Fort Lauderdale-based (FL) ACR Electronics says it has now put on sale one of the smallest, fully-functional radio beacons in the world and hopes it will help expand the market beyond its traditional marine customers.
The AquaFix 406 GPS P-EPIRB (Personal Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) comes in two models, the GYPSY and the GPS I/O.
So near yet so far
They can broadcast GPS coordinates to within 100 metres. This may sound good but the American GPS system will have to face real competition in the not-too-distant future from Europe's Galileo system.
The GPS system belongs to the US Army and it has tried to block the rollout to the general public of the EU's Galileo system which gives coordinates to within one metre - far better than 100m when you are lost in black, heavy seas. The European Space Agency says that over a period of eight hours for example, the accuracy will increase to even inches as the circling 30 satellites criss-cross the signal.
Skippers should watch out for developments on the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS). This is part of Galileo and services are at present being rolled out for air navigation, not just in Europe, but also in regions such as Africa where trials in June went without a hitch.
EGNOS open service will be declared formally available to the general public over Europe for non safety-of-life applications, free of direct charges from early 2006 but the general public can already receive the EGNOS signal on a test basis. One will have to see what happens to the equipment market for location devices when the EU system is fully operational. No one will wish to be stuck with incompatible gear.
ACR says the GPSI 406 has an interface cable connection to a GPS, and the I/O has the same plus an internal GPS engine to acquire and transmit coordinates. They transmit a unique distress signal on 406 MHz frequency to the orbiting COSPAS-SARSAT satellite systems. The AquaFixâ'¢ 406 also simultaneously transmits a signal on the 121.5 MHz (SAR homing frequency).
ACR says the 406 works down to -20Ëš C, is waterproof up to five metres [depth]and has a non-hazardous five-year lithium battery and capable of continuous transmission for more than 24 hours. It is not light at 12 oz. (338 g).
ACR says the International COSPAS-SARSAT programme has announced it will end satellite processing of distress signals from 121.5/243 MHz emergency beacons on February 1, 2009 and users will have to switch to those operating at 406 MHz if they want to be detected by satellites. 121.5 will still be used as a homing frequency.
We will have to watch for what Galileo brings us in the meantime.
