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Writing
this month’s column was particularly meaningful because as I started
it in Fort Myers, Florida, three sport fishermen went missing on an overnight
trip in a 24-footer. At presstime there was still no sign of them, though
they supposedly had an EPIRB onboard. No one knows what happened, but
one possibility is that the device simply didn’t work. Every EPIRB
and PLB can test its battery and circuits to some degree—an important
shopping criterion—but I’m glad to report that Techno-Sciences,
a company that’s built much of the SARSAT infrastructure, is going
to the next level.
A new division called
BeaconSure will soon be offering confirmation by fax, phone, or Internet
that your EPIRB test signal is actually getting up to the satellites and
back down again. I saw it demoed live and thought it reassuring that the
system actually hears and knows you. The service costs $40 per test and
works with all brands of 406-MHz EPIRBs; compatibility with PLBs is pending.
BeaconSure
Phone: (301) 577-6000. www.beaconsure.com.
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