ELTs???????????????

Not sure what section to put this in but I guess the 406MHz fits the def of cutting edge.

I am the worlds greatest procrastinator and long ago decided to put off the decision of converting to 406 MHz to the last possible minute. Just got my card in the mail reminding me that Feb 2009 is nearing.

I am curious as to what others plan to do and when.

Is APRS the answer or a PLB? SPOT? I read somwhere that the 121.5 beacons only activated about 20% of the time in an accident and indeed when I crashed mine did not activate. Are the new generation units going to be any better?

I am leaning towards keeping my old beacon and obtaining a PLB.

Hi Milt,
You just missed a big discussion on this in the main forum...less than a week ago! It helped me make up my mind, actually. I'm going to go with an AmeriKing 121.5 Mhz "old school" ELT and carry a 406 Mhz PLB when I fly.

The main reason for this is cost. The cheapest 406 ELT I can find is $850. A 121.5 Mhz ELT and a GPS enabled PLB will cost about $650. Hopefully, the prices of the 406 units come down...and when the FAA mandates them, I can (hopefully) get one at less cost than what they are today.

I am leaning in the PLB direction also--------in addition to the brand new 121.5 ELT just sitting in my project.

Aprs seems interesting, if only it incorporated some kind of emergency alert into the tracking function. As it is, someone needs to figure out that something is wrong, then take a look at the track--------and that could take days.

All the facts, the choice is yours

N395V said:

Not sure what section to put this in but I guess the 406MHz fits the def of cutting edge.

I am the worlds greatest procrastinator and long ago decided to put off the decision of converting to 406 MHz to the last possible minute. Just got my card in the mail reminding me that Feb 2009 is nearing.

I am curious as to what others plan to do and when.

Is APRS the answer or a PLB? SPOT? I read somewhere that the 121.5 beacons only activated about 20% of the time in an accident and indeed when I crashed mine did not activate. Are the new generation units going to be any better?

I am leaning towards keeping my old beacon and obtaining a PLB.

Click to expand...

Who sent you the card. Fact is I have not heard its law. So if you want to wait wait. If you fly in or over remote parts of the country far from home I would get something. It is a given that in the next X years 1 through 10 you will "have to have" a 406mhz ELT.

In the mean time the other SPOT or PLB's are very nice adjuncts. Keep in mind however those little portable deals don't have the "Umph" that a true 406 ELT has. It is like the difference between a hand held COM and one in your plane with an antenna mounted to the fuselage. Granted the ELT mounted in the fuselage does not do any good if you crawl out and the plane burns to the ground.

I think you know all you need to know to make a decision. It's only money. I guess in the vague "other factors" you can hope for aircraft 406 elts to get better or cheaper but doubt you will see anything much less than the $1000 Artex. The battery technology cost more and that is what they are. When you look at a PLB pushing what $500 to $600 I recall, that is not a lot difference for something that goes in a plane. They do have the expense of certification.

The SPOT thing might be a good adjunct in the short term, because it is pay as you go. The cost of the unit is small I recall or wrapped up in the service package. It also has the extra functionality of allowing friends and family to know where you are during a trip. You may find that very valuable to you and worth the service fee. I have so many wireless fees already it is crazy. I remember when wireless radio & tv was free.

The one big factor is your old ELT is pretty useless after Feb 2009. Doing nothing is probably not a good idea. However friends of mine fly with in 10 miles of the airport 99% of the time and over at least partly populated areas. Even an old ELT might help someone find them? In the last half mile or mile the searchers will use 121.5 DF'ing techniques. So an old ELT is not useless just very limited. Always file a flight plane, fly it or tell some one where you are and when you are going.

Good Luck.

gmcjetpilot said:

I remember when wireless radio & tv was free.
Good Luck.

Click to expand...

George, You obviously give up too easily. Wireless radio and TV are still free. I've never had cable or satellite, and probably won't. I still watch TV (a little) and listen to the radio in my shop.

So, analog TV is going away, and 121.5 ELT's around the same time. Hmmm....

At least a TV analog/digital converter only costs $40!

I dropped the postcard in the shredder and am sticking with 121.5 until mandated.

As for free TV and radio, you can still get both, even next year. Free broadcast digital TV is very clear and will be available for the foreseeable future. In fact, if you pull your digital signals off the air, you actually get more channels than you get with analog.

Of course you will need a digital TV and antenna to get these new channels.

N395V said:

I read somwhere that the 121.5 beacons only activated about 20% of the time in an accident and indeed when I crashed mine did not activate. Are the new generation units going to be any better?

I am leaning towards keeping my old beacon and obtaining a PLB.

Click to expand...

By the time you purchase both a 121.5 ELT and the PLB, cost wise, you may as well just get a 406. Another thing to consider is that just as you need to push a button on your PLB to activate you could just push the ELT button on your panel to activate that.

I think that 20% is very low and curious where you saw that figure. My guess is that the 20% is of those that do not activate.

Check out this 406 that is coming to market soon: http://www.ackavionics.com/index.html

Bear in mind...

That it's useless untill you need it, but when you need it - YOU REALLY NEED IT! How much is your life worth to you? It'd be a shame to spend tens of thousands of dollars on an airplane only to perish because you didn't want to spend a thousand more on safety equipment.

gmcjetpilot said:

Always file a flight plane, fly it or tell some one where you are and when you are going.

Click to expand...

For me, and my changing of flight directions on a whim......................I think my SPOT is excellent, and better than filing a flight plan. My wife can follow the track from her computer at work, and it does have an "emergency 911" or help button that will send messages to a computer, pre-selected cell phones, and an emergency response center with the 911 button.

It's an exact 10 minutes between transmissions for normal use, but still gives a good general direction of location. Since it's based on satellite reception, it's good just about anywhere....................at least while airborne.

With the tracking feature, is does run $150 per year.

L.Adamson