Saving lives with satellite data

Hi,

Similar Personal Locators have been underdevlopement/around for a while now.

Around 8 yrs ago I was shown a wrist watch type thing that was developed for one of the Oil Majors by a co called Safe Marine in the UK.

I have never seen these actual units on the market but there are a load of similar things out there some of which operate on 121.5 mhz - I wonder of these will also be outdated in a week or so when 406 becomes the standard EPIRB Frequency

As a sailor, a licensed Captain and perhaps more importantly, a search and rescue controller for the US Coast Guard, I cannot say enough about the need for immediate notification and recovery of people who have fallen overboard. In a case that I was a part of not too long ago, a crewmember from a merchant vessel fell overboard and several life rings were thrown in moments after the crewmember fell. All seven life rings were recovered but the crewmember was never found. Trying to find what amounts to a coconut floating in the ocean is a very difficult task and anything that makes the person in the water “bigger” or tells us exactly where that person is will of course help in saving lives. It should be no surprise that the passing of time is our greatest enemy during a search and rescue case but the fact that most instances of a person falling overboard are usually avoidable is a whole other story.

As for the 121.5 ELT’s, starting February 1, 2009, they will not be processed as alerts and will in fact be obsolete. Staying on line will be 406 EPIRBS, which when properly registered with owner and boat information greatly improves rescue responses.

I got a notice from Breitling regarding this as it relates to their wristwatches... it's just the satellites will no longer monitor 121.5, correct? If I am in distress and pop my watch beacon, search and rescue aircraft will still be monitoring 121.5?

I don't think my watches would reach a satellite anyhow.

Seafarer, I hate to tell you this, but I really wouldn't rely on the 121.5 signal from your watch to help get rescuers to your position. The Coast Guard is spending a lot of money having direction finding equipment installed in their aircraft and cutters that listen for 406 EPIRBS so 121.5's will be obsolete.
The international search and rescue community has advertised this change in frequencies for nearly nine years now, but now that the end date is right around the corner, many people are just addressing their need to get 406 EPIRBS.
If you did activate your 121.5 signal on your watch and you were in the water, would the signal be affected by being partially submerged on your wrist? I would think that would be a problem.

It is supposed to work up to 90 miles away, even partly submerged. I hope to never find out.

"It is supposed to work up to 90 miles away, even partly submerged. I hope to never find out."

I hope so too. Having searched for 121.5 ELTs in the real world they are often nearly impossible to "hear" until you are practically on top of them.

I suspect Breitling's range figure is based on absolutely perfect conditions with a clear and constant line of sight between both antennae. A wristwatch dipping in and out of the water and dropping into the trough would be an intermittent target at best.

A personal locator beacon worn on the bod is a much better investment but doesn't impress many people at the bar though.