| moosepileit |
07-29-2016 08:40 AM |
Airlines have to monitor 121.5. I've relayed for distressed GA planes twice. We let ATC know when we here an ELT, sometimes false alarms sound for multiple days, which gets annoying and a bit disconcerting. CAP still sweeps and homes on 121.5, if not also 243. You can see them practicing at Oshkosh, the 4 antenna H pattern on a stick with a sunburned kid on the back of a golf cart, I think they practice on 121.6, based on a time the trainer hid one in our C-17 airshow static where one might want to play hide and seek.
Military monitors 243 in flight, typically. I have homed on activated parachute pingers overflying bases and radioed command post to let the life support shop know one needs to be tuned off. I have heard the new ELTs with GPS feeds, the data goes out on 406 and a synthesized voice on 121.5. I sent the lat lon to FSS, who then asked me about signal strength off some outdated checklist (false alarm at a home, but under a thunderstorm, I had started a 100 mile divert, realized I could not make it to the coords, found out later it was a false alarm). The folks that have to monitor 121.5 are probably wondering if I'm a "Guard Nazi" - I am not, it's sad to me how 121.5 is misuesed, and the 2x I've used it to aid have been filled with other pilots saying, "You're on Guard", causing missed calls to and from the distressed.
This is in only 6000 hours over 20 years of mil heavies and airlines. I'm probably typical.
Not to oversell outdated and not officially monitored ELTs. My issue is a basic fear of antenna function after a crash of any ELT. I believe I have a good chance of triggering the remote pre impact if off airport. The same thoughts on activating a PLB.
A 406/121.5/243 ELT with a dedicated gps feed is the current highest standard. Many good units do not have a 243 option. They still should be fine. Most of us have enough gps sources to feed an ELT's input without needing a 406 ELT with the GPS chip and antennae on the unit itself.
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