EPIRBS whats the goss ?

[nofrills]

howdy all

a mate of mine dropped in today and told me the epirbs we are using at the moment are only going to be valid until their expiry date.he said the new ones we have to buy will cost around $1500 and this is starting as of next month,
he also said he got the last available old style one at sundown marine today.
now this is the first ive heard of this and if its true i know ive probably missed a big posting on this site somewhere so can someone fill me in please.

cheers scott

[aido]

here's some info on aircraft elt's
same as the marine system.

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~dessaix/epirbs.jpg

[merv]

I JUST SPOKE WITH SUNDOWN MARINE ABOUT THE NEW EPIRBS AND WAS INFORMED THAT THE NEW ONES WONT HAPPEN TILL 2009.IT WILL BE A TOTALLY DIFFERANT SYSTEM AS THEY WILL CONTAIN NAME OF VESSEL,NO OF POB ,PORT ECT,THE PRICE WILL START OVER $2000.00 BUT WILL COME BACK TO AROUND $1900.00.I JUST BOUGHT A NEW ONE LAST WEEK FROM SUNDOWN [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

[DaneCross]

I'd better start saving now :o :o

[scubapro]

Go to this site, it will explain things.

http://www.amsa.gov.au/beacons/

Scubapro

[merv]

WHERES IT ALL GOING TO END ?I JUST SAVED AND BOUGHT A EPERB,TOOK 6 WEEKS AS I;M ON A PENSION,I HAVE ONLY A14.6FT BOAT AND BEFORE I LEAVE TO GO FISHING I GET THE FORECAST,THEN I ONLY FISH THE BAY OR CLOSE REEFS OFFSHORE MOOLOOLABA I HAVE A VHF RADIO AND ALL THE OTHER SAFETY GEAR, WHAT DO THEY WANT TO PUT THE COST OF FISHING OUT OF REACH FOR US ALL,THEY ARE DOING A BLOODY GOOD JOB OF IT, SOON IT WILL BE ONLY A RICH MANS SPORT//.

[JB]

What a joke, f#!k that, i wont be buying one if its more than 500 bucka, they can kiss my hairy butt. I'll still be going out too.

[Kerry]

406's certainly aren't something exactly new and have been around for some time. As for the price starting over 2K it really all depends on just what type of 406 one intends installing. Base 406, 406 with GPS connectivity, 406 with built-in GPS, manual deploy, automatic deploy etc etc.

The price of a 406 isn't cheap either but even 3-4 years ago the base 406 was around $1500-1600, still not cheap however when compared to the existing 121.5/243's.

The date that detection of 121.5's will cease officially is 2009 but I believe that some of the system's (Russian) satellites will cease monitoring 121.5 well before 2009.

121.5 Epirbs weren't really designed to be detected by satellite anyway, whereas the 406's are built for exactly that purpose. As of Oct 2003 there were an estimated 700,000 121.5 and 320,000 406 Epirbs in use through out the world so it's not as if 406's are only new, just much more efficient and better at doing what they are supposed to do.

Yes, they are going to come at a cost and this has been talked about widely with some parties claiming that costs will drop closer to the date. Still however waiting to see some of the Australian companies, who in some instances lead the world in Epirb design actually release a realistically priced 406 as muted by the gov powers to be, trying to sell the shutdown/change over.

Cheers, Kerry.

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Hi all,
Bit surprised people seem shocked by this. Been on the cards for a few years now and pops up everywhere in a simple google search of "epirb australia" which I would have thought most people would have done whilst checking prices. (Certainly wouldn't be relying on a sales guy to tell you that you will need to come back and buy something different from him in a few years time ::)).
Anyway, from the little I know of it, better accuracy is significant. Accurate within 5km V's 20km means a search area of 25 square km v's 400 square km. But biggest advantage to Search and Rescue will apparently be the saving in lost time chasing false alerts (which I think I read somewhere accounts for 98% of all call outs - could be wrong). I believe when you register you provide contact phone details and if the beacon is set off they call you first to see if you are actually near where the signal is coming from and / or in trouble. Saves scrambling a crew when its set off accidentally or by your kids playing in the boat shed.
Anyway, I'm sure there is people on this website that know a lot more about it than me. I just read it from a casual search for info about 2 years ago when my oldies were thinking of getting an epirb for their remote 4wd excursions.
Cheers,
Jeff

[Daintreeboy]

Judging by the way electronics go in pricing, come 2009 they'll be cheaper. You can still renew your old one at this stage, we have 5 years to go :)

[Brissyguy]

When I was racing sedans, the chief steward used to say at every meeting " You cant put a price on safety"
Some smart bugga would always ask " Well how come it gets dearer every year then "???

Moral here I suppose is how much do you value your own life and the lives of those you take fishing.

Friend of a mate of mine refused to buy a GPS because of the price.
He lost his life when his boat overturned about 3kms offshore on the first day of a three day trip.
The worst part is nobody thought to look for him for three days, until he was overdue.

Cheers,
Rich.

[merv]

I KNOW YOU CARN;T PUT A PRICE ON SAFETY ,I DONT I HAVE MORE SAFETY GEAR THEN YOU WOULD NEED,I ALWAYS LOG ON WITH THE COASTGUARD AND KEEP IN TOUCH;BUT FAIR GO WHERES IT ALL GOING TO END?YOU ONLY NEED TO TAKE A LOOK AT OUR NEW FISHING LAWS (BLOODY BIG JOKE )WHO ARE THE POWERS THAT THINK UP ALL THIS ?WHAT PLANET ARE THEY FROM.OH WELL WE MIGHT WAKE UP COULD JUST BE A BAD DREAM HEY RICH [smiley=2thumbsup.gif] MERV

[caveman]

all i got to say is any one want to buy a boat

[nofrills]

thanks for that guys,sorry i didnt get back,been blacked out from a storm ::).well it looks like ive got plenty of time to save up for one so no need to stress ::)
cheers scott

[gruntahunter]

Speaking bout epirbs.....whats the cost of renewing the battery when it runs out of date. I suppose a marine shop can get it done.

[Kerry]

For a 121.5 probably somewhere between 40 - 140 bucks depending on the make/model. The other difference between makes/models is that is the service life can vary from 2 to 5 years.

From memory a 406 service cost isn't probably something one wants to hear #:-X

Cheers, Kerry.


Cheers, Kerry.