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#11
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What's gonna happen to CAP?
"Ron Lee" wrote: ...there is NO (zip, nada) mandate for GA to transition to 406 MHz ELTs. True, but: http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/phaseout.html If I'm down, I want a satellite to pick up the beacon, pronto. -- Dan T-182T at BFM |
#12
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What's gonna happen to CAP?
On Sep 19, 12:24 pm, "Dan Luke" wrote:
"Ron Lee" wrote: ...there is NO (zip, nada) mandate for GA to transition to 406 MHz ELTs. True, but: http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/phaseout.html If I'm down, I want a satellite to pick up the beacon, pronto. It remains to be seen how 121.5 signals will be detected if the gov't stops looking for them. However, from having hunted for ELTs myself CAP can find them every single time. There is no concern what-so-ever that the 121.5 isn't specific enough as to location. Yes, you often have to have aircraft up to narrow down the signal location but we often hide ELTs around the state and then send training crews up to find them and I'm not aware of anytime a crew of air and group crews could not find an ELT located under any rock anywhere in the state. -Robert |
#13
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What's gonna happen to CAP?
"Dan Luke" wrote True, but: http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/phaseout.html If I'm down, I want a satellite to pick up the beacon, pronto. You, and me both. In an aircraft crash, there is always a high chance of life-threatening injuries. The "golden hour" of receiving treatment is never more important in these cases. The new 406 ELT's may be the difference of getting treatment started in the "golden hour." ** I would have to say that a new 406 ELT would be on the top of the equipment list for a new homebuilt, for me, even though the cost is a significant burden. It is hard for me to put a price on the value of my life, but I'm certain it is higher than the new ELT's price. -- Jim in NC ** PS. For those that are unfamiliar with the term, "golden hour" it refers to the first hour after the life threatening injuries. It has been shown that people who receive treatment in the first hour have a significantly higher chance of surviving, than those who do not get treatment in the first "golden hour." I believe the term was originated in a TV show about emergency paramedics. I could be wrong, and the term was already around when the show picked it up, and made it a common term. |
#14
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What's gonna happen to CAP?
On Wed, 19 Sep 2007 08:15:40 -0700, Jay Honeck
wrote in . com: My son and I were active in Civil Air Patrol a couple of years ago. The primary training mission was Search and Rescue, utilizing radio direction finders that allowed us to find transponders that were going off. Do you mean Emergency Location Transmitters instead of transponder With the impending transition to 406 mhz transponders that will give far more accurate location information upon activation, we will no longer need fatigue-clad cadets trudging through the woods on SAR missions. The can continue to jot down all the N-numbers of aircraft at airports and report them to the DEA as usual. CAP is a good organization for kids, basically "Boy Scouts With a Mission". Given that Search and Rescue is their primary mission, I wonder what's gonna happen to CAP? They may get updated radio equipment, and continue doing SAR. |
#15
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What's gonna happen to CAP?
Jay Honeck wrote:
My son and I were active in Civil Air Patrol a couple of years ago. The primary training mission was Search and Rescue, utilizing radio direction finders that allowed us to find transponders that were going off. With the impending transition to 406 mhz transponders that will give far more accurate location information upon activation, we will no longer need fatigue-clad cadets trudging through the woods on SAR missions. CAP is a good organization for kids, basically "Boy Scouts With a Mission". Given that Search and Rescue is their primary mission, I wonder what's gonna happen to CAP? -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" Without even reading the other responses, I can say authoritatively that the CAP has many other roles that they do: counter drug surveillance, fire watch, post-disaster aerial survey, photographic reconnasaince and "aggressor aircraft" penetration roles. Also, the 121.5 mhz ELT's are not going away. They are just not going to be monitored by satellites. If an ELT goes off and a non-satellite method of detection occurs, the process of tracking it down still gets initiated. Overflying aircraft and ATC are the most likely sources of this activation (you DO keep your other radio tuned to monitor 121.5 as suggested by NOTAM, right?) I joined my local CAP chapter and was in for about a year. My reasons for becoming inactive were my time constraints, not anything lacking on the part of the local squadron. I intend to re-apply when things are more amenable to my participation. I am still on the mailing list, and keep up with all the region and squadron event announcements - sorties, training, etc. Dave |
#16
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What's gonna happen to CAP?
