good price for epirb/plb

bought a gme mt410 today for $299 at bcf. good reason to get one if you dont have one already thats pretty cheap even compared to ebay.
cheers chad

Ta for the info mate, but I don't go far enough to warrant buying another one at the present time. I still have my old type but I think I will have to put a hammer through it and chuck it now.

Panther

get a spot messenger guys, craps all over normal epirbs.

Yes, But a Satellite spot Messenger has ongoing costs. Found this on Farmcam website. Costs would be higher in OZ for sure.
SPOT PERSONAL SATELLITE MESSENGER

Q. How many people can you send email or texts to?
A. You can send 10 in total on the OK button and another 10 on the Help button.

Q. What is the price of the Spot Satellite Messenger?
A. $345.00

Q. Are there any additional costs?
A. The mandatory cost is approximately $115.00 US annually for the Ok, Help and 911 functions. The optional cost for live tracking is approximately $45.00 US.

Q. How do you set it up?
A. You need to do it on the internet. The site is http://international.findmespot.com/ You pay the additional cost/s online and start up an account where you can adjust the emails and/or text for the ok and help functions at any time.

Q. What sort of power supply does it use?
A. Two double A batteries.

Q. What is the coverage of the Spot?
A. The spot covers almost the entire world.

Q. What are the functions?
A. There are three buttons, they are the OK, Help and 911/000. Live tracking also uses the ok button by holding it down for a few seconds.

Yes Yes very true, but ask yourself this, if you do break down or get into a situation you can initiate the " i need help" function. This would save you in excess of prob 20k of search and rescue fees. Where as your epirb if you turn it on will definatly cost you. It also gives your family piece of mind with the "im ok" function, put a price on that, and when you sign up for the yearly fee, if you do need to activate the "SOS" "911" "get me the F*$K outa here" button then the insurance that you get for minimal cost will cover your ass.

Its an easy one for me thanks!!!!!

Joe

PS it is by the way 10 times more accurate than your epirb as well.

Food for thought.

Hi Troppojoe
Not being smart mate,but since when did emergency services start chargeing 20k for life threatening search and rescue?
Jeezus the boat people must owe us a fortune.

Did you know that it costs over 10k per hour on average to run a single search and rescue helicopter?
You do the maths.
You will look a tad stupid setting of your epirb just because your transport is caput, your piss is turning yellow and you have a headache.
When a little capital outlay will could mean saving search and rescue thousands of dollars and man hours.
Once again your call, im not telling anyone what to invest in, it just makes sense to me the flexibility of the spot messenger far outweighs the cost savings (maybe) going with a epirb.

Hi Troppojoe
Seems you have misunderstood as to what my question was or i have misunderstood your statement as to who pays,,the rescuer or the person in trouble.
As yet i havent heard of anyone getting a bill for being rescued,yes we all know there are huge cost involved in rescue of people in strife,,,yes and i can add up.
Yes and i do agree with you on haveing some sort of emergencie sat device when going bush,but it was that who pays that i queried.
Have a nice day

Cheers Jon.

Indeed $299 is a good price for a compact EPIRB, but I've been looking into satellite phones lately and although they're more expensive I think they're a lot better. You can get a top-notch handset for under $1,000 and you can expect to pay $35 per month connection fee plus around $0.45 per minute which is not a lot more than what I pay for my terrestrial cellular phone. Most Sat-phones also have inbuilt GPS so when you call an emergency service they know your coordinates instantly.

G'day byteman....if you research and buy a sat phone, will you please do a post on this forum....thanks.

Hi hoolahoopa....you say you bought a MT 410.....I've searched the 'net and can only find the 403 or the 406.
Can you confirm it definitely is 410.
Thanks.

CORRECTION: I FOUND IT.......

Hi Sandy,


I would be purchasing my handset from this company. There are many service providers that support this range of phones, and it's really up to you to investigate and find the best deal to suit your specific needs.

Hi byteman.....You misunderstood my point.....the forum is for sharing and distributing knowlege, hence my request for you to post the benefits and features and reasons for your slection of phone....there might be one or two relevant points which could be useful to other members of the forum.
Cheers.

I think both are a good idea..PLB's for extreme emergencies and a sat phone for staying in contact and the minor troubles.

