Renlau01 Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 I need to buy an EPIRB, can anyone recommend a good brand to buy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishla Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 They all meet the standard. I bought GME few years back. I'm up for a replacement soon and await recommendations also. I've never used it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renlau01 Posted March 20, 2017 Author Share Posted March 20, 2017 They all meet the standard.I bought GME few years back. I'm up for a replacement soon and await recommendations also. I've never used it! They all meet the standard.I bought GME few years back. I'm up for a replacement soon and await recommendations also. I've never used it! Same here 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperplace Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 I like my GME but I've never used it 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garfly Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Some recent discussion here: EPIRB PLB Suggestions 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacesailor Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Congratulations To all aviator's who have Not had to use their Epirbs. spacesailor 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love to fly Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 I bought a KTI recently to replace the GME one I had that was out of battery life. The KTI was cheaper than a new battery, and has a 10 year battery life. They are in Cheltenham, near Moorabbin Airport. kti 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slb Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 I have just replaced the MT410G with the KTI SA2G. The KTI is smaller, cheaper and has a longer battery life of 10 years vs 7 years. Also came with a mirror and whistle. Bought mine on-line. Registered my new one with AMSA and marked the old one has having been 'disposed' of. The battery was 7 years old, so out of life. You can get them replaced by GME but they only give a 1 year warranty, so it was cheaper in the long run to buy a new one. It was easy to remove the battery pack from the MT410G and deactivate it, all ready for recycling. Batteries can be handed in to Battery World for disposal (or you can hand the whole item to them for disposal, for a small charge). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alf jessup Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 I replaced my GME410g with another $280 delivered online Can't complain, never used the old one at it was $600 when I bought it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz3g Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 I bought one from Ian and it was very reasonably priced...can't remember details but make sure you ask him for a price. Kaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Tuncks Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 How many lives have been saved by these things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garfly Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 With so many of them out there now, let's hope that the high rate of false alerts doesn't break the system. False alarm reignites debate on EPIRB disposal guidelines The EPIRB that cried wolf: false alarms the main cause of recent call outs - ABC Goldfields WA - Australian Broadcasting Corporation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmick Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 A false alarm is not a situation that may have gone but didn't and if able should be canceled ASAP. If a misuse of equipment then a steep fine should apply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDQDI Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 A false alarm is not a situation that may have gone but didn't and if able should be canceled ASAP. If a misuse of equipment then a steep fine should apply. I think you will find the majority of false alarms are caused by incorrectly disposing of them once out of date. DO NOT JUST THROW THEM IN THE BIN!!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pearo Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 I know a bloke who set of 406 EPIRB in central Australia after they got stuck on motorcycles during unseasonal rain. They got rescued, only just, the cops that picked them up nearly ended up setting of their epirb also! Pretty sure they had GME epirb, but its all recorded on video!!! I have a DVD here, I will see if they have a youtube vid of the incident. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunder Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 How many lives have been saved by these things? I know a boaty that has been saved...twice. You are more likely to hear of the people who don't have one. No drama for the media if one is set off and a rescue takes place within a couple of hours........so passe... This article basically states there were 249 genuine rescues last year. "Of 1,323 EPIRB activations last year, 1,074 were deemed "inadvertent" by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority." It’s a real emergency here 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 All right, I'll put my hand up. I've used one during an emergency, when the fan on the Jabbie went quiet. GME MT410G. Quick and easy to deploy on final approach, as we were in unfamiliar terrain with sparse scrub and about 16 km from the nearest road. Had a Virgin RPT overhead within 15 minutes, and a rescue chopper was on scene within 2 hours. An excellent outcome - no injuries and no damage to the aircraft (apart from a dead donk). We did offer to walk out, but the S&R authorities were having none of that. As a bit of a tangent, neither pilot of the Virgin RPT were able to spot us during any of their three passes, but several passangers did. Apparently we caused a bit of excitement amoungst the pax! Back to the main story. As this was a genuine emergeny, AMSAR replaced the EPIRB free of charge - very kind of them. Information from AMSAR during the debrief was that because we had used a GPS based EPIRB, they were able to locate us to within 100 metres in just three minutes. In the same scenario with a non-GPS equipped EPIRB, the typical location time is upwards of 4.5 hours and then only to a radius of five km. Those extra 60 bucks for a GPS equipped EPIRB was very cheap. Worth it's weight in gold if there were injuries. The GME EPIRB was simple to operate, just lifted the antenna and showed it to the sky while we were preparing to land. I would not like to try and activate some of the smaller ones in a hurry, that require buttons to be pressed etc. Whatever EPIRB you choose, make sure it is super simple to operate (I can't emphasise that enough) and GPS equipped. Aint worth a pinch of you know what otherwise. 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garfly Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Good story, Ferris. Were you able to talk to the Virgin and the chopper throughout the saga? On 121.5? Did you get a call out to Area, as well, before you landed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Good story, Ferris. Were you able to talk to the Virgin and the chopper throughout the saga? On 121.5? Did you get a call out to Area, as well, before you landed? We were only at 2000' when the engine failed, so issued a distress call on both the CTAF and AF, but once on the ground no comms with anybody. We were able to talk with the RPT once he was nearby. We also had very limited phone service after walking to the top of a nearby sand hill. Spoke to AMSAR in Canberra and they were really helpful, although the phone kept dropping out. Biggest problem was that we knew we were ok, just couldn't tell anybody for a while. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renlau01 Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 I finished up buying a KTI with a built in GPS PLB for 259.00. I bought it because it's smaller than the palm of your hand and has a 10 year battery life. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRviator Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 I finished up buying a KTI with a built in GPS PLB for 259.00. I bought it because it's smaller than the palm of your hand and has a 10 year battery life. And given this, we still have people out and about without so much as an ELT, yet alone something like this which is cheap enough - but genuinely useful. And not just pilots either, but boaties and 4wd'ers - at what point does AMSA and the Government say "enough is enough, the tech is available to allow us to instantly find you if you need help, but you chose not to use it - here's the bill for an 18 hour search, Merry Christmas?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggles Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Argus Tuft - RailBastard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueadventures Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 I finished up buying a KTI with a built in GPS PLB for 259.00. I bought it because it's smaller than the palm of your hand and has a 10 year battery life. That's the one i got. Their also on the prefered beacon list by aussar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacesailor Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 I'm out & about! Purchased two GME epirbs, but one died Way outback, after crossing Simpson desert And the new one was out dated within a month or two of buying it! Pulled them apart and the older had Broken battery connector . Number two (the newer but superseded model had the antenna wire unattached . So do you think I'd spend more money on gadgets we can't test properly ourselves. By the way all the 3volt batteries were fully charged. I'll just have to rely on the short range CB plus an old, old long range radio. Plus the old & older Smoke-signals. so if you see three big puffs of smoke, followed by three small puffs, etc.. spacesailor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacesailor Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 At about a $1,000, A sat-phone seems to be an expensive alternative, But will it work in a cyclone area?, when mobiles power are out. spacesailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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