Um, just fyi ... a transponder is a device that receives an interrogation
and issues a reply in response to the interrogation. bip...BONGGGG bip...BONGGGG Crikey. That'll teach me to post anything on a lazy day off before my morning coffee... Thanks for the correction... -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#17
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What's gonna happen to CAP?
The question at hand is whether the new transponders will really reduce
the need for S&R? It may reduce the search time somewhat, but it won't do much to eliminate the rescue operations. It may be all hype, but I thought the new 406 mhz ELTs were designed to report your position in Lat/Lon, like a GPS? If that's the case, the "Search" part of a SAR mission has been entirely eliminated. I also thought these things were being touted as all-but-eliminating false signals? Sadly, false alarms made up the vast majority of our CAP SAR missions, so a huge percentage of CAP SAR will be eliminated if this feature is truly functional. Anyway, with no one listening to 121.5, I suspect most pilots will be switching to 406s when their current batteries die. If everyone switches, this will be a great enhancement to safety, but it *sounds* like 90% of CAP's purpose (outside of educational -- which means we're back to "Boy Scouts Without a Mission") will be eliminated. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#18
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What's gonna happen to CAP?
On Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:17:24 -0700, Jay Honeck
wrote in .com: It may be all hype, but I thought the new 406 mhz ELTs were designed to report your position in Lat/Lon, like a GPS? Apparently they have the capability to broadcast the GPS information via an optional interface unit that ties the ELT into the aircraft's GPS or FMS system. If that's the case, the "Search" part of a SAR mission has been entirely eliminated. I also thought these things were being touted as all-but-eliminating false signals? How would that be accomplished? An improved inertia switch??? Sadly, false alarms made up the vast majority of our CAP SAR missions, so a huge percentage of CAP SAR will be eliminated if this feature is truly functional. You say that like it's a bad thing. Expending resources for no valid reason seems foolish to me. Anyway, with no one listening to 121.5, I'll be listing on 121.5 MHz, and so will a lot of other people. There are other reasons to do that beside ELTs. I suspect most pilots will be switching to 406s when their current batteries die. Given the cost of the 406 MHz equipment, and the cost of installing a new antenna, and perhaps interfacing to the on-board GPS, I'm not so sure the cost of replacing 121.5 MHz ELT batteries will be much of an impetus to switch. If everyone switches, this will be a great enhancement to safety, Perhaps. but it *sounds* like 90% of CAP's purpose (outside of educational -- which means we're back to "Boy Scouts Without a Mission") will be eliminated. CAP does a lot more than SAR and education. See Message-ID: above. Here's an article with information about 406 MHz ELTs: http://www.aea.net/Pilot/PG04ELT.pdf P I L O T ’ S G U I D E In case you hadn't heard, the world of corporate jet opera-tors was set on its collective ear last year as they rushed to comply with the FAA's mandate stating that they be equipped with ELTs by January of 2004. It caused quite a problem for operators who waited too long to do the required installations. The suppliers couldn't keep up with demand.Don't all aircraft have to be equipped with ELTs you ask? Yes and no—you gotta' love those FARs. About the easiest way to figure it out is to say if you're operating under Part 91, you need an ELT. If you're operating under Parts 121 or 135, you don't need an ELT. Why? Well, simply, aircraft operated for hire “always” fly under the watchful eye of ATC so should they have a problem, someone knows where they are. At least it seemed that way until that fateful day in 1996 when a Lear 35A operating under instrument flight rules “disap-peared” while on approach to Lebanon Municipal Airport in New Hampshire. The jet's wreckage was not found until 1999 when a forester discovered it, 17 miles from the airport. The Lear didn't have an ELT. Would it have made a difference? Who knows. But this chilling occurrence is what got Congress to take action and change the rules for the ?Jet A burners.' On the other hand, we “little guys” are free to roam all over the sky, unfettered and uncon-trolled. Isn't that the beauty of flying your own airplane? So we are much more prone to be “lost” in the event of an accident. We need watching.So, for the majority of us, an ELT has been a part of our air-craft's equipment since way back in 1970. And while that's the end of one story, it's the beginning of another because a new mandate clock is ticking. And