Not all sat phones are GPS capable, and once delerium from the venom or heat stroke has set in you can bet " I'm in a padock full of unicorns being led across a rainbow by Big Bird" will probably not be much of and aid to a search crew.

A lot of PLB's now can pin point to within 100 mtrs, though in the whipsticks in Vic that may still not be close enough


I still have a bunch of old out of date boat flares under the seat of my ute, not sure of the legalities of letting them off in the bush but who gives a fig if it helps a passing search plane spot you.

G'day gents.

My old personal EPIRB mini sat-alert model RB3,had a clear plastic covered strobe light on top which when switched on can be seen flashing(on a clear night) from 4klm above ground.This to a spotter plane,is worth its weight in gold.It also came with this warning."Deliberate misuse may incur a severe penalty" Fortunately Ive never had to use it,but one would have to read and find out exactly the reasons allowing its use.I certainly wouldn't be pulling its plug,just to let my mates know that its tea time.

Cheers kon61.

Byteman wrote:Indeed $299 is a good price for a compact EPIRB, but I've been looking into satellite phones lately and although they're more expensive I think they're a lot better. You can get a top-notch handset for under $1,000 and you can expect to pay $35 per month connection fee plus around $0.45 per minute which is not a lot more than what I pay for my terrestrial cellular phone. Most Sat-phones also have inbuilt GPS so when you call an emergency service they know your coordinates instantly.

Don't forget to look into the subsidy that is offered. http://www.dbcde.gov.au/mobile_services/the_satellite_phone_subsidy_scheme a few hundred can be saved.

Also sat phones on the iridium network (may be others but but not sure) work when you use a telestra next G sim card with global roaming turned on. No extra ongoing plan costs just your mobile plan, but yes in that time of emergency you can expect to be charged high call rates.

Hope it helps.

also remember the EPIRB system in Australia changed February 2009 so all epirbs prior to this date are no longer good for the australian bush or sea. Do not get caught out buying a old one using the defunct old frequencies.

Further to" explorers " comments......it is illegal to use a defunct model and cops a heavy fine.....recomended disposal via BATTERY WORLD.

G'day gents.

Explorer/Sandy,Point well taken. Current laws governing epirbs now require ,name,address & rego no of vehicle of the person who intends on using or buying one.

Cheers guys kon61.

kon61 wrote:

Current laws governing epirbs now require ,name,address & rego no of vehicle of the person who intends on using or buying one.

Cheers guys kon61.

A bit off topic but ive heard of this happening at least once, makes a good story anyway, thieves after stealing what ever they can didn't know what this EPIRP was and accidentally set it off, the beauty about it being registered in your name you get a call and hey presto the thieves location is now known.

Stranger things have happened.

Ladies and Gents,
The beauty of the SPOT system is that you can keep your family/friends updated for minimal cost and still leave a breadcrumb trail which you can refer to later on, shows you where you've been. Many (and I do mean many) searches are kicked off not because a person is lost or injured, but because family/frineds haven't heard from them for some time. In a lot of cases, this is due to people using or taking communications devices with them which are simply not suitable to the terrain or location they are travelling in. The SPOT will work everywhere you can see the sky in Australia. The only restrictions it has are the same as other satellite based devices.....really heavy cloud cover/storm activity is about the only thing that stops them. If you are injured and do require recovery, you will not be charged for the search/rescue process.....unless of course, you require ambulance transportation from your location. In which case, it is equally imperative that you have a suitable ambulance cover.....really important, because this will well and truly hit you for thousands of $ if you end up with a heli or fixed wing job.
There are now 2 models of the SPOT out and I understand that the original model can be purchased for around the $100 (AUS) mark. The later model is a bit dearer and has more features. I have used the system and found it to be very reliable. Batteries last for months (about 12) with regular use. As for on-going costs, I'm not sure, my employer looks after that side of it....but they aren't terribly high....got a very tight employer!
Hope this helps.....and yes, if I could afford one, I'd have a satellite phone & a SPOT!

Regards,

COOTA

Lord howe island to sydney with a docter on board and a nurse $18.000 lucky father in law had insurance ex kiwi ps there goes my new gpx 6000

No one has mentioned the HF radio, it is very rare that you can't pick up one of the bases around Australia.
You can also make radio/telephone calls with certain models, obviously the conversation isn't private.

