EPIRBS Why are they half UK price in Australia?

Norman_E

Norman_E

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I was looking for an EPIRB and checked E-bay. I found these. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KANNAD-SP...AU_Boat_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c6ad2621c and http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EPIRB-406...AU_Boat_Parts_Accessories&hash=item415f9467db at prices way below anything in the UK. Are they subsidised in Australia, or are we being ripped off? I know that if I were to buy one from Australia I would have to pay 20% VAT on both price and postage, plus a handing fee, bringing the total cost to about £245-£250, but even so cheaper than UK prices by £100 or more.

Are Australian ones capable of being programmed with a UK MMSI number?
 
Norman_E said:
I was looking for an EPIRB and checked E-bay. I found these. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KANNAD-SP...AU_Boat_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c6ad2621c and http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EPIRB-406...AU_Boat_Parts_Accessories&hash=item415f9467db at prices way below anything in the UK. Are they subsidised in Australia, or are we being ripped off? I know that if I were to buy one from Australia I would have to pay 20% VAT on both price and postage, plus a handing fee, bringing the total cost to about £245-£250, but even so cheaper than UK prices by £100 or more.

Are Australian ones capable of being programmed with a UK MMSI number?
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It is not usual for leisure boat Epirbs to have the MMSI programmed into them . They are usually just bought off the shelf and the Hex code
is registered with Falmouth and I think this includes the MMSI. However the Aussie EPIRB will have a HEX code indicating OZ as home country
so you would have to reprogram it anyway so that the HEX code shows UK as home country and MMSi details could also be dealt with at this time.
 
Bilgediver said:
It is not usual for leisure boat Epirbs to have the MMSI programmed into them . They are usually just bought off the shelf and the Hex code
is registered with Falmouth and I think this includes the MMSI. However the Aussie EPIRB will have a HEX code indicating OZ as home country
so you would have to reprogram it anyway so that the HEX code shows UK as home country and MMSi details could also be dealt with at this time.
Click to expand...

EPIRBs don't have a MMSI just a 15 digit hexcode. UK yins should be registered with Cardiff so false alarm checks can be made.
 
Bilgediver said:
However the Aussie EPIRB will have a HEX code indicating OZ as home country so you would have to reprogram it anyway so that the HEX code shows UK as home country and MMSi details could also be dealt with at this time.
Click to expand...

Just thinking aloud here, but why couldn't an Aussie EPIRB be registered in Falmouth, if the owner is in the UK? Similarly, why couldn't a UK owner register an Aussie EPIRB on the Australian database? If an Australian sold his boat with EPIRB to a Brit, it would surely have to be re-registered.

The registration details basically only provide vessel and contact details - these can assist the SAR teams, but any delay in getting the info wouldn't in any way hamper a rescue.
 
Norman_E said:
I was looking for an EPIRB and checked E-bay. I found these at prices way below anything in the UK. Are they subsidised in Australia, or are we being ripped off?
Click to expand...
We are being ripped off. Half of everything here is taxes.

As for registering - not that I'm sure but must be possible for UK.
After all what would you do with me, buying american beacon to register in Poland and put on boat in UK? :)
 
I've purchased EPIRBS in the USA and registered them with Falmouth with a UK address. On arrival in UK I've had them re-programmed by Ocean Safety in Southampton for £30 to reflect UK ownership though I don't really know why I bothered! Provided the EPIRBS registered and traceable to an address somewhere, I don't think the embedded country code of origin will cause any delay to a being rescued, I hope not because I'd hate to get my shoes wet while I waited for the helicopter to arrive.

Cheers, Brian.
 
The 15 digit hex code includes a reference to the EPIRB 'home' SAR (Search and Rescue) region. This region cannot be changed. A UK (Falmouth) SAR registered EPIRB will always alert Falmouth MRCC when triggered.

An Australian (or any EPIRB from the Australian region) will always trigger an alert at the Australian MRCC when triggered. Again - this cannot be changed.

Australians have for years been buying PLBs for use on land (since there is a lot of area with no other emergency converage).. I can only assume sheer quantity of sales has reduced the price there.

If you buy an Australian one, the forms that come with it will already be half completed with that SAR Region details.

Hope this helps.
 
pvb said:
Just thinking aloud here, but why couldn't an Aussie EPIRB be registered in Falmouth, if the owner is in the UK?
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When the satellite system picks up the distress burst, it will notice the Australian prefix to the ID and forward it to the ground station in Australia, not Falmouth. I'm sure they will then phone the UK to say that there is an unregistered Australian vessel in trouble off the UK coast, but it's all going to cause delay and confusion.