this time it ticks for you…There’s change in the air…As an aircraft owner, the new date you have to be aware of is January 31, 2009—yes, 2009. But it's never too early to start planning. On that date, all aircraft with ELTs will be required to be equipped with a digital ELT oper-ating on the 406 megahertz fre-quency. And this means you. Why? Because that is when the emergency 121.5 analog frequency will no longer be moni-tored by the COSPAS-SARSAT search and rescue satellites. The frequency will still be monitored by ground-based receivers, ATC - 32 -406 MHz ELTCompliance UpdateB Y D A L E S M I T HPractically everything you’ve ever wanted to know about 406 MHz ELTs but didn’t know who to ask.facilities or by over flying air-craft— it's better than nothing, but it will really limit the likelihood that the distress signal will be detected in a reasonable length of time.The directive to drop the pro-cessing of the 121.5 MHz signal was made by the International COSPAS-SARSAT (Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System) group. It's a cooperative effort between the United States, Canada, France and Russia, along with 25 other countries to support the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Civil Aeronautics Organization (ICAO) concerning search and rescue operations. The group decision was based on a variety of reasons includ-ing numerous signal reception problems, a high incidence of false alerts (over 99 percent) and a host of other limitations associ-ated with the analog-only 121.5 frequency. The satellite-based COSPAS-SARSAT system and the 406 MHz digital ELTs have already proven to be far superior to the current analog-based system. Since its inception in 1982, the system has been credited with saving more than 17,000 lives worldwide and nearly 5,000 people in the United States. In many of these cases, the satellite network was the only means of detecting the distress signal.“The satellite network makes the 406 ELTs much more accu-rate than the old units,” explained Wendell Neumeyer, market-ing manager for Artex Aircraft Supplies, a leading ELT produc-er. “The location of the satellites and the digital signal from the ELTs reduces the search area by an order of magnitude or more.” Think of it as putting a bell on the proverbial needle in a haystack.Neumeyer said that the dra-matic increase in accuracy is due to the fact that the software that does the calculations on the 406 beacon is much better than the analog processor. “It's also a full five-watt digital signal,” he continued. “It's a much clearer signal so the resolution accuracy is much greater.”“Another benefit of the 406 units is they can be interfaced with the aircraft's FMS or GPS units,” Neumeyer added. “Now you can use naviga-tion information to provide spot-on loca-tion of the distress signal. To do that, you need an optional interface unit that ties the ELT into the aircraft's GPS or FMS system to provide rescuers real-time, pinpoint aircraft loca-tion information.In fact, instead of having to search hundreds of square miles, the digital processing in the standard 406 beacon can narrow the area down to within two nautical miles radius. And if you connect the aircraft's GPS or FMS, the area is reduced down to the size of a football field. An ELT that identifies you by nameAnother major benefit of the 406 ELTs is that the signal is not only detected almost instantly by the geostationary satellite network, the digital signal can be coded with information about the aircraft and owner. By coding the information, Search and Rescue Coordin-ation Centers can quickly con-tact the registered owner/opera-tor to verify if the aircraft is flying - 33 -Continued on following page…or safely tied down on the ramp. If the aircraft is reported to be fly-ing, it permits a faster response by the SAR teams. If it's parked, it allows for the owner to manual-ly deactivate the ELT sooner and allow valuable resources to be used only on real emergencies. Remember to register your 406 ELTThere's one more important thing to remember whenever you do make the switch to a 406 MHz ELT. Whenever you have your avi-onics shop install the 406 unit in your aircraft, you must make sure to register its paperwork so that search and rescue can take full advantage of the benefits the system offers. “Owners need to register the beacon. If they don't, they're defeating the purpose of hav-ing the 406 in the first place,” Neumeyer said. “I can tell you that a substantial number of 406 ELT owners—not airline or fleet operators—but corporate and business aircraft owners, have not registered or reportedly not registered their units.”It all ties back to the 406 unit's ability to be coded with critical information about the aircraft type, base location, ownership and the like. If you don't register it, no one can take advantage of the information. “It is critically important for installation technicians