alexincornwall
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
I have recently purchased a second hand, yet brand new unregistered Epirb for a very decent price. Happy with my new bargain, I then went to register the beacon with the MCA but received an email back from Falmouth advising that the Epirb was registered with an Australian country code in the Hex ID (503). For the avoidance of doubt, I did note that this was an Australian unit but considered that this wouldn't be an issue as it had not been previously registered. I didn't realise that the country code was effectively hardcoded to the unit.
I was then advised that I would have to have the Epirb country code reprogrammed to register in the UK. I did consider registering with the Australian authorities but they will only do so for Aussie registered vessels.
As I'm therefore stuck with an unregistered unit, I'm beginning to think that my bargain wasn't such a bargain after all. The Epirb is manufactured by a company called GME that don't appear to have any presence in the UK.
Does anybody have idea of the best way to proceed, or the standard procedure for having the country code reprogrammed? Is an unregistered Epirb still a useful piece of safety equipment or a bit of a liability?
I have recently purchased a second hand, yet brand new unregistered Epirb for a very decent price. Happy with my new bargain, I then went to register the beacon with the MCA but received an email back from Falmouth advising that the Epirb was registered with an Australian country code in the Hex ID (503). For the avoidance of doubt, I did note that this was an Australian unit but considered that this wouldn't be an issue as it had not been previously registered. I didn't realise that the country code was effectively hardcoded to the unit.
I was then advised that I would have to have the Epirb country code reprogrammed to register in the UK. I did consider registering with the Australian authorities but they will only do so for Aussie registered vessels.
As I'm therefore stuck with an unregistered unit, I'm beginning to think that my bargain wasn't such a bargain after all. The Epirb is manufactured by a company called GME that don't appear to have any presence in the UK.
Does anybody have idea of the best way to proceed, or the standard procedure for having the country code reprogrammed? Is an unregistered Epirb still a useful piece of safety equipment or a bit of a liability?
