Epirb Category I and II

[Lizzie_B]

Hi, being a bit of a Luddite, can anyone explain to me the difference between a categoryI and categoryII 406 Epirb as reading the advertising bumph they seem to be the same thing, though I suspect theyare not. I seem to remember reading somewhere that some form of epirb was about to become obsolete and therefore not worth buying!! Advice and information gratefully received.

 

[Ships_Cat]

Category I is auto deployable (ie "float free" from a hydrostatic release container) and Category II is manually deployable (ie you have to set it going yourself). Most Category II ones will still start themselves automatically if placed in water (my preference) as well as by switch, but a number of Category II ones are now coming onto the market (eg the cheap GME one) that do not.

Normal pleasure vessels are almost always fitted with 406 MHz Category II. As you may be aware, some 406MHz ones also have GPS built in, however that is not mandatory as the satellite fix will be quite accurate without it, the position being resolved in under an hour instead of a few minutes with GPS - so is a matter of personal preference (note though, the alerts from both types are received and responded to in the same time scale).

The EPIRB's you are thinking of which will soon not be supported (2009) are the 121.5MHz ones. You should not get one of these, not only because they are being phased out, but also because their signal does not identify the vessel most countries will not respond to them unless there is additional alert information eg a radio call.

John

 

[Lizzie_B]

Thanks Pussy,
That's exactlly what I needed to know. Thinking of getting one as have long offshore trip coming up. Ta everso.