On Friday, April 4, 2014 8:59:22 AM UTC-7, Brian wrote:
Thanks Darryl,



I don't current have a PLB, but have been looking at them. Hence the reason for the post. So I don't yet have a manual to read, and don't know what is common between units, so reading one manual might not apply to other units.



The question came up be cause I recently heard 2nd hand of someone inadvertently setting their PLB off in a rather high performance airplane. I was wonder what this looks like to the SAR folks. If it is 30 minutes in between GPS fixes then in this case they probably would have been 75 miles apart.



But the main reason I asked is so that I could understand what happens if it is intentionally set off and then the unit is moved by hiking out for example.



Thanks again



Brian

It takes some effort to set off a PLB. False activation is usually not a problem. And if you do stupidly push a button. You can immediately turn it off (the ~ 1 minute delay to first transmission is partially there to allow that... but it also allows getting a GPS Fix if possible). And if possible contact the rescue coordination center if you think the PLB has been set off accidentally. And if it has then your listed contacts may have been called by them. The USAF (not NOAA, not the Coast Guard) manages rescue coordination for inland rescue in the United States. http://www.1af.acc.af.mil/units/afrc...tact/index.asp

All the product manuals are online. Read them. I'd tend to give a lot of credit to the product with better documentation (I suspect ACR wins there).

The how frequently does the GPS update is a kind of geek question that is nice to know buy in practice PLBs tend to work very well, SAR *will* find you if the thing is able to transmit and is not damaged.

And with stories about chasing delivery vans, there have been a few glider trailers chased down with ELTs accidentally tripped off in the past. Presumably mostly with fiberglass or wood trailer tops.