406 Beacon Testing
When circumstances and fate fail you…….we don’t want your emergency equipment to fail you.
CAN YOU BET YOUR LIFE ON YOUR EPIRB WORKING CORRECTLY?
ABOVE ARE 2 VERY FORCEFULL AND EMOTIVE STATEMENTS !!
EPIRB's, PLB's and ELT's are subject to possibly the most demanding and exacting requirements of any single piece of emergency equipment. Despite long periods of inactivity, with minimal maintenance attention, they are required to be ready to work without FAIL, first time, in an emergency. EPIRB design has developed to the point where exceptionally high effectiveness and reliability are accepted as normal. Such a demanding level of reliability can only be assured over a long period of time by a program of testing and maintenance, which although it need not be frequent or expensive, should be rigorously applied and conducted.
At MAINSTAY we believe that the same level of safety available to Commercial industries should also be available to individuals and as such our Primary Focus is on making this service available.
MAINSTAY provides a complete EPIRB Testing and Certification Service. We recommend Distress Beacon Testing is undertaken annually. As part of our Value Added Service ( V.A.S ) Mainstay provides the First Annual Certified Test at no cost with any Distress Beacon purchased from us.
All Distress beacons have a "SELF TEST " function but exactly what does this test? When the self test is activated the Beacon sends an inverted signal to the satellite. This signal is then sent to the ground station and Ignored. Test complete!! What we have absolutely no way of knowing is :
- Was the signal even sent?
- Was the signal received?
- Was the signal coded correctly?
- Does the GPS component work correctly?
- Did I just use the last of my battery?
- Did anything happen at all or was it just that the test light illuminated ?
In simplistic terms the test switch on Epirb's and PLB's performs a very similar test to picking up the microphone on your radio.... Keying the transmit key.... Observing a transmit indication on the radio.... and then concluding that the radio is operating 100% correct. Would you set sail or leave for your outdoor adventure with only that level of radio testing???
Some of the later developments in Beacon Manufacture incorporate some more advanced technology which give some assurances once activated. For example the AquaLink™ 406, the AquaLink View™ adds a reassuring element with its next-generation digital display. Upon activation, the high-visibility screen displays a continuous stream of crucial data, including:
With some Beacon models when In self-test mode, the screen reports status of the 406 MHz signal, GPS acquisition and battery power, and provides notification of required actions, such as "Send for Service.”
Even this is information is not telling you that the EPIRB is operating 100%.
The only way to be assured that a Distress Beacon is working correctly is to have it tested in a Live Transmit situation.
In all fairness to the manufactures of Distress Beacons these devices normally operate with great success and are credited with saving many lives.
For most commercial applications it is mandatory for Annual and sometimes monthly inspection and testing. Read the I.M.O.........GUIDELINES ON ANNUAL TESTING OF 406 MHZ SATELLITE EPIRBs and GUIDELINES FOR SHORE-BASED MAINTENANCE OF SATELLITE EPIRBs
Monthly EPIRB Inspection Procedures Monthly EPIRB Inspection Procedures
The following story illustrates that even the manufacturers sometimes get it wrong.
Limited Recall Notice ACR GlobalFix iPRO EPIRB
ACR has issued a “limited recall” on their recently introduced GlobalFix iPRO EPIRB. The following is from the ACR release obtained off the U.S. Coast Guard web site
ACR has discovered that a small percentage of GlobalFix™ iPRO™ EPIRBs may not activate manually and has decided to issue a limited recall notice.The condition could exist in a maximum of 400 units built within serial number range of 1000 to 1688. If you own or have a GlobalFix™ iPRO™ that falls within this serial number range you should contact ACR’s Customer
ACR discovered that some of the witness seal tabs require the application of excessive force to put the switch into the correct position when manually activating the EPIRB. The water activation feature works separately and is not affected by the manual switch. The manual switch assembly needs to be reworked on a maximum of 400 units to insure that the switch and witness seal will activate as designed and intended. The 400 units potentially affected by this problem fall into the serial number range of 1000 -1688. If your GloblaFix™ iPRO™ serial number falls outside this range, then your GlobalFix™ iPRO™ is not affected by this notice. The 400 units could be of either the PIN 2846 Category I (automatic deploy) or PIN 2848 Category II (manual deploy) model.
This condition does not occur in any other ACR EPIRB model. This recall is limited to only the GlobalFix™ iPRO™ units falling within the serial number range of 1000 to 1688.