[Scan-DC] Replacing older 121.5 MHz emergency beacons with new 406MHz beacons

[Andrew Clegg]

I have since learned that when these beacons are on planes, they are called 
ELTs (for Emergency Locator Transmitters). On boats they're called EPIRBs 
(Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacons). There's another variety 
carried on individual people like hikers, and those are called Personal 
Locator Transmitters (PLTs). (I added some info at 
http://www.spectrumwiki.com/wiki/DisplayEntry.aspx?DisplyId=128).


--------------------------------------------------
From: "Andrew Clegg" <andrew_w_clegg at hotmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 4:44 PM
To: "Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net" <scan-dc at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [Scan-DC] Replacing older 121.5 MHz emergency beacons with new 
406MHz beacons

>
> I thought this video was fairly interesting. The news report has to do 
> with the reluctance of general aviation pilots to replace their old 121.5 
> MHz EPIRBS (which are no longer tracked by satellites) with the newer 406 
> MHz EPIRBS, which can be located by LEO and (for the beacons with built-in 
> GPS) GEO satellites.
>
> Personally, I think it’s ironic that someone who owns or operates an 
> airplane would have trouble affording all of $500 for a new beacon. As the 
> story points out, a pilot’s choice of not paying for a new beacon could 
> cost us (the taxpayers) a lot of money in the event the pilot has to be 
> searched for. So the pilot saves $500 and the taxpayers get soaked for 
> potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars. If I were a pilot, I would 
> want to be located as quickly and accurately as possible in the event of 
> an emergency.
>
> Can any GA pilots out there provide more insight into this issue?
>
> http://www.nbcwashington.com/video/#!/investigations/Pilots-Fight-NTSB-Over-the-Use-of-Emergency-Beacons/165271696
>
> Cheers,
> Andy
>
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