GPS “fix” was 1:48 minutes. The average time for the EPIRB to transmit a position signal was 3:21 minutes. In every case the EPIRB successfully acquired and transmitted GPS position, even under arduous marine conditions.
“We are delighted with these results. We have proven beyond any doubt the reliability of the industry-standard 406 MHz COSPAS-SARSAT distress system and the benefits of integral GPS functionality. Peter Forey and our technical team are in the process of finalising the complete analysis of the data from the recent tests. We will be making a full test report, verified by Mr Forey, available later this month,” said Gary Mullins, Managing Director of McMurdo today.
“We know that our customers may have been concerned by reports resulting from the original trials. We shared this concern and made the decision to initiate an upgrade,” added Mr Mullins. “The upgrade is free of charge and available to all Fastfind Plus customers, who we are in the process of contacting. The upgrade for the Precision and G4 EPIRBs will be available in August and we will be contacting these customers at that time. Customers can contact us in the UK on +44 (0) 2392 623978 or in the USA on 1 800 576 2605 to arrange for the upgrade. On behalf of the entire McMurdo team, I would like to express my thanks to the hundreds of customers who have been in touch offering us their full support over the past few weeks,” concluded Mr Mullins.
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perform “faultlessly” in new tests
(Portsmouth, 16-00 hrs BST 7 July, 2004) – McMurdo Limited today announced outstanding performance results for its upgraded FastFind Plus PLB and Precision EPIRB products after earlier tests questioned product performance.
The new tests were designed to replicate the earlier Equipped to Survive Foundation tests as closely as possible. The PLB land tests took place on the sites of the original study in Santa Cruz, California. The EPIRB and PLB marine tests took place under very similar conditions, but in UK waters.
The McMurdo tests also incorporated pre-upgraded products that were the subject of the original Equipped to Survive Foundation trials. Peter Forey and the McMurdo team observed significantly superior product performance compared to that reported by Equipped to Survive.
“All the updated beacons performed faultlessly, acquiring and transmitting an accurate GPS location within a few minutes, even under adverse conditions,” said Peter Forey, Managing Director of Sartech Engineering Limited. Mr Forey is an internationally acknowledged expert in the field of 406 MHz beacons and acted as an independent witness at all the tests.
Also present at the Land tests in California was a representative from West Marine, the US boating and leisure retailer, who supported the original Equipped to Survive tests. “Under severe forest canopy and canyon obscuration, the improved beacons worked reliably in the trials. The performance of the upgraded FastFind Plus products improved dramatically. The tests highlighted the difficulty in testing GPS based products in a forest environment due to the periodic variability in satellite coverage,” said Chuck Hawley, Vice President of Product Development at West Marine.
PLB Results
The FastFind Plus PLBs were tested under 11 scenarios ranging from expansive sky views to a small forest clearing and in a life raft. The average time to achieve a GPS “fix” was 1:28 minutes. The average time for the PLB to transmit a position signal was 3:08 minutes.
In every case where GPS functionality was originally demonstrated, the McMurdo PLB successfully acquired and transmitted GPS position.
EPIRB Results
The Precision EPIRB (G4) was tested under 7 scenarios ranging from expansive sky views to operation at sea in simulated rainfall and in a life raft. The average time to achieve a GPS “fix” was 1:48 minutes. The average time for the EPIRB to transmit a position signal was 3:21 minutes. In every case the EPIRB successfully acquired and transmitted GPS position, even under arduous marine conditions.
“We are delighted with these results. We have proven beyond any doubt the reliability of the industry-standard 406 MHz COSPAS-SARSAT distress system and the benefits of integral GPS functionality. Peter Forey and our technical team are in the process of finalising the complete analysis of the data from the recent tests. We will be making a full test report, verified by Mr Forey, available later this month,” said Gary Mullins, Managing Director of McMurdo today.
“We know that our customers may have been concerned by reports resulting from the original trials. We shared this concern and made the decision to initiate an upgrade,” added Mr Mullins. “The upgrade is free of charge and available to all Fastfind Plus customers, who we are in the process of contacting. The upgrade for the Precision and G4 EPIRBs will be available in August and we will be contacting these customers at that time. Customers can contact us in the UK on +44 (0) 2392 623978 or in the USA on 1 800 576 2605 to arrange for the upgrade. On behalf of the entire McMurdo team, I would like to express my thanks to the hundreds of customers who have been in touch offering us their full support over the past few weeks,” concluded Mr Mullins.
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