Pete
 
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Sounds like some (but not all) can be recoded then for your home region.

I guess you'd have to check this is possible for the one you plan to buy...
 
Martin_J said:
The 15 digit hex code includes a reference to the EPIRB 'home' SAR (Search and Rescue) region. This region cannot be changed. A UK (Falmouth) SAR registered EPIRB will always alert Falmouth MRCC when triggered.

An Australian (or any EPIRB from the Australian region) will always trigger an alert at the Australian MRCC when triggered. Again - this cannot be changed.
Click to expand...

That's not the way it works, as I understand it, the COSPAS-SARSAT system processes data received from the EPIRB and then sends a distress alert to a Mission Control Centre, which alerts the nearest Rescue Coordination Centre. An EPIRB (no matter which country it's registered in) activated in or near UK waters would have the alert directed to the Mission Control Centre in Kinloss, Scotland, which would then arrange the SAR efforts. A UK-registered EPIRB activated in Spanish waters would trigger an alert sent to the Mission Control Centre in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria. Local SAR centres would get vessel info and contact details from the country in which the EPIRB is registered, and I understand this is via a global database.
 
Martin_J said:
The 15 digit hex code includes a reference to the EPIRB 'home' SAR (Search and Rescue) region. This region cannot be changed. A UK (Falmouth) SAR registered EPIRB will always alert Falmouth MRCC when triggered.

An Australian (or any EPIRB from the Australian region) will always trigger an alert at the Australian MRCC when triggered. Again - this cannot be changed.

Australians have for years been buying PLBs for use on land (since there is a lot of area with no other emergency converage).. I can only assume sheer quantity of sales has reduced the price there.

If you buy an Australian one, the forms that come with it will already be half completed with that SAR Region details.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Odd, they changed mine!
 
Everything in EPIRB can be changed, and surely a region code. Programming is possible even on used ones. Check how this is done in UK. Some additional requirements may be enforced by a country.
There are several different coding protocols possible for beacon, but choice is for owner. Beacon can be programmed to include vessel MMSI or Call Sign, or user's number. Or nothing.

Here in Poland I fill a form (available online) to the office - just ship/owner particulars and beacon number. Nobody asks where the beacon itself comes from, is it new or preowned; it doesn't matter - it's a registration.
After all my boat can be in Australia and I can buy the EPIRB there. Never mind she's Polish Flag - doubt she will come to Polish shores ever... :o

Would you think boat from Austria to have "home region" programmed into EPIRB? Unless it's an airplane, I'd guess :p
 
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For some reason Australian epirbs do not have seawater activation, FWIW.
No denying this is a very keen price, but Sartech had some deals a while back also.
I don't know what you would pay in VAT and import duty.
Also, you might want to consider whether to pay extra for a GPS epirb.
 
awol said:
EPIRBs don't have a MMSI just a 15 digit hexcode. UK yins should be registered with Cardiff so false alarm checks can be made.
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In actual fact you are partially correct. The EPIRB has the hex code . However the hex code is generated with several elements to the sequence. Part of the code indicates the country in which the vessel is registered ( IE assumes this is where it was sold ) another element reflects the MMSI code which although not required for yachts is required for Solas ships and rigs. My understanding is that the country code can be changed as the MRCC do not like registering EPIRBS with the wrong code.


http://www.cospas-sarsat.org/en/bea...85-what-is-a-hex-id-and-where-can-i-find-mine


Hex code reader .....


http://www.cospas-sarsat.org/en/component/beacondecode/?task=showBeacon
 
pvb said:
It's worth very little, because it's not true!

http://www.gme.net.au/products/emergency-beacons/epirbs/MT403
http://www.rfd.com.au/products/marine/epirbs_and_plbs.php#manualmarine
http://www.acrartex.com/products/catalog/epirbs-and-accessories/globalfix-ipro/
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It certainly used to be true, McMurdo had a separate model range for Oz, where they charged extra to leave out a few bits.
It may be that the models you link to are made in oz for the non-oz market? Or maybe the rules have changed.
Maybe there are a lot of cheap non-water activated beacons in oz for a reason?
There is no logic in the type approval world, just a lot of paper.
Anyway, if buying one, somebody might be disappointed to get a non-water-activated one.
Depends what sort of emergency you're thinking of having.
 
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