Alpha Micro and Ocean Signal have been working together to develop global maritime distress safety systems to ensure super-swift response from rescue services.
Ocean Signal has incorporated a GPS positioning chip into its latest E100G Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB), to enable the exact location of a maritime distress signal to be pinpointed quickly and efficiently.
In this project, Alan Wrigley, managing director of Ocean Signal sought the advice of Alpha Micro, independent distributor of electronic components and expert in GPS positioning solutions.
According to Mr Wrigley, the addition of the GPS receiver in the EPIRB gives distinct advantages over the conventional version. Because the COSPAS-SARSAT satellites require more than one orbit to determine the position of the vessel in distress, there is a substantial delay in the position being passed to the rescue authorities. A GPS equipped EPIRB will be able to send exact position via the geo-stationary satellites instantaneously, so the speed of response from the rescue services can be much faster – which can make the difference between life and death, especially in colder waters.
Aware that the EPIRB and GPS module would need to meet standards defined by the International Maritime Organisation (SOLAS), International Electrotechnical Commission, European Directives and Decisions and United States Coastguard, as well as many other applicable national and international rules, Alpha Micro recommended the u-blox NEO-5Q high performance GPS receiver module. Distinguished from its competition by its superfast ‘KickStart’ acquisition technology, the NEO-5Q becomes active within 30 seconds of a cold start, so the EPIRB, which lies dormant until activated, can transmit a distress signal almost instantaneously.
Alpha Micro also helped Ocean Signal to optimise the signal transmitted by the EPIRB by designing an antenna solution specifically optimised for the E100G.
