Which if these 3 PLB,s would you go for?

[prv]

Does a pouch offer needed protection from accidental knocks, or are these robust devices?

Obviously I haven't tried bashing it about, but my Fastfind seems fairly robust. I wouldn't regard the pouch as necessary for physical protection, though obviously it helps.

Getting back to choice of PLB, I noticed in one of the comics the other day a new design that's even smaller than the ones at the top of this thread, and has a 7 year battery. It looked to be about the size of one of the old pagers that people used to carry before mobile phones. £280 rather than the £200ish that's become the norm, but if folks are nevertheless interested I could look up the name.

Pete

EDIT: Huh, how's that for timing? I'm sure this is the same one that RivalRedwing posted about while I was typing

 

[Zagato]

To drift the thread slightly:

I would add a fourth PLB that was plugged in YM this month:

http://www.oceansignal.com/product.php?id=22

Looks interesting... quite like the ACR though they have a good range and been on the market for a while and it's buoyant!! And it doesn't look like my kids play car remote control, can see Sea Kings hovering over my house one day!

 

[lenseman]

They seem a very convoluted way of getting fished out of the busy Solent.

I wouldn't use a PLB in the Solent,

I would use this and I have them fitted to my LJ's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieLJEglmTz8

and

http://www.kannadmarine.com/en/safelink-r10

I also bought one for Jeanne Socrates when we went to LIBS and it was for her RTW trip as she already had EPIRB and PLB device and this local AIS unit might prove useful for close in location in the southern ocean.

ps: Some clown in Leckford Close just below Portsdown Hill keeps testing his unit at home (6 Jun 2012 at1035UTC and 20 June 2012 at 1611UTC) and it pisses off the Solent CG. How do I know, it comes up on my chart plotter as a distinct bar across the lower 2 inches of the display with an audible alarm and states "MOB" with Lat-Long and bearing. It also records in my Garmin Event Log. This is 4½ miles from my yacht in Haslar Marina.



.

 

[bert49uk]

I have a FastFind I found i could easily zip it inside my lifejacket attached with a lanyard, it is out of the way but at hand if I fall in

 

[dgadee]

Have a look at some of the pouches, you can make your own mind up on that one which will narrow your choice down a bit!

Not sure I understand. I haven't actually seen any of these recent ones in the flesh so no idea whether pouches are protective or not.

 

[Zagato]

Have a look on the links for the Kannad pouches and google for the Fast Find pouches e.g. here http://www.sparesmarine.co.uk/websh...yellow-for-fastfind-200-210-220-plbs-91-063a/

They are designed as a holding pouch and for buoyancy rather than protection as they leave quite a bit of the PLB still exposed to knocks. Kanned do offer an overall cover seperate to the pouch but it's only thin material. Look up more images in the firt post link!

 

[dgadee]

Have a look on the links for the Kannad pouches and google for the Fast Find pouches e.g. here http://www.sparesmarine.co.uk/websh...yellow-for-fastfind-200-210-220-plbs-91-063a/

They are designed as a holding pouch and for buoyancy rather than protection as they leave quite a bit of the PLB still exposed to knocks. Kanned do offer an overall cover seperate to the pouch but it's only thin material. Look up more images in the firt post link!

Thanks. The Ocean Signal RescueME PLB1 seems to be smaller and easier to fit. Probably should look at them in the flesh.

 

[Zagato]

I wouldn't use a PLB in the Solent,

I would use this and I have them fitted to my LJ's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieLJEglmTz8

and

http://www.kannadmarine.com/en/safelink-r10

I also bought one for Jeanne Socrates when we went to LIBS and it was for her RTW trip as she already had EPIRB and PLB device and this local AIS unit might prove useful for close in location in the southern ocean.

ps: Some clown in Leckford Close just below Portsdown Hill keeps testing his unit at home (6 Jun 2012 at1035UTC and 20 June 2012 at 1611UTC) and it pisses off the Solent CG. How do I know, it comes up on my chart plotter as a distinct bar across the lower 2 inches of the display with an audible alarm and states "MOB" with Lat-Long and bearing. It also records in my Garmin Event Log. This is 4½ miles from my yacht in Haslar Marina.



