Re: RE: Light-Sport Aircraft Yahoo group 406 MHZ ELT

Actually, that is not correct.  The only information that is contained in a 406 ELT is the serial number of the unit.  That number and the lat/lon of the unit if the unit also contains a GPS (or is connected to one in the plane) is tranmitted to the satelite.  This is the exact same information as is transmitted by an aircraft 406 PLB or boat 406 EPIRB.  When you purchase such a unit you go to a NOAA web site and fill out the serial number of the unit and all of your personal information.  That way when the Air Force or Coast Gaurd computer receives your serial number from the unit it will pull up all of your personal information from the computer database for rescuers to use.

 

The difference between ELTs, EPIRBs, and PLBs is the certification standards.  ELTs are of course held to exteremely high certification and reliability standards.  They must also have an auto activation feature with a G switch.  PLBs are not held to as high of certification standards.  They must also have a two step activation procedure to prevent accidental activation.  I am not as familiar with EPIRB cerification but I do know it varies by the class of ship on which they are carried.  Some are manual activation, some are triggered by water, and some are trigered by flipping upside down as they would if they fell out of a holster on a ship and started to float when the ship capsized.  The larger units are required to float.

 

As a side note, the combination of the frequency change and this databurst/registration process is was cuts down the false alarm problem on 406 units.  When the unit goes off, the RCC can look up and call the owner immediately.  The only two 406 units I ever searched for in my CAP days were not registered.  One was an EPIRB still in the shipping box in that was sitting in a freshly delivered boat in a guy's driveway that had filled with rain water triggering activation.  The other was an EPIRB I dug out of the county landfill recycling bin (gravity flip activated) that had been decomishioned and someone had already deleted it from the database. 

 

Helen


May 17, 2010 09:13:31 PM, Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com wrote:

Regarding using a personal locater device rather than a ELT.
The FARs require a ELT to be checked every so often (I think every 2 years) (where is my FAR book when I need it?)
As Lyle found, the ELT contains a bunch of identifying information, like the 'N' number.  This kind of information is unlikely to be found in a PLD and the PLD would not have the required signoff from an appropriate repair station.

R. Williams



---------- Original Message -----------
From: "Lyle Cox"
To:
Sent: Mon, 17 May 2010 16:17:12 -0600
Subject: RE: Light-Sport Aircraft Yahoo group 406 MHZ ELT

>  
>
> I can tell you a funny  (now) story about the one in my Cherokee.
>  
> I was taking a friend up on a flight (nervous flyer) and during taxi I had reached over to adjust the Intercom for him.  I (unbeknownst to me) accidently flipped the ACTIVATE switch on the ELT which was right below my Intercom switches.  While taxing, I was listening to the AWOS and kept hearing a "whoop whoop", but it didn't register with me what it was.  I did my run up and announced my intention to depart.  When I keyed up, I REALLY heard the "whoop whoop"…..Realizing that was an ELT whoop, I checked mine and sure enough, it was active.  I quickly turned off the switch and called the airport and surrounding traffic to tell them of my mistake.
>  
> I took off with no further issues, until about 5 minutes into the flight.  The FBO called and asked if I was okay.  I said, "Yea, why?"  She told me there was a sergeant whoever on the line saying they had an ELT alarm on my airplane!  They knew the N number, owner, etc. and was checking to see if the airport knew anything about it.  I reminded her of my call before and that was pretty much it.
>  
> I'm impressed to know that within less than 15 minutes after flipping that switch, the local emergency responders were trying to track me down.  I LIKE THAT!
>  
>
> From: Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Bill
> Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 4:09 PM
> To: Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Light-Sport Aircraft Yahoo group 406 MHZ ELT
>  
>  
>
> Can anybody share their knowledge about these new (to me) doo-dads? I just read that nobody will be listening to my old 121.5 Mhz ELT if it goes off anymore. Is it mandatory that it be upgraded? Do the smaller (cheaper) 406 MHZ PLB's suffice? Can anybody suggest a decent one? Thanks in advance for the info.
>
>
>
------- End of Original Message -------

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