I’ve a basic handheld PLB (rescueME PLB1 Ocean Signal) which I use in Europe, and registered with the UK EPIRB outfit in Cornwal.
Is if of any use in the States and/or Caribbean?
EPIRB has been permanently engaged, so haven’t been able to ask them directly.
If you are going to use it yourself, yes. The most important thing is that is registered correctly, including phonenumbers of people who can verify you are actually out. Usually they will try to call the 24 hours numbers, and see if you are actually out in danger or not. They will do this before SAR work begins. So when an ELT or PLB or EPIRB isn’t registered propperly and they can not confirm that you might need help, they will first try to locate the holder and his wareabouts before starting SAR.
This calling around can take hours, so I can not overstate the importance of good registration, and keeping it up to date (when phone numbers change for example).
Thanks for the detailed answer, which brings up a problem in the UK, as registration and updating the info is a very slow procedure (weeks in the case of registration).
In addition, all contact persons are together on this trip, so pre-planning is essential.
Is there an international registration service for updating the UIN reference?
An internet search produces the NOAA: http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/beacon.html which appears to offer an immediate update.
I’m not sure if registering with two services could be confusing.
