In article 30263873.0.1335547569413.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@pbboj7,
kirk.stant wrote:

Ditto with the fancy 406 + GPS PLBs - they are great if you need rescue
- but they are not ELTs; they (just like the SPOT basic service) need to
be activated by the survivor to be of any use. But if you go down, it
could be a lifesaver!

A PLB is just a manually operated ELT/EPIRB.

I carry this one:

http://www.aeromedix.com/ACR-Resqlin...eacon-GPS.html

It is about the size of a cell phone, and I use a cell phone case
to keep it on my belt.

When I was in CAP, we'd call ELTs ballast. When you need it, there
is high failure rate. The 15% activation rate in crashes mentioned
up thread is quite possibly optimistic. A stat I saw was that 99%
of ELT/EPIRB activations were false alarms. Chasing the UPS truck
at 2am is one of the reasons I left CAP.

John
--
John Clear - http://www.clear-prop.org/