Which PLB?

[bdh198]

Sorry, I know this kind of question has been asked a few times, but I am struggling to find simple answers to my query. I am looking to get a PLB and have been considering the McMurdo range.

I can see there is the McMurdo Fast Find 220 and the McMurdo FastFind Max G. They are quite different in price, but I can't seem to find anywhere the benefits you get by paying the premium for the Max G other than it transmits for a minimum of 48 hours rather than 24.

Most of my sailing is coastal, with longer trips being no longer than a 100 miles or so cross Channel from the Solent to Brittany etc. Would the Fast Find 220 be appropriate for my sailing, and are there any other kinds of PLB I could also be looking at.

Thank you for any comments or suggestions.

 

[prv]

Some people like the Max G because it has a user-replaceable battery pack.

I don't see the point of this, the built-in battery on most other PLBs has a six or seven year shelf-life, after which you can either have it serviced or simply consider that it owes you nothing and buy the latest tech that by then will be even smaller, cheaper, and better. As you say, a long operating life (48hr vs 24hr) is irrelevant for European coastal sailing.

The Max G is fairly bulky, which means it might be buoyant which the FastFind certainly isn't. Again this isn't a compelling feature to me, a PLB should always be securely attached to something anyway, but if you want buoyancy then the Fastfind comes with a neoprene cover that lets it float. Neither will transmit while floating, like an EPIRB does, because they need to be held with the aerial upwards.

The FastFind is a good choice, though there are some even smaller ones out there now if you have constant-wear in mind. My PLB is more of a poor-man's EPIRB is the way it's used - I don't carry it on my person - so I have no rush to go smaller and will be sticking with my FastFind until its battery expires.

Pete

 

[G12]

I've just bought an Ocean Signal PLB1 - It is much smaller than the Mc Murdo units, retains the same 24hr performance and has the GPS (why anyone would ever buy a non GPS EPIRB is beyond me). The unit has a little flap over the activation button but I think this would be very easy to catch and potentially allow an accidental alert. I'm going to put a rubber band over mine, I'll still be able to open the flap with cold wet fingers but hopefully it'll stop me catching it on something and accidentally creating an alert.

 

[prv]

I've just bought an Ocean Signal PLB1 - It is much smaller than the Mc Murdo units, retains the same 24hr performance and has the GPS (why anyone would ever buy a non GPS EPIRB is beyond me). The unit has a little flap over the activation button but I think this would be very easy to catch and potentially allow an accidental alert. I'm going to put a rubber band over mine, I'll still be able to open the flap with cold wet fingers but hopefully it'll stop me catching it on something and accidentally creating an alert.

That's probably the one I'd get now if I was intending to mount it inside a lifejacket - really tiny, isn't it? :encouragement:

I share your concern about the flap, I think they're playing a bit fast and loose with the requirement for "two positive manual actions" to prevent false activations. Although folded into a jacket it's probably ok. Good idea with the rubber band.

Pete

 

[tudorsailor]

Two questions:
I have an EPIRB with GPS on the stern rail with autorelease. However I wonder if it is worth packing an Ocean Signal PLB1 into the liferaft?

I am planning on doing the ARC+ in 2017. It strikes me that given the choice between PLB and a personal AIS, that AIS is of more use on a MOB once offshore. However, the ideal would be something that is a PLB with AIS too. Does anyone know if this is being developed - or is it likely to be just too costly?

Thanks

TudorSailor

 

[pvb]

However, the ideal would be something that is a PLB with AIS too. Does anyone know if this is being developed - or is it likely to be just too costly?

They're available, for example this one - http://www.mrtsos.com/products/personal-locator-beacons/smrt-au10

 

[prv]

They're available, for example this one - http://www.mrtsos.com/products/personal-locator-beacons/smrt-au10

That's not a PLB in the modern sense, since it doesn't transmit on 406MHz. It only provides the "last mile homing" signal on 121.5MHz, and is presumably aimed at industrial users who invested in the old-style analogue homing kit. AIS has superseded that function pretty much entirely.

In answer to TudorSailor's question - AIS and PLB in one unit is an obviously desirable combination that's often suggested, but as far as I know nobody is yet making one. I don't think cost is the issue - a typical PLB or AIS MOB is £200, I think you'd find plenty of takers for a combined unit at say £350 - £400, but the costs to make it wouldn't be anything like double since you only need one case, battery, antenna, GPS, etc. There are vague suggestions that "regulations" make it hard to do, but I don't know specifically what the problem is supposed to be.

Will come about in time, I think.

Pete

 

[duncan99210]

As I understand it the current position regarding a combined AIS/satellite PLB is stalled. The problem is not one of being physically able to do it rather it fails because a PLB must be manually activated to prevent false alarms, whereas the AIS beacons are all automatic in that once you're in the water, they start to transmit.
The build standards calling for the manual activation only of a PLB are laid down in the international conventions that govern the satellite network and are designed to minimise false alarms, which are global in nature once the beacon is activated.
Conversely, the AIS beacons are very localised and aimed at nearby vessels equipped with AIS receivers. Thus a false alarm will not impact on a global distress system, only on those vessels near enough to pick up the signal. Therefore the conventions are prepared to accept a higher rate of false activations due to accidental immersions.
I understand (read it somewhere) that the idea of a combined beacon is being discussed, so perhaps they will come onto the market at some stage?
On the topic of offshore use, I'd have thought that a PLB would be the best bit of kit, as it will get a distress message through no matter where you are and how much shipping there is in the vicinity. An AIS beacon of the other hand will offer no help unless there happens to be shipping nearby or the boat you've fallen off is fitted with an AIS receiver. I already carry an ACR PLB, about the size of a packet of cigarettes. As I don't have AIS on board yet, I haven't bothered with an AIS beacon. When funds allow, an AIS receiver and a beacon each will be added to the collection.

