| Search Site / Web* |
Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) |
Contact Us* |
|
EPIRB's
help save lives by transmitting an alert to rescue authorities that
If you are planning an offshore or extended boat trip and do not own an EPIRB,
|
|
Registering an EPIRB or
DSC Radio
is FREE and provides
|
|
Types of EPIRB's:
|
Category I & II 406 MHz EPIRB's - U.S. Coast Guard Recommended Only units that must be certified by USCG approved laboratory before being sold in USA. Best units have an integral GPS receiver. If properly and professionally installed, USCG prefers a Category I to a Category II. 406 MHz has been designated for dedicated distress use internationally. 406 MHz EPIRB's having integral GPS receivers sends identification and accurate location information to rescue authorities immediately upon activation. This type of EPIRB is the best you can buy. A 406 MHz EPIRB can be located within 2 to 5 km and the vessel identified from an encoded signal anywhere in the world (no range limitation). These units also include a 121.5 MHz homing signal to allow air and rescue craft to quickly locate them. The signal from a 406 MHz EPIRB can be detected by polar orbiting COSPAS-SARSAT satellites as well as geostationary GOES weather satellites. EPIRBs detected by the GEOSTAR system send rescue authorities an instant alert, but without location information unless the EPIRB is equipped with an integral GPS receiver. EPIRBs detected by COSPAS-SARSAT (e.g. TIROS N) satellites provide rescue authorities the distress location, but receiving this information may be delayed as much as two hours. |
Testing EPIRBs EPIRB owners should periodically examine them for water tightness, battery expiration date and signal presence. 406 MHz EPIRBs can be tested through its self-test function, which is an integral part of the device. 406 MHz EPIRBs can also be tested inside a container designed to prevent its reception by the satellite. Testing a 406 MHz EPIRB by allowing it to radiate outside such a container is illegal. FCC rules allow Class A, B, and S EPIRBs to be turned on briefly (for three audio sweeps, or one second only) during the first five minutes of each hour. Signal presence can be detected by an FM radio tuned to 99.5 MHz, or an AM radio tuned to any vacant frequency and located close to an EPIRB. |
|
Battery Replacement 406 MHz EPIRBs use a special type of lithium battery designed for long-term low-power consumption operation. Batteries must be replaced by date indicated on EPIRB label using the model specified by the manufacturer. It should be replaced by a dealer approved by the manufacturer. If the replacement battery is not the proper type, the EPIRB will not operate in a distress for the duration specified. |
|
Proper registration of 406 MHz EPIRB is intended to save your life and is mandated by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations. The USCG is strictly enforcing this FCC registration rule, since unregistered EPIRBs have needlessly cost the lives of several mariners since the satellite system became operational. Registration information is used to confirm that a distress situation exists and in arranging appropriate rescue efforts. GOES weather satellites (see below) can pick up and relay an EPIRB distress alert to the USCG well before the international COSPAS-SARSAT satellite (see below) can provide location information. If the EPIRB is properly registered, the USCG can use the registration information to immediately begin action on the case. If the EPIRB is unregistered, a distress alert may take as much as two hours longer to reach the Coast Guard. If an unregistered EPIRB transmission is abbreviated for any reason, the satellite will be unable to determine the EPIRB's location and the Coast Guard will be unable to respond to the distress alert. What happens to your registration information?
The registration sheet you
submit is entered into the U.S. 406 Beacon Registration
Database maintained by
NOAA/NESDIS. If your EPIRB is activated, your
One of the first things the RCC watch standers do is attempt to contact the owner/operator at the phone number listed in the database to determine if:
If there is no answer at this number or no information is available, the other numbers listed in the database will be called to attempt to get the information described above. When RCC personnel contact the emergency phone numbers you provide, they will have all the information you have provided on the registration form. You should let these contacts know as much about your intended voyage as possible (i.e., intended route, stops, area you normally sail/fish/recreate, duration of trip, number of people going, etc.). The more information these contacts have, the better prepared our SAR personnel will be to react. The contacts can ask the RCC personnel contacting them to be kept informed of any developments, if they so desire. |
|
Registration Regulations You may be fined for false activation of an unregistered EPIRB. The U.S. Coast Guard routinely refers cases involving non-distress activation of an unregistered EPIRB (e.g., as a hoax, through gross negligence, carelessness or improper storage and handling) to the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC prosecutes cases based upon evidence and will issue warning letters or notices of apparent liability for fines up to $10,000. Coast Guard has suspended forwarding non-distress activations of properly registered 406 MHz EPIRBs to the FCC, unless activation was due to hoax or gross negligence, since these search and rescue cases are less costly to prosecute. If you purchase a new or a used 406 MHz EPIRB, it should be registered with NOAA. If you change your boat, your address, or your primary phone number, the EPIRB should be re-register with NOAA. If you sell your EPIRB, make sure the purchaser re-registers the EPIRB, or you may be called by the Coast Guard if it later becomes activated. An FCC ship station license is no longer required to purchase or carry an EPIRB. |
|
How To Register Register 406 MHz EPIRB online, download registration form, request a registration form by mail, fax (301-817-4565) or phone 1-888-212-7283 (outside U.S. call 301-817-4515). These same phone numbers may be used to ask questions or request information. Send or fax completed form to:
SARSAT Beacon Registration
THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR THIS SERVICE AND IT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE
|
|
International Satellite System For Search and Rescue The COSPAS (Space System for Search of Distress Vessels - a Russian acronym) - SARSAT (Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking) System was established by the U.S., Russia, Canada and France to locate EPIRB's transmitting on the frequencies 121.5, 243 and 406 MHZ. COSPAS-SARSAT has 406 MHz EPIRB repeaters aboard their geostationary satellites and ground stations capable of receiving the 406 MHz signal. The GEOSAR 406 MHz part of the International Satellite System For Search and Rescue provides global coverage using polar-orbiting satellite and with assistance from COSPAS-SARSAT is capable of providing continuous global coverage of distress alerts from 406 MHz EPIRBs except for areas between the United Kingdom and Norway, south of the east coast of Australia, the area surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk near Russia, and polar areas. The GEOSAR System cannot:
|
This device sends a distress signal to geostationary satellites which includes a registered identity similar to that of the 406 MHz EPIRB and a location derived from a GPS navigational satellite receiver inside the EPIRB. Inmarsat EPIRBs may be detected anywhere in the world between 70 degrees North and 70 degrees South latitudes. Alerts are transmitted nearly instantly to a rescue coordination center associated with the coast earth stations receiving the alert. Alerts received over Inmarsat Atlantic Ocean Regions are routed to USCG Atlantic Area command in New York, and alerts received over Inmarsat Pacific Ocean Region are routed to USCG Pacific Area command in San Francisco. |
|
Automatic Identification System (AIS) AIS (47 CFR 80.5 Definition) is a shipboard broadcast system that acts like a transponder, operating in the VHF maritime band, that is capable of handling well over 4,500 reports per minute and updates as often as every two seconds. It uses Self-Organizing Time Division Multiple Access (SOTDMA) technology to meet this high broadcast rate and ensure reliable ship-to-ship operation. |
|
Questions or Clarifications* 
|
|||||
|
Site created & maintained by: |
Report Problems or Submit Comments* 
|
Last Updated: May 12, 2010 20:08 |
|||
|
*Use of Masters.com Services does not constitute an endorsement of the sponsor, their website, products or services - See Disclaimers & Notices |
|||||