.

Oh just to add to the confusion... AIS instead of PLB, what are the main differences?

Is this the sort of thing as well http://www.marinesuperstore.com/item/99314828/mcmurdo-s10-smartfind-personal-ais-beacon

 

[prv]

I wouldn't use a PLB in the Solent,

I would use [an MOB AIS transmitter]

I'd tend to agree, for Solent use. Set one of those off on the average summer weekend and you'd instantly alert hundreds of people all round you, who can home directly to your position. And even if it's a february evening and the place is deserted, it will still alert Solent Coastguard as well.

This only applies if you never expect to leave the Solent, though. Pop across the Channel to the Scuttlebutt Cherbourg meet and the PLB makes sense once more. So if I could only have one, it would be PLB rather than AIS.

Pete

 

[Zagato]

Well I am hoping to do the Cherbourg trip next year so PLB it is then

 

[Talulah]

Well I am hoping to do the Cherbourg trip next year so PLB it is then

But the Cherbourg trip will be a "Cruise in Company."
Generally, if you are sailing where others are likely to have AIS equipped plotters I would go for a AIS Beacon.
If sailing where the opposite is true then a PLB.
Those thrown off Rambler when she lost her keel in the last Fastnet race were very glad to a have a PLB.

 

[Keen_Ed]

I would add a fourth PLB that was plugged in YM this month:

http://www.oceansignal.com/product.php?id=22

Had a look at LIBS. Nice and small, looks good. However AFAIAA, not actually approved for sale yet. The guys on the stand were saying it's passed the tests, but they're waiting for the rubber stamp.

 

[Keen_Ed]

There is also this: mini Ch16 waterproof VHF.

http://www.nautiluslifeline.com/

 

[prv]

But the Cherbourg trip will be a "Cruise in Company."

It's not necessarily very "in company" though. First time I went, year before last, I didn't see another boat all day on the way over. Last year, we saw a couple of other yachts as we passed the Needles, and a motorboat mid-Channel, and that was it.

Pete

 

[prv]

There is also this: mini Ch16 waterproof VHF.

http://www.nautiluslifeline.com/

That's an interesting device - DSC as well as ch16. Its main selling point though is that it's waterproof to 130m for diving purposes - as sailors we don't need that so it's much the same as any DSC handheld except for a fairly short battery life and a fiddly menu system. Brilliant for divers though, who are not that different from an MOB in many ways, and do sometimes get separated from their boats.

Pete

 

[Keen_Ed]

Do like the fact that it's small & light, and when the cap is closed the aerial doesn't stick out. Nice and easy to slip into a pocket.

What would be ideal is a combined AIS/DSC VHF/PLB. According to the PLB1 guys at the boat show, it'll be a while before COSMAR SOLAS approve combined AIS and 406 PLBs. Took them long enough to approve 24hr battery life for EPIRBs - which was what was required to let people make PLBs.

 

[Zagato]

A combined VHF & PLB or AIS does make sense - I wonder why the VHF manufacturers havn't got these on the market yet! Especially as i need to buy a handheld VHF as well, the one in the cabin is next to useless when single handed, same with most cabin instruments, GPS etc

 

[prv]

I need to buy a handheld VHF as well, the one in the cabin is next to useless when single handed

Where's your VHF mounted? In Kindred Spirit, mine was mounted on the deckhead, in the starboard aft corner, facing across the boat. This made it really easy to reach from the cockpit, and I never felt any need for a handheld. It wasn't in the way up there, and the wires went through the bulkhead into the void inside the cockpit coaming, pretty unobtrusive.

If yours is mounted low down next to the chart table, consider moving it?

Pete

 

[Zagato]

Yes by the chart table.