 

[tudorsailor]

On the topic of offshore use, I'd have thought that a PLB would be the best bit of kit, as it will get a distress message through no matter where you are and how much shipping there is in the vicinity. An AIS beacon of the other hand will offer no help unless there happens to be shipping nearby or the boat you've fallen off is fitted with an AIS receiver. I already carry an ACR PLB, about the size of a packet of cigarettes. As I don't have AIS on board yet, I haven't bothered with an AIS beacon. When funds allow, an AIS receiver and a beacon each will be added to the collection.

Thanks
For the ARC every yacht has to have an AIS receiver. I would think that if one falls off mid-Atlantic, that you want your own boat to find you (I have no intention of being singlehanded!) and if other yachts are nearby to help with the search, an AIS beacon surely is better than a PLB. I will wait for advances in technology and buy in 2017!

TS

 

[prv]

As I understand it the current position regarding a combined AIS/satellite PLB is stalled. The problem is not one of being physically able to do it rather it fails because a PLB must be manually activated to prevent false alarms, whereas the AIS beacons are all automatic in that once you're in the water, they start to transmit.

Sure, but there's no reason at all that the AIS component can't start working automatically, with an additional tab that you rip off if you want 406MHz as well.

The Ocean Safety MOB1 (combined AIS and VHF DSC) already does something like this, it automatically sends AIS and a DSC call to your own boat, and you can press a button if you also want to send a general DSC Distress Alert.

On the topic of offshore use, I'd have thought that a PLB would be the best bit of kit, as it will get a distress message through no matter where you are and how much shipping there is in the vicinity.

Think about it for a moment - unless you've invented teleportation, there's obviously at least one vessel in the area otherwise how did you end up there?

And if you're offshore, it's not much good sending a message to Falmouth via Spain because by the time they've established that you really are in trouble, located and contacted a distant container ship, and it's steamed to where you are, you're probably dead. Meanwhile, the rest of your crew are frantically sailing around really nearby, looking for you by eye because you have nothing that can signal to them.

A PLB is better than nothing for a single-hander. For a crewed boat going offshore, AIS is the right answer.

(And a combined unit would offer useful backup, and flexibility for people who sometimes sail with crew and sometimes without, which is why someone really ought to crack on with making one.)

An AIS beacon of the other hand will offer no help unless there happens to be shipping nearby or the boat you've fallen off is fitted with an AIS receiver.

So the only logical point to come out of this is that it doesn't make much sense to buy an AIS beacon before you've bought an AIS receiver, which I would have thought was obvious.

Pete

 

[RichardS]

The problem is not one of being physically able to do it rather it fails because a PLB must be manually activated to prevent false alarms, whereas the AIS beacons are all automatic in that once you're in the water, they start to transmit.

I'm sure that's not correct.

My Smartfind S10 AIS PLBs are operated manually with a twist cap thingy. There's no automatic operation.

Richard

 

[SiteSurfer]

I just found these:

http://www.marinesuperstore.com/saf...cuYRMFzLzobK2xtaTKg3nrEIZzWNdrieEwaAr0y8P8HAQ

Which seem on the face of it to be similar to the McMurdo one. Any good?

 

[DannyB]

That's the one I bought, I'm hoping never to find out if it's any good or not. The local RNLI were having a safety day in the marina and that's the one they were using as a demo unit. They wouldn't say if any one was better than the others, but that one was on special offer when I bought it.

 

[tudorsailor]

I'm sure that's not correct.

My Smartfind S10 AIS PLBs are operated manually with a twist cap thingy. There's no automatic operation.

Richard

One version of the Smartfind can be auto activated apparently
"An automatic deployment option is offered when professionally fitted to compatible lifejackets, allowing the S20 to automatically activate when the lifejacket is inflated"
In truth I think I will not buy the version that goes in a lifejacket. In warm climes we do not always wear a lifejacket. But if offshore it might be best to have one on ones person even when not wearing a lifejacket.

TudorSailor

 

[RichardS]

One version of the Smartfind can be auto activated apparently
"An automatic deployment option is offered when professionally fitted to compatible lifejackets, allowing the S20 to automatically activate when the lifejacket is inflated"
In truth I think I will not buy the version that goes in a lifejacket. In warm climes we do not always wear a lifejacket. But if offshore it might be best to have one on ones person even when not wearing a lifejacket.

TudorSailor

My thinking also as in the Med we don't usually wear LJs during the day although we do at night. The S10 is not tied to the LJ and can be used during the day (it has a wrist strap) if everyone goes below for a kip leaving one person alone on deck.

Richard