Peter

Sorry guys I'm old school when it comes to this, I just make sure theres fuel in the car and the detector is charged, Mobile phone, woops I left it at home!
As for call for help, yell all you like.
Modern technology.

Hey all,

So what exactly is a SPOT device. Ihave a UHF radio in the cat for when I go away but that is no good if you fall over and break your leg, miles from the car.

I did look into investing into a sat phone but found the outlay and ongoing costs to high for the number of times I might use it. $1000 min for a sat phone (and the gov incentives are only relevant if you live out in the sticks), then the ongoing monthly costs.

I was intrestted to read the post regarding telstra phones... My mobile is on the 3 network that runs off the back of tesltra in non 3 areas, well that what they tell you but the truth is different. Also. dont get fooled by thinking that by putting a telstra sim in you unlocked phone that you get the same advantages of telstra phones....you dont, i was inmformed by telstra that their phones (as in a phone bought from telstra) run on a slightly different frequency than other non-telstra phones with a telstra sim inside.
Food for thought

G'Day All,

Just a few facts about EPIRB/ELT selection.

The old system worked on frequencies 121.5 MHZ and 243 MHZ and the new system works on 121.5 MHZ and 406 MHZ.

I don't believe( but could stand corrected) that the old units are illegal, however, they are not suitable to be used as your primary unit in situations that require the mandatory carrying of same (aircraft/marine).

The old units could take many hours before a satellite traced the signal and it did not pinpoint the location but gave a rough area. The 121.5 MHZ component is for tracking by aircraft and all military/commercial airlines monitor this frequency at all times and call it guard. Smaller aircraft monitor the frequency on startup and shutdown and other times if they have spare comms available. I have conducted many flights chasing a 121.5 MHZ signal and usually end up hovering over a boat in someones backyard. I only get paid $2200 per hour and this is paid for by the Rescue Co-Oridination Center (I don't think the *client* pays them), I feel a little ripped off after reading previous comments on here.

The new 406 MHZ system is located by the satellites immediately I'm told and is very, very accurate. Provided you have logged your details with the authorities they will first start contacting the telephone numbers supplied prior to launching an expensive SAR mission.

During the fire season we are required to carry a minimum of two 406 MHZ units (one is an ELT which is set off by G forces, the other is a personal unit) I have been advised that provided one unit is working, do not activate the other in the same location as the signals may effect each other.

When visiting remote areas I carry a satellite phone because if it's not a medical emergency a call to the local police station to gain assistance may be all thats needed, even if it does take days to get to you.

A lot of the interior of Australia is not reachable by rotary aircraft on short notice, therefore, if you set a 406 MHZ EPIRB off your first assistance may come from a Coastwatch Dash 8 (small airliner) that can only drop provisions. This will not be of great assistance if a two fanged friend has taken a liking to you.

LEGS

Mmmmmm, so which one to get???? The SPOT system or the GME 410...........

Both have their individual advantages.

The SPOT seems a great idea having the "send help" feature rather than "BRING IN THE CHOPPERS".But the ongoing charges could mount up.

If for instance you axle snapped on your vehicle you would feel pretty silly if planes and helicopters were scrambled.

If only the costs of sat phones were brought down so it was in the reach of most people.

try and pm kudu xenon, cause he got a spot, but was out with him on the weekend and he said he tried sending a message and it took 2 days to recieve the message . buggered if i would like to be sitting somewhere with a busted leg or the sorts for 2 days!
but he did try sending another one while we were out dont know how that one went. isnt technology a wonderful thing

hoolahoopa wrote:try and pm kudu xenon, cause he got a spot, but was out with him on the weekend and he said he tried sending a message and it took 2 days to recieve the message . buggered if i would like to be sitting somewhere with a busted leg or the sorts for 2 days!
but he did try sending another one while we were out dont know how that one went. isnt technology a wonderful thing

Thanks Hoolahoopa, will do

Hi Xenon

I did reply on your PM, but just for the record, the SPOT worked fine. I did not use it correctly and did not give it enough time to send the message. You should wait for the green "message" to blink before you can switch it off!!!!

I can recommend the SPOT any time. $ 200 for the instrument and $180 annual subscription for the full service! Not bad for the piece of mind when going bush!

Bet

Kudu