Tim Buma

Howdy Elksniper,
Thanks for your interest.
Decided to post on the forum as there' s bound to be others interested.
The E-Perb is a Locator Beacon, that works off satelites.
It is on the same frequency as the locator beacons that are on board commercial aircraft.
They are monitored world-wide by various authorities, and are generally 100% reliable.
In NZ the monitoring is done over in Australia i.e. A Different Country and 10,000 KM away. When they pick up a signal in our region they notify our search and Rescue people in NZ.
To accurately locate the beacon they have to go and search with a helicoptor mounted search device, which can pin it down to about 20 metres.
The Satelite receiving station can only give an estimate of position.
You can get some models that have an encrypted signal which individually identifys the beacons. i.e. If you set one off they can tell that it is your beacon. So with a bit of luck someone knows roughly where you are and can come out looking.However most can not be individually identified.
There' s heavy penalties for setting one off without cause.

I have only ever once set one off. It was about a year ago (New Years Day 2002.) I injured my leg, not severely, just ripped the calf muscle. However I was on my own, and stuck in some very remote mountainous terrain. And the weather had turned real bad, with rivers rising big time. I had no choice but to set it off. As I couldn' t walk or bear weight, let alone carry my pack out through flooded rivers.
I was real glad to get evacuated by chopper.
We use them a lot if we' re hunting alone or in real remote areas.
They are not expensive to buy, about USD$200 or down here we can rent them for USD$10 a week.
I prefer to rent, as that way you get a fully serviced device.
The beacon weighs about 1/2 a pound, is waterproof and straps around your waist, or on your belt.
I reckon they are brilliant.

Tim Buma

Picture of the Beacon I use.

Tim Buma

Another pic

Tim Buma

The Personal Locator Beacon, (PLB) is small enough not to be a hindrance, it is water resistant, (not waterproof) and built tough to withstand all NZ outdoor conditions. The PLB straps around your waist and in the event of an emergency is easily activated by the user the transmitted signal is then received by orbiting satellites which then communicate the relevant co-ordinates to the Wellington Search and Rescue Headquarters, via an Australian based satellite receiving station. The beacon transmits on the international emergency frequency of 121.5MHz and can be located by helicopter or suitably equipped aircraft. Once there has been notification of this, or if the beacon has not been returned by the user on or before the ``panic date" , the Trust will attempt to contact the user or their family to confirm if they are indeed overdue. If the beacon user is overdue Search and Rescue is notified and one of three specialist helicopters dispatched. Each of these helicopters are equipped with Radio Directional Finders, (RDF' s) capable of locating the beacon on the ground. In the event of the user being unconscious or incapable of activating the beacon it can be remotely activated by the searching helicopter.

These beacons were originally developed for military purposes and these are now available for civilian use to provide users with a ``Life jacket on land" .

Jorgy

Tim, glad to hear that your locator beacon help you out of a bad bad situation. I' ve rented them before when I' ve been snowmobiling in high risk avcalanche area' s here in Colorado. I' m wondering though if you were given a bill for rescue or not though. Here when you buy a huntng/fishing license you pay a quarter for rescue insurance. Just wondering what happened in your case.

Tim Buma

Down here the rescue is free, so long as there is a genuine injury.
This stops " Freeloaders" wanting a quick exit from the bush.
We have like a public insurance system that is funded by taxpayers money.
Choppers don' t come cheap. (About USD$800 an hour.)
In my situation I was real impressed at the conditions the pilot flew into me.
Visability was down to about 25 yards, and the pilot had to fly with the side door open and his head out the side. There was too much condensation inside the chopper, because it was so wet. (Pouring Rain.) It was through real mountainous terrain, but that pilot knew it like the back of his hand. It was a real wild ride.
The only cost I had was several bottles of the finest whiskey I could find, for all the personal involved.

elksniper

Thanks for the email i was not sure when i saw your post. not a bad thing to have for a situation like that. Will check into them .

txhunter58

Where do you buy or rent one in the US?

Jorgy

Most climbing stores have them. REI had them last year, but my store that I used to go to moved, so I don' t know it they still do. If you want to buy one, lots of online places to order them. I looked into them at the start of sledding season and they were right around $350 - $375. Haven' t worried much about them till right now since Colorado hasn' t had much of avalacne conditions till this last storm.

Tim Buma

They will work through snow, but not water.
Some can be remotely activated in need. (The brand above can.)
Not too be confused with avalanche beacons (Pieps Ortovox etc. these are short range beacons.)