westhinder
Well-known member
This is good news, I’ve been waiting for the combination PLB. This is an EPIRB, so there’s hoping a PLB will follow in due course
Singlehanded: EPIRB or PLB?
- Thread starter Koeketiene
- Start date
Frogmogman
Well-known member
If an EPIRB is required by your Flag Registry for offshore (as it is in France), then Ithink you’ve answered your own question. If it’s an either/or, go for the one you are required to fit.
requiem
Active member
Ah, thanks for that! I see that SOLAS requirements for EPIRBS are updated and will very soon require AIS on newly-installed units.
Tranona
Well-known member
While that is a pragmatic answer it does illustrate the nonsense of compulsory equipment legislation. Just about unanimous from this thread so far that a PLB is more appropriate for most people.
Where is there any evidence that "lives have been lost" sailing offshore that could have been saved if an EPIRB had been fitted that could not have been saved by a PLB, or that suddenly at 60 miles from a harbour it all suddenly gets dangerous. These limits are arbitrary and bear little relationship to reality.
Maybe better as in other consumer decisions to provide information and allow individuals to make their own decision. After all sailing is a voluntary activity.
Frogmogman
Well-known member
I do agree with you, but that is the nature of government bureaucracy,
Tranona
Well-known member
And vested interests!
Shaddickp
Member
Without a doubt a PLB. I use McMurdo fast find. Batteries don't need to last more than 24 hours for reasons already stated, they are small so easily worn, and relatively cheap, so I have three on board and insist all on watch crew wear one at night. You can easily change the batteries yourself I've done this myself a couple of times, see youtube videos for details. They broadcast on two frequencies.
steveinnice
N/A
or even a spare set of batteries?
Bru
Well-known member
Actually, they probably won't
To be fully effective, PLB's have to be held with the antenna correctly orientated. They do not float in the correct orientation, even if used with the flotation pouch, and they will almost certainly fail to communicate with a satellite from the wrong orientation if the user is, or falls, unconscious
Beware the terminology here (as previously mentioned). There are companies marketing water activated automatic "PLBs" which are not actually PLBs. They are 121.5Mhz SART beacons and/or AIS transponders and not 406Mhz COSPAS-SARSAT satellite beacon at all
AFAIK (and I;d be delighted to discover otherwise) there are no 406Mhz PLBs that will automatically deploy and be effective without manual activation and orientation
Never the less, it is a 406Mhz PLB that is on my belt at all times when underway but I'm aware that it will be of little use to me if I'm non-compos mentis when I need it!
steveinnice
N/A
Years ago Mr (don't remember his first name Tony I think) Bullimore was in the southern ocean and pitchpoled and was trapped inside his yacht for about a week. He use to turn his epirb off for a number of hours then back on at set times for one hour. His thinking was they are on the way and it will take them 3 or 4 days to get to him.
westernman
Well-known member
Why are EPIRBs so much bigger than a PLB?
Why can't a PLB be made which will automatically deploy and float with the aerial in the correct orientation? I.e. work like a EPIRB?
Why can't a PLB be made which will automatically deploy and float with the aerial in the correct orientation? I.e. work like a EPIRB?
Roberto
Well-known member
They are a bit like boats having lost their keels
The antenna is steel and about 30cm long, it has to be kept vertical with floatation and sufficient righting moment to counteract the effect of wind and waves; I suspect weights and volumes increase rapidly, tending towards epirbs'.They should invent a non-capisizing catamaranPLB.
Daydream believer
Well-known member
When I discussed servicing my EPIRB with Sartec they advised me to scrap my old one. They said that if I set 2 off at once very close together it can cause a distorted signal. They then offered a discount for returning the old one. I pointed out the hassle of return postage so they accepted a photo of the old one taken apart & destroyed. I thought that a fair outcome.
Regarding my new PLB I carry that all the time on my LJ along with a small mini flare pack. What I did not know at the time was that the Ocean PLB, whilst being tied to a cord, does not float. This means that I will have to hold it above the water with the aerial above the water level. I very much doubt that I will be able to do this & It does give me cause for concern. If I am loosing consciousness my LJ will keep me afloat for a short while, but I will not be able to hold the PLB correctly. Those few minutes can be the difference between life & death.
