On Aug 23, 6:36*pm, Dick wrote:
A couple of years ago there was talk of denying entry in to contests
all gliders that were not equipped with ELT's. *I immediatly ordered a
121.5 / 406 Mhz model. *It came the other day, a year and a half
later. *It includes a clunky antenna that would have to be mounted
outside of a carbon hull. *I have two questions. *One, what happened
to the urgency??? *and two has anyone come up with a workable solution
to the antenna issue?

US contest rules permit the contest organizer to require ELT's or
other safety device as thety see fit.The initiative, authored by
myself, to make ELT's mandatory was never implemented as pilots did
not think theyshould be mandatory.
Personally, I have an impact actuated ELT, a 406 PLB, and a SPOT,
acquired in that order.
I'm confident that, with those implemented, I will be found.
None are perfect.
ELT's are negatively affected by installation and antenna issues.
PLB's require concious person to activate.
Spot has to see the sky.
Today from scratch, I would do Spot, and add impact activated 406 when
I felt I could afford it,
My decisions are based on my hope that my going missing will end
quickly to minimize the effect on my wife and family.
FWIW
UH
UH