Will the PLB monitoring agency coordinate a rescue worldwide (i.e. say,
Mexico or the Caribbean) or only within the US? Will other countries'
SAR facilities be informed?

--Dan

ron wrote:
I will have paid $475 after factory rebate for my ACR Aquafix 406 mHz GPS
I/O plus shipping. It is identical to the aviation model except for the
color of the holster. You have to ask for the "pilot" discount at:
www.life-raft.com I have absolutely no relationship with them and found
their name doing google searches for ELT's I think it came up in the soaring
group. It comes with a belt loop as part of the holster.

I wanted something that even my young son could use if we landed in a field
and needed help. It's pretty sad to think he would survive if I was hurt
but not be able to get help on his own. He will be in 2nd grade and I am
sure he could use it if I was hurt and he wasn't.

The $75 factory rebate is until the end of August. They shipped exactly
when they said they would, I have been dealing with James Dayka and the
company is Puget Sound Inflatables at www.life-raft.com . He emailed me
that he is pilot also and that is why they give an extra discount. I still
carry a handheld radio and gps though when flying.

Ron A.

wrote in message
ups.com...

I've got a friend of mine who is going backpacking in Alaska for a
couple of weeks. He has expressed an interest in borrowing my handheld
aviation radio to use in an emergency so that they can "flag down" an
overflying aircraft.

I don't mind lending the radio, but I don't think the radio affords
then very much protection. In order for it to "work," there would have
to be an aircraft overflying their area *and* it would have to be low
enough for the handheld signal to reach it *and* it would have to be
monitoring 121.5 or otherwise be on the same frequency. (I guess I
could find him an ARTCC frequency map for the area in which he'd be
hiking.) Maybe in Alaska monitoring guard is s.o.p., but where I'm from
(NorCal) it doesn't happen as much as it should.

Is there really any reasonable chance that this would be valuable to my
friend?

I have suggested they get a personal 406MHz ELT, but they are about
$600 for a regular unit, and $700 for one that also incorporates a GPS.
Are these things available for rent?

Also, can one rent an Iridium phone reasonably? That seems like it
would be more useful for this purpose.

Anyone have thoughts?

thanks,
-- dave j
-- jacobowitz73 --at-- yahoo --dot-- com

PS -- I know it's also illegal to operate an airband radio for a
nonaviation purpose, but I figure I should not be too worried about
that, if they really intend to use it in for an emergency only.