Personal location beacons.

[Dustin_B]

A friend forwarded this to me.

Can you find me now?

Satellite-linked locator devices offer safety, for a price

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- It's like your own personal, portable panic button.

Should you find yourself in a life-threatening situation, a touch of a button means your location is digitally beamed to U.S. government satellites, and then to Mission Control in Maryland.

Before you know it, a search-and-rescue team is on the way.

The devices are called personal locator beacons, and for climbers eager to conquer remote mountains or campers who aren't kidding when they say backcountry, they offer safety in areas and situations where a cellular or satellite phone may not.

The beacons weigh about as much as a coffee mug, and unlike cell phones are waterproof, able to withstand freezing temperatures and work anywhere as long as a patch of sky is visible, experts say.

Users are required to register their devices with the federal government, and that means search-and-rescue teams know the name, age, pre-existing medical conditions and emergency contacts of the person in distress, almost as soon as a signal is received.

Nearly 400 lives were saved by the devices during a six-year pilot project in Alaska, said Lt. Dann Karlson, an operations support officer at SARSAT -- shot for Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Commerce Department arm runs the satellites.

Since the FCC approved sale of the device to consumers in July, about 80 have been registered with the federal government, he said. Such registration is required by law.

Safe anywhere -- at a price

The gadgets are pricey, running from $600 to $750. And, if your cell or satellite phone works, you're better off using that, because you can communicate your exact situation to an emergency operator, industry experts said.

"We prefer people use their cell phones because ... that way the 911 operator can dispatch the appropriate resources to the scene," Karlson said. "On a PLB, we're just getting an alert that says, 'I'm in distress.' We don't know the conditions, it could be snowing, and we don't know how many are in your party," Karlson said.

Also, consumers shouldn't think of the devices as an adventure-travel guarantee. "This isn't an insurance policy in the sense that you can go climb Mt. McKinley tomorrow just because you have this PLB, (thinking that) 'If I can't make it, someone will come get me.' You still have a personal responsibility, by going out into the wilderness, to take the necessary precautions."

Not fail-safe

The devices don't work when buried under snow, in caves or buildings. Essentially, a patch of clear sky is needed for the signal to reach a satellite, experts said. But even from a deep hole or chasm, the signal can be received, as long as some sky is visible.

Some say the peace of mind is worth the price. "No matter how experienced you are, you never know what can go wrong," said Matt Kaplan, sales manager at ACR Electronics, a manufacturer of the devices, based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

"Even weekend warriors ... whether it's the weather or you break an ankle, you get lost, etc., this can be used by anybody," Kaplan said. "Once you've had an experience like that and you've felt exposed, that's going to drive home the need for a PLB safety net."

The device is beginning to gain more widespread interest, he said. "We've been speaking with the Boy Scouts for troop-leaders to carry this product, so if your child is off in the mountains the troop leader can respond accordingly if anything happens," he said.

The higher-end PLBs come with a global positioning satellite option that can pinpoint locations to within a football field-sized area. Those without GPS capability place your location within one to two miles, Karlson said.

REI <http://www.rei.com/>, the outdoor-equipment retailer, is selling the beacons for about $600 to $750 on its Web site, and some online retailers such as BackcountryStore.com <http://www.backcountrystore.com/> and MountainGear <http://www.mgear.com/> offer them as well.

Purposefully sending a false alarm over the system can result in a penalty of up to $250,000 and 10 years in prison, Karlson said.

 

discuss, ad nauseam

[Figger_Eight]

If replacing cell phones with these things eliminates the "guess where I am" phone calls on summits - that's okay with me.

[bunglehead]

Too bad they can't make one of those for my mental state.

[Toast]

HELP, I've fallen, and I can't get up