EPIRB's

[Strahan Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Strahan]

Front page on paper in Hobart- EPIRB Idiots!- seems two tourists got bogged on a track 7km from a main road and instead of trying to get themselves out they set off their EPIRB. The chopper from Hobart was already out (busy day pulling bushwalkers off the south coast) so AUSSAR sent a plane from Melbourne to look for it!

Local coppers found them and pulled them out.

Wonder how much that cost the taxpayer?

[McBAIN Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close McBAIN]

Clowns..

[Guest Close Guest]

Geez... I got bogged 75 kms from anywhere once, and spent 20 hours digging and winching before finally getting the thing out.

I think EPIRBS are like my legs snapped off I better use it, or I have been stuck/lost/broken down here 3 days and am getting low on supplies, better use it.

I imagine they are gonna get a hefty bill.

[Strahan Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Strahan]

Nope no bill. All costs for SAR are borne by AUSSAR.

Only if the EPIRB is set off maliciously can they try to recover costs. :?

[Camo Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Camo]

:evil: The big problem with that sort of thing happening is that people will stop taking the EPIRBS seriously and then when something serious does happen them AUSSAR or whoever is sent to get them wont take it seriously :twisted:
Sorry for the big rant but 7km is just stupid thats walking distance

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I reckon Drew would be pushed doing the 7kms carrying all his electronics and gadgets on his back :lol:

[Blokeman Member Find all posts View Profile Close Blokeman]

Off topic slightly my mate had a helicopter land in the paddock next to his house, curious he went outside. The guys from the chopper climbed over the fence, came over and asked if he had a boat. You guessed it, that morning he had been out fishing and somehow set off the epirb. Felt like a real knob, now he is pretty careful, I don't think he got a bill...

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

I reckon Drew would be pushed doing the 7kms carrying all his electronics and gadgets on his back :lol:

:lol: must........save.........gadgets........no........ matter.........what.......

Seriously now - this should all change soon, they are phasing out the 200MHz satellite monitoring and moving to a new 400MHz system - and as far as I know the new 400MHz system is individually coded and all beacons are registered. This might not stop the accidental triggering though.

Hopefully new designs will help stop the accidental triggering. Maybe they could build in a small intelligence test, like programming a VCR, so if you're too thick to work out how to turn the beacon on then you aren't worth saving. :lol: That's a bit harsh - I've been stuck home for three days and I'm going spare.

Drew.

[McBAIN Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close McBAIN]

Maybe they could build in a small intelligence test, like programming a VCR, so if you're too thick to work out how to turn the beacon on then you aren't worth saving. :lol: That's a bit harsh - I've been stuck home for three days and I'm going spare.

Drew.

harsh but fair... all part of the natural selection process....

[Strahan Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Strahan]

Changing to the 406MHz beacons will be a good thing. Lots more info, much more accurate, and much quicker detection time by the satellites.

Just have to hope that people don't just throw out their old ones when they buy a new one.... :x

With regards to not taking then seriously- AUSSAR is legally responsable for the detction of all EPIRBS, they are not allowed to say well i guess we won't worry about that one. They must follow them till they are found or switched off.
Makes you feel a bit better to know that if you do set one off that someone WILL come looking for you. :wink:

Another good story. EPIRB detected by AUSSAR, sends off chopper to find it and tracks it to a boat in a persons driveway. The local coppers pop around for a look and find the EPIRB resting against a speaker in the boat. The magnet of the speaker had pulled the contacts closed in the EPIRBS switch causing it to activate! ops:

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Off topic slightly my mate had a helicopter land in the paddock next to his house, curious he went outside. The guys from the chopper climbed over the fence, came over and asked if he had a boat. You guessed it, that morning he had been out fishing and somehow set off the epirb. Felt like a real knob, now he is pretty careful, I don't think he got a bill...

Comeback line: "Yeah Mate, Me kids have been buggin me for a helicopter ride, got 15 minutes to spare?" :lol: :lol:

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Comeback line: "Yeah Mate, Me kids have been buggin me for a helicopter ride, got 15 minutes to spare?"

Yeah mate, no worries - you got $15,000 to spare?

:lol:

[120GXV6 Member Find all posts View Profile Close 120GXV6]

as far as I know the new 400MHz system is individually coded and all beacons are registered.

That's right - when I got my 406 MHz EPIRB for flying, I had to register it and provide a number of contact people and phone numbers. This is so they can phone someone to find out what you are doing and where you are doing it.

Can sure save them some time and money if it's a false alarm. And if it isn't they at least get a good of idea of what to look for (aircraft, boat, car, bike etc).

Mine has a GPS receiver built in so that it gives a very accurate position location. Not like the old days where the position could be up to around 50 km out.