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The nonprofit
Equipped To Survive Foundation (www.equipped.org)
just made public its extensive real-world testing of GPS-equipped EPIRBs
and PLBs (see “Lifeguards in the Sky,” January 2004). McMurdo
units did not fare well. Its Precision GPS EPIRB and Fastfind Plus PLB
(personal location beacon) both “failed to provide location information
except under ideal conditions,” according to the report. By contrast,
units from ACR and Techtest “provided location information within
a few minutes from activation under all but the most onerous scenarios
tested.”
The report emphasizes
that the SARSAT rescue system worked flawlessly during the testing and
that, for the most part, the GPS-assisted units that failed to send precise
location were eventually located by the standard 406-MHz Doppler-shift
technique. However, submerging the base of a PLB’s antenna in water
significantly attenuated the 406-MHz signal, a problem that the foundation
says is exacerbated in McMurdo’s Fastfind design because its case
can trap water around the antenna base. In fact, the report further reveals
that the U.S. Coast Guard, which has equipped thousands of its personnel
with regular non-GPS Fastfinds, primarily for MOB situations, is now recommending
that Coasties “make every effort to keep them out of the water.”
McMurdo has issued an
advisory to customers stating that it does not yet understand the test
results and that its EPIRBs and PLBs meet all applicable standards. More
on this story next month.
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