epirb/plb question

>i can get a plb with gps from usa landed in aust for under $300

Care to provide a link so we can take a look?

Our PLB can only be used in Australia, I think it may have something to do more with who is selling them and where in the world they are.

Much like DVD players being zoned.

Wish you blokes would talk bloody English. LOL

I think that they mean the following;...

A beacon (EPIRB) is registered in the country where it is purchased. If that beacon is activated then the alarm signal is automatically sent to the rescue coordination centre in the country of registration. That rescue centre then passes on the details of the activation and the owners details to the rescue centre in the country where the beacon has been activated.

In other words - a beacon must be registered in the country where it was sold. If you buy from the USA it can only be registered in the USA. This will make no difference to the actual rescue effort that will happen if the beacon is activated except the initial alarm will be relayed from the country of registration to the country where the emergency occurs. If you change ownership, your home address or your emergency contacts address's then you will have to notify the authorities in the country where the beacon was registered.

This is no real problem - imagine an Australian purchasing an EPIRB from the USA and then sailing a yacht around the world and having to activate a beacon off New Zealand. The activation signal would be recieved in the New Zealand rescue centre and the EPIRB's unique identity code would indicate that the beacon was 'registered' in the USA. The New Zealand rescue centre would initiate a search and also pass on the details of the activation and the unique owners code to the USA. The authorities in the USA would search their database and details of the beacon owner and his emergency contacts details would be sent back to New Zealand. The New Zealand rescue centre would then check out the owners nominated emergency contacts in Australia and enquire as to what sort of vessel they were looking for, the number of people onboard etc. etc.

Meanwhile the search & rescue people would also have tasked Airforce / Navy / civil aircraft etc. to look for the source of the beacons continous tracking signal and hopefully a sucessful rescue would follow in as short a time as possible.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPIRB

There is a line "When a beacon is sold to another country, the purchaser is responsible to have the beacon reprogrammed with a new country code and to register it with his/her nation's beacon registry, and the seller is responsible to de-register the depricated beacon ID with his/her national beacon registry." You may have to pay to have your imported beacon registered in Oz which will reduce or eliminate your savings.

PeterD

Ther has been a bit in past posts about an item called Spot, which seems to be great idea if they work.
I bthink Mike Harding had some doubts on the performance from which I haven't seen any followup. (might have been but not that I saw)
They are a PLB that you can send small self programmed messages that lets selected people know you're fine, and where you are, another message calling for a bit of help, or a full on "help. I'm dying" type button.
Apparently around $150 imported, and $100 per year for the ongoing service.
Runs off Globalstar satellites, but does not use the phone side of them.
Could be worth research.
Cheers

Maverick,

Basically the ones made in Australia have an Austrlian country code built in to the transmision and comply with the Australian regulations. Most US ones will not comply with the regs and the Australian Marine and Safetey Authority will not register these.
I think the blocks are data blocks in the transmission, but reading it again they could be blocks of weight to make them float upright ( as per the Australian EPRIB spec). Sounds sus.

Basicaly get an Australian coded one or you can not register it. for a few hundred bucks sounds like a potential disaster.

Marine and Safety Buying and Registering an EPRIB webiste
From their website

Buyers beware!
11 December 2007
If purchasing distress beacons overseas for use in Australia make sure that they will meet Australian Standards and Class Licence requirements. Information on the Class Licence that authorises the use of distress beacons can be accessed on the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) Web site through the radiocommunications section on the legislation page.

United States and Canadian Class 2 PLBs
The United States and Canada Standards that allow a Class 2 PLB that is not required to float. These beacons do not meet the Australian Standard and will not be registered in Australia. The Australian Standards committee RC/4 responsible for developing and maintaining Australian New Zealand standards decided that because of the widespread use of PLBs in the marine environment that all PLBs should be required to float.

United States Coded PLBs
We are aware that the United States requires all PLBs for use in the US to transmit the letter "P" in Morse over the homing frequency of 121.5 MHz. This is not permitted under Australian Standards nor by the ACA's miscellaneous Devices Class Licence that references these Standards and therefore these distress beacons should not be used in Australia. Any 406 MHz beacon registered with AMSA is required to be coded with an Australian country code. You may have difficulty recoding a 406 MHz beacon produced for the US market. There may be beacons manufactured to other national standards that are not compatible with Australian standards. You should make sure that any beacon you purchase will comply with the Australian requirements.

thank you for the replies. best so far i have found for an 'aussie spec' plb is $399 GME 410 in SA. maybe that is the way to go. still doesn't make sense though but i guess just have to live with it. rgds