EPIRB

Hi

We have had the GME MT410G with the GPS personal locator for about 5 years.

It is a good size to carry around in the vehicle and can be carried in your backpack.

They seem to be pretty common.

Cannot comment on how good they are as we have never had to use it.

According to the battery tester on the unit the battery is still ok and is supposed to last 7 years.

http://www.gme.net.au/products/emergency-beacons/plbs/MT410G

How can you have the best and it not be expensive?..... usually the best are expensive.

Do you mean you want one that works OK and and you don't want to pay the earth.

It's like using cheap and quality in the same sentence...... whats that old saying (Do you want cheap - Quality - Fast...... pick any two)

Good to see life to you is CHEAP!

The difference in price between a cheap one and an expensive one is a few hundred dollars.

The cheap one usually don't have GPS and with out GPS it takes longer for someone to find you plus it uses more resources.

There is a big difference between an EPIRB and a PLB....... I think you want a PLB.

PLB are Personal Location Beacons and EPIRB are Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon..... PLB's are used on land and EPIRB's are for sea, but both can be used for either..... the difference is in the design, function and how they work.

We use a GME MT410G and you can buy them for around the $350-$400 mark.

And when travelling don't think you mobile phone, UHF or VHF radio will be of any use in an emergency.

A satellite phone is good insurance.

G'day Everyone,

We bought an EPIRB from BCF 12 months ago and registered it for land use with marine safety authority. I think it was around the $290 mark and I think they are on special at the moment at BCF.

The beauty of the EPIRB is that you can use it for either land or marine quite confidently.

frank

G'day,

for our travels we use Spot Connect.

It has an SOS function but also has a Help button - need help but not an emergency, OK - we use this each night travelling to let family know we're OK and gives a link to Google Earth showing where we are, and there's an optional Track Me function which can follow you wherever you go.

They cost about $200.00 to buy and then it's $50.00 a year (something like that) to register. You then can register 10 email addresses to send your OK to and there are 2 contacts for emergencies.

They are waterproof and shockproof, measure about 80 x 60 x 30 mm thick (close to that). We only used ours to send OK every night and never had the batteries run out. It uses 2 AA Lithium something batteries.

Exploroz sell them in the Shop if you want to have a look.

Hoo roo,
Steve

You may consider a sat phone or HF, which are both duplex and thus you can at least get first aid help while waiting for rescue. An EPIRB and a PLB will not enable you to get first aid or just order a bit of fuel. All they do is send out an emergency call. No details and no way of receiving even a "we are coming" message. Zip.

There used to be a travellers net on 40 meters. And if that's not active you will always find someone to help on the HF ham bands. There is also the 4WD HF services provided by VKS737 and the like.

You can rent satellite phones.

Phil

Anyone tried the inReach system which is now being sold by ExplorOz.

Delorme inReach

Saw it in the USA last year and it looked to have a lot of the answers but the subscription still seems high.

Hi Peter

I see a few people who answered your question, have moved you on to other forms of emergency communication without answering your question.

You seem to be asking what is a fair price to pay for an EPIRB or PLB. I assume you have done some research so you have some idea of what you want to pay. From what you say, it sounds like you are looking for a PLB, as your trip around Australia appears to be on land. If cost is your primary concern, then perhaps you might want to also consider hiring one.

For assessing emergency solutions, there is no perfect answer to your question. Having been involved in 4WDing for many years, and travelled a lot of outback country, the feedback I can give you is that it is always nice to have an emergency tool that is 2 way. Having personally rung for assistance when are vehicle broke down 5 years ago, it was very calming for us to be able to talk to someone via HF radio to have ourselves recovered. In another situation, I also used HF to gain information of the nearest medical help, after a winching accident. That information was very helpful to me.

Thesedays, we travel with a SPOT unit, HF radio & Sat phone. SPOT is great for letting our friends follow our trip. It has an emergency button which will call in emergency services if we activate it. This function is similar to an EPRIB. The biggest downside with SPOT & EPRIBs are that they are one way. i.e. you activate it, but you have no idea what is being done to rescue you until help arrives - this could be 4 hours or it could be 48 hours - you don't know - you just have to wait, while your stress levels increase with time.

The other issue to think about is, is my situation really an emergency? OR am I activating my emergency device because I have no other way of communicating with someone else. As the stats show, there has been a lot of activations for incidence that were not considered "an emergency". A good example was when are 4WD broke down in far west SA. We used our HF to organise a recovery vehicle from Nullarbor. Had we seen anyone for a couple of days, and had run out of food & water, and with the temperature in the high 30's each day, we might then consider it an emergency. But if we only had SPOT, would have we hit the SOS button because we had no other form of communication.

For peace of mind, I personally think that a communication device that allows you to talk to someone else, is of far greater benefit. HF radios cost a lot of money but are cheap to run. Sat Phones are reasonably priced, but you will have ongoing costs to continue with them. However, the advantage of a 2 way device is that the person you speak to may be able to give you helpful advice, and also lower your level of stress. Also, if medical assistance is needed quickly, communicating via HF or Sat phone may get the medical people (such as RFDS) to you much quicker than SPOT or an EPIRB, as the medical assistance wont be organised until the emergency response people arrived at your location & assess the situation.

Someone mentioned inReach. This is similar to SPOT but has the added advantage of 2 way text messaging. One issue with text messaging is that you are reliant on the person your are texting, is available to text you back. You dont know why that havent texted back if you havent heard from them. The advantage of a voice call is that you know very quickly if the person you call is able to talk to you. They may also offer some help which you hadn't thought of.

You also mention UHF. This has a limited use in an emergency situation. You will know that you are dependent on line of site to another user.Repeaters can help here, but there will be many times in the outback when this is not an option. Carrying 2 hand held UHF radios are good for personal communication where you recovery is away from your vehicle.

I finish off by saying there is no one perfect solution. Having more than one form of effective outbback communication is the key to outback travel. The biggest issue I would face (when in an emergency situation) is assessing whether my situation is really an emergency, or am I just using the emergency tools I have because that is all I have.

Laurie

Just thinking that a 4G Smart Phone App would be the way to go.

Come on you tech's on the group, how about it?