and avionics shop operators to pro-actively tell their customers that they need to register these units immediately,” he continued. “We put all kinds of labels and cards in the packaging with the units, but technicians and/or the customers don't understand the critical importance of this step. I guess they think it's just another marketing ploy. But in truth, it is a critical step in making the 406 ELT an effective life-saving tool.”2009 is the year of the ELTSo, sometime before January 2009, you will need to upgrade your current analog 121.5 ELT to a digital 406 MHz frequency ELT. You can eliminate the chance of suffering through another compli-ance deadline bottleneck and install the 406 MHz unit today. Which may not be such a bad option if you are in need of an ELT repair and plan on keeping your aircraft past 2009. “For most operators it's a matter of cost versus security,” Neumeyer explained. “Today, a 406 unit will cost three- to five-times as much as a standard 121.5 unit. That's substantially more money and it's an invest-ment that someone who is not planning on keeping their aircraft for much longer may not want to make.”Why does it cost so much more? Well, along with the higher cost for the 406 ELT hardware itself, Neumeyer said that the installation of the unit is more time-consuming and, therefore, costs more than what you'd have with your old 121.5 system. According to various AEA member shops, installation times can bvary greatly depend-ing on where the antenna is located. So it's probably a wise idea to get estimates from your avionics experts to gauge the market. While we're on the subject of boxes, you will need to add an interface to use your GPS/FMS positioning information and, according to Neumeyer, an Artex ELT/NAV Interface box currently sells for around $1,500 (plus installation and interface cabling). But, if there's a chance of reduc-ing the time it will take search and rescue to find you to mere minutes, you'd have to consider that pretty cheap insurance.And if you're thinking that by waiting the price of the hardware will go down, don't count on it. As the compliance deadline approaches and the demand increases, history and business 101 has to tell you that, if any-thing, the price will keep going up. Sure the cost can be pro-hibitive, but we're talking about something that you really can't put a price on—you and your passengers' lives. “When you weigh the cost against the many benefits, I think the wise operator will go with the 406 installation well before the compliance dead-line,” he continued. “It's some-thing you never want to use, but will be thankful you have if you ever need it.” ¦For more information: NOAA-SARSAT Ph: (888) 212-SAVE Web: www.sarsat.noaa.gov- 34 -406 MHz ELT COMPLIANCE UPDATEContinued from page 33 |
#19
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What's gonna happen to CAP?
On Sep 19, 3:16 pm, Larry Dighera wrote:
They may get updated radio equipment, and continue doing SAR. BTW: Our radio equipment already monitors 3 freq one is the 406 today. -Robert |
#20
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What's gonna happen to CAP?
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com... The question at hand is whether the new transponders will really reduce the need for S&R? It may reduce the search time somewhat, but it won't do much to eliminate the rescue operations. It may be all hype, but I thought the new 406 mhz ELTs were designed to report your position in Lat/Lon, like a GPS? If that's the case, the "Search" part of a SAR mission has been entirely eliminated. I doubt that. Just look at the search for Steve Fossett - no trace of an ELT - even the one on his wrist. I also thought these things were being touted as all-but-eliminating false signals? Sadly, false alarms made up the vast majority of our CAP SAR missions, so a huge percentage of CAP SAR will be eliminated if this feature is truly functional. Eliminating false alarms won't eliminate the real alarms... Anyway, with no one listening to 121.5, I suspect most pilots will be switching to 406s when their current batteries die. If everyone switches, this will be a great enhancement to safety, but it *sounds* like 90% of CAP's purpose (outside of educational -- which means we're back to "Boy Scouts Without a Mission") will be eliminated. What about the "no ELT functioning" cases? Those won't get any easier. (Again, look at what was done for Steve Fossett with no results) One thing they could do is to add a hi-res digital camera to the aircraft and do photo-recon while running the search grids. Something like the MechanicalTurk work that was done for Fossett could easily turn up something that was missed by the human observer who happened to get distracted or sneeze at the wrong time... -- Geoff The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate. |
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