As a SH sailorin the Channel & east coast areas I perceive my main dangers being run down, ( I have had quite a few VERY near misses), or falling overboard, when getting ready to enter port. Setting lines & fenders, dropping sails in a rolling sea at the end of a long trip, possibly at night, is the danger point. I would hope not to be in the water too long., So a properly set PLB is important. Some mini flares as backup should help when near to shore.
I cannot see electric flares being much use in the immediate future, as they would not necessarily be recognised as distress signal by the public ashore
Regarding my new PLB I carry that all the time on my LJ along with a small mini flare pack. What I did not know at the time was that the Ocean PLB, whilst being tied to a cord, does not float. This means that I will have to hold it above the water with the aerial above the water level. I very much doubt that I will be able to do this & It does give me cause for concern. If I am loosing consciousness my LJ will keep me afloat for a short while, but I will not be able to hold the PLB correctly. Those few minutes can be the difference between life & death.
As a SH sailorin the Channel & east coast areas I perceive my main dangers being run down, ( I have had quite a few VERY near misses), or falling overboard, when getting ready to enter port. Setting lines & fenders, dropping sails in a rolling sea at the end of a long trip, possibly at night, is the danger point. I would hope not to be in the water too long., So a properly set PLB is important. Some mini flares as backup should help when near to shore.
I cannot see electric flares being much use in the immediate future, as they would not necessarily be recognised as distress signal by the public ashore
Daydream believer
Well-known member
Here no the east coast Uk by the Thames estuary & then heading across the English Channel towards France I have heard many. The French even use the darned things (incorrectly) to do a Pan Pan call to announce the start of a weather forecast .
If one is sailing single handed one has to go below & turn of the annoying racket & check that the radio is back on channel 16. If one does not then the radio is automatically switched to another wavelength & left there.
If it is rough I can find it really difficult to get below, change my glasses, read the screen to see what the issue is & switch back over to 16, & it can take me some time to leave the helm then get back if it is F6 or more.
It is a reason one sometimes just turns the radio off altogether.
Bru
Well-known member
Because ...
... if you made a PLB that automatically deployed and floated with the aerial in the correct orientation you'd end up with an EPIRB!
Bru
Well-known member
Actually, what the French send is either a DSC Safety Annoucement or a DSC Routine Annoucement (depending on the nature of the following transmission), not an Urgency Annoucement (equivalent to a Pan Pan) or Distress Alert (equivalent to a MayDay) and they are technically correct to do so
Cancelling them is only a minor pain in the bottom if you have a remote command mic in the cockpit
Daydream believer
Well-known member
Some makes of PLB do float
Daydream believer
Well-known member
If the French accompany the DSC call ( when one switches over) with the words Pan Pan then why would one NOT call that a Pan Pan call. Have you never heard them ?Actually, what the French send is either a DSC Safety Annoucement or a DSC Routine Annoucement (depending on the nature of the following transmission), not an Urgency Annoucement (equivalent to a Pan Pan) or Distress Alert (equivalent to a MayDay) and they are technically correct to do so
Cancelling them is only a minor pain in the bottom if you have a remote command mic in the cockpit
I do not have a remote mic in the cockpit & do not intend to fit one. My cockpit does not make it easy to fit & store one. Plus I am not sure that my Simrad RD 64 extn mic would always change channels & show me what the DSC call was about ( ie MOB, aground, fire, pan pan, mayday etc) anyway - or would it?
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Bru
Well-known member
Indeed they do although in the case of 406Mhz PLBs it's usually only if they're in the supplied floatation pouch
However, afaik none of the true PLbs float in the correct orientation
If they accompany it with Pan Pan then it was indeed an Urgency call
However, more often they follow the DSC annoucement with a Securite call - all of their weather and navigation annoucements are transmitted thus (a DSC Safety Annoucement followed by a voice call preceded by "Securite, Securite, Securite ..."
They're technically correct doing it that way but it's rather OTT imo!
Up to you on the RAM mic, I wouldn;t be without it
Daverw
Well-known member
I’m I right in that in Aus and NZ that epirbs are not allowed to auto deploy anyway, so in that case not more than a PLB that floats with a bigger battery