[MilCom] ELT Alert Beacons Can Hobbyists Help In Reporting Quicker?

[Duke Rumley]

I always call the tower and  911 when I hear an ELT.

Duke

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken" <rfinder1 at verizon.net>
To: "MilCom" <milcom at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 1:30 AM
Subject: [MilCom] ELT Alert Beacons Can Hobbyists Help In Reporting Quicker?


> Are scanner radio hobbyists in the position to help in more quickly
> resolving these situations?
>
> Interestingly, my understanding is that 95% of all Emergency Locator
> Transmitter activations are false primarily due to electronic/battery
> problems.
>
> As many of you know Civil Air Patrol  http://www.cap.gov/  is tasked with
> locating these beacons.  All of the beacons (including the new PLB's)
> transmit a homing signal/sound on 121.5 mhz and may sound like this
> http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/MAEL/ag/elt.wav BUT if the batteries are low, 
> no
> tone may be transmitted, only a carrier.   Unfortunately, when the SARSAT
> satellite hear's the transmission it doesn't know if it is a 
> malfunctioning
> unit or a real problem.  Info on sarsat can be found at:
> http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/  &
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Position-Indicating_Radio_Beacon
>
> Civil Air Patrol uses specialized direction finding equipment in aircraft,
> vehicles, & portable operations see: http://www.ltronics.com/   &
> http://level2.cap.gov/documents/u_081503135122.pdf  for more information
>
> Sometimes if you monitor CAP's VHF FM/P25 radio network you may hear them
> coordinating trying to find these ELT beacons with air, mobile, & portable
> units.  It's been rumored that CAP may also use cellphones in some areas
> rather than their radio network in tracking down ELT's to include
> sprint/nextel nationwide walkie talkie and off network functions.
>
> The system does have some alert lag time in it with the older ELT units.
> First and foremost, the SARSAT satellite might have to make more than one
> pass before the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center actually sends an 
> alert
> out to CAP.  My understanding is that this may take anywhere from 3 to 5
> hours.   CAP units will than be sent out on an authorized AF mission to 
> find
> the ELT beacon.  The goal is to identify the source & silence all false
> beacons as soon as practical to ensure that if there's a real emergency 
> the
> satellite will pickup the actual distress signal.
>
> So perhaps all monitoring hobbyists could provide some assistance in
> alerting authorities and assisting with ELT beacons being found more
> quickly.  Just place 121.5 mhz into your mobile, portable, and/or base
> station scanning sequence and if you pickup an alert beacon signal contact
> your nearest airport control tower, flight service station, air route
> traffic control center watch officer, etc.. and provide them with you 
> exact
> location.  My understanding is that if you call CAP directly they will 
> have
> to get authorization from higher headquarters & the USAF before actually
> dispatch UDF teams.
>
> BTW Civil Air Patrol is always looking for technically inclined potential
> members both seniors and cadets.  Urban Direction Finding Team training
> (see:  http://level2.cap.gov/documents/u_052704140516.pdf  may be provided
> to all members that are interested.  Local CAP units can be found at the
> website:   http://cap.findlocation.com/
>
> Ken
>
>
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