Emergency Beacons - EPIRB, PLB, AIS, OLAS - 2021 Virtual Boat Show Series
Today we'll take a look at the different types of emergency beacons and why you should not be leaving the dock without some type of emergency communication. There are a lot of reasons why you might need to call for help when you're out on the water, and there are a number of different products that are designed to do just that. Choosing the right one will depend on a number of factors including the type of boating you're doing and how far from shore you might find yourself. So first up is a relatively new line of products from ACR Electronics called OLAS, or Overboard Location Alert System. This is a suite of products designed to alert you, or even someone back on shore, if there is a Man Overboard situation. You can start building a system with as little as one OLAS transmitter and an app on your phone or tablet. The transmitter is linked to your mobile device through Bluetooth, and if the transmitter gets too far away it will set off an alarm and mark the last known GPS location in the app to help you navigate back to the spot the connection was lost. Next in line we have the Personal Locator Beacon, or PLB. Starting at about $300, you can have a direct line of satellite communication to the Coast Guard or search and rescue services that will work just about anywhere in the world that you can see the sky. The only thing you need to do is register the PLB with NOAA so they have some emergency contact phone numbers and know who it belongs to. A PLB is definitely one of the most powerful pieces of safety equipment you can buy for the money and, in my opinion, should be on everyone's boat before they leave the dock. If everyone had one of these there would be no more search and rescue, just rescue. ACR has two updated models which are the ResQLink PLB-400 and the PLB-425 ResQLink View. Ocean Signal offers the ResQMe PLB1. The full-size cousin of the PLB is the EPIRB or Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. An EPIRB essentially does the same thing as a PLB, but with a few added features. The two most notable differences are that a full-size EPIB is larger than a PLB, so there's more room for a larger battery which means longer operational life once the unit has been activated. The second big difference is that an EPIRB will automatically turn on if it's placed in water (as long as it's out of its bracket), while a PLB can only be activated by manually pressing a button. There are two categories of EPIRBs available, Category I and II. The EPIRBs themselves are actually the same between CAT I and II, it's referring to a difference in the mounting bracket. A category I EPIB is going to be in some type of plastic housing that gets mounted on the outside of the boat. If the boat were to sink underwater, a hydrostatic release allows the cover to pop off and the EPIRB will float to the surface of the water and automatically turn on to start broadcasting a signal. A Category II EPIRB is in a manual bracket that would be mounted inside the boat, somewhere it can be easily reached in the event of an emergency. Some of the best options for new EPIRBs include ACR's GlobalFix V4, Ocean Signals EPIRB1 and EPIRB1 PRO, and McMurdo's Smarfind G8 lineup. The most exciting thing to happen in the EPIRB world within the last couple of years is McMurdo's introduction of the Smartfind G8 with built-in AIS. AIS stands for Automatic Identification System, and has been in use for quite a while as a system to share information between vessels in a relatively localized area. Vessel information is usually displayed on a chart plotter or GPS screen and can provide information like vessel name, course and speed, call sign, and so on. When an EPIRB is activated and has built-in AIS like the McMurdo G8, the normal 406 MHz satellite signal is broadcast along with an AIS distress alarm to all of the vessels within range of the AIS signal. The distress alarm will show up right on the other vessel's chart plotter screens with details about the alert. An AIS beacon works off the same principals as the EPIRB with built-in AIS, but without the 406 satellite signal. The AIS signal will only work within about a 5 mile radius. If you watched our previous video on PFDs, we mentioned that these AIS beacons can be installed inside an inflatable life jacket and actually be setup so they will automatically turn on if someone falls overboard. How it works is the AIS beacon is installed inside the deflated lifejacket. If you have an auto-inflating PFD with AIS properly installed, you end up with a completely automatic system to keep someone afloat and signal for help, even if the person is unconscious or otherwise incapable of doing it on their own. ACR offers the AIS Link MOB, Ocean Signal has the MOB1, and McMurdo offers the S20 or the S10 which is waterproof down to 60 meters and can even be used by divers .
