PanPan - a virtual lifeline on your smartphone

[jason-panpan]

Originally Posted by Snowpetrel

I could see putting one on my 2 year old in the house, Id get an alarm if he manages to open the door and go off a wandering...

Although not intended for this purpose and depending of the size of your house that could work

[Siberianhusky]

Personally I think if you are really worried about going overboard any of the current safety devices are more appropriate. EPIRB, PLB, Handheld vhf with dsc and gps....
Devices that tell rescuers where you are, not where you were you fell off.
Maybe at anchor on a kid or pet, offshore NO WAY!

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by Siberianhusky

Personally I think if you are really worried about going overboard any of the current safety devices are more appropriate. EPIRB, PLB, Handheld vhf with dsc and gps....
Devices that tell rescuers where you are, not where you were you fell off.
Maybe at anchor on a kid or pet, offshore NO WAY!

You didn't read the initial posts did you?

Epirbs and plb's are not going to wake up others on your boat

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by jason-panpan

It actually uses a specialised long range bluetooth 4 antenna. This is great because the protocol is much more energy efficient with an expected operational battery life of three years for the beacon.

You quote a special long range antenna but don't give a range idea.

So what is the expected range for a normal phone?
Not in the open field but under real world conditions (device is outside, the phone is inside a FRP / wood / steel boat, with no false alarms due to lost signal)

What is the expected range once the device gets wet / submerged ? Of course again with the phone inside the boat.

[hpeer]

Steel boat appropriate?

[Rustic Charm]

I think this is a fantastic idea. Well done. I hope it takes off for you.

My only comment is that I suspect it will quickly, in the next year or so, be superceeded with either vhf radios or AIS finders doing the same thing and then not just waking up others on the boat, but also giving their location so they can be quickly picked up.

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

I think this is a fantastic idea. Well done. I hope it takes off for you.

My only comment is that I suspect it will quickly, in the next year or so, be superceeded with either vhf radios or AIS finders doing the same thing and then not just waking up others on the boat, but also giving their location so they can be quickly picked up.

They do do exactly that today and more but at a different price Tag. 300€ vs whatever the final price will be.
Wer habe a dedicated Dsc / Gps enabled VHF Handheld for this purpose

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by rabbi

They do do exactly that today and more but at a different price Tag. 300€ vs whatever the final price will be.
Wer habe a dedicated Dsc / Gps enabled VHF Handheld for this purpose

Correct me please as I don't have one. But if you fall over with a dSC hand held and activate it, does it not send out an alert to everyone within radio distance?

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

Correct me please as I don't have one. But if you fall over with a dSC hand held and activate it, does it not send out an alert to everyone within radio distance?

it has big red button to send out a DSC alert to everyone within radio distance.
A DSC alert includes current GPS position and MMSI identity. This fires off the VHF alarm, and with integrated systems it also places a marker in the chartplotter.
Plus it is of course a handheld VHF so the MOB can direct the mothership via voice.

It needs however a DSC VHF on the mothership and and loudspeaker / alarm in the cabin for the off-watch.

In case of MOB I think its better to alert everyone in VHF distance than to hope that your SO likes you enough to get you back onboard.


AIS MOB are at the same price tag, but can only do MOB alerts. Handheld VHF wins IMO.

[jason-panpan]

Originally Posted by rabbi

You quote a special long range antenna but don't give a range idea.

So what is the expected range for a normal phone?
Not in the open field but under real world conditions (device is outside, the phone is inside a FRP / wood / steel boat, with no false alarms due to lost signal)

What is the expected range once the device gets wet / submerged ? Of course again with the phone inside the boat.

He Rabbi,

Good question, and one that's hard to answer because it's depended on the conditions. We've tested about 200meters line of sight range with a sony xperia z1.

We've also tested on board a 10m, wooden sailing yacht where we kept the phone in the sleeping cabin at bow and the beacon at the far back of the vessel on deck. This signal had more then enough capacity to manage this. (Although I would recommend keeping it somewhere center.)

When floating in the water we found it picked up signal for about a 10m radius while the phone was on board. Please remember that the loss of signal is also used as a trigger for man over board.

We do have plans to to create a "homing" function. Once you arrive at the point of loss and you pick up the signal again, we can tell you must be close. (for night-time situations)

Does that cover your question?

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by jason-panpan

He Rabbi,

Good question, and one that's hard to answer because it's depended on the conditions. We've tested about 200meters line of sight range with a sony xperia z1.

We've also tested on board a 10m, wooden sailing yacht where we kept the phone in the sleeping cabin at bow and the beacon at the far back of the vessel on deck. This signal had more then enough capacity to manage this. (Although I would recommend keeping it somewhere center.)

When floating in the water we found it picked up signal for about a 10m radius while the phone was on board. Please remember that the loss of signal is also used as a trigger for man over board.

We do have plans to to create a "homing" function. Once you arrive at the point of loss and you pick up the signal again, we can tell you must be close. (for night-time situations)

Does that cover your question?

Thank you, I'm interested and signed up for the Beta. Will these beacons ship before summer? do you have the android app ready ?


I hope you have not only rock solid reliability but also bulletproof disclaimers taking care of all possible stupidity that exists around the world.
Otherwise some American will sue the hell out of you if a live / wife is lost while wearing one of your beacons.

[jason-panpan]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

I think this is a fantastic idea. Well done. I hope it takes off for you.

My only comment is that I suspect it will quickly, in the next year or so, be superceeded with either vhf radios or AIS finders doing the same thing and then not just waking up others on the boat, but also giving their location so they can be quickly picked up.

Thanks for the kind words.

I believe this has passed in this thread before. I will have to do some digging in the technology as the range is certainly a big asset.
From what I could find quickly is that it's quite power hungry, the devices are quite large (probably due to the battery) and expensive.

[Don C L]

I've got one of those handheld VHF w/GPS and I like it but it does not send out a message unless I push the button, and I'd have to have it in my hand or attached somewhere at all times. Not likely for me. I think your idea with a homing function makes it even more interesting. And I see this in addition to a PLB or VHF, not instead of. I wonder, what about a distress button in case you are outside and the wind is howling and you want to send an alarming yell inside to say "hey, wake up, I'm stuck and I need a hand out here quick!" Or did you mention it and I missed it?

[jason-panpan]

Originally Posted by rabbi

Thank you, I'm interested and signed up for the Beta. Will these beacons ship before summer? do you have the android app ready ?


I hope you have not only rock solid reliability but also bulletproof disclaimers taking care of all possible stupidity that exists around the world.
Otherwise some American will sue the hell out of you if a live / wife is lost while wearing one of your beacons.

Awesome! great to have you on board.
We are currently in the last stages of development and aim to ship before the summer of next year. The beta units will be earlier then that tough.

We are working hard to get it as reliable as possible but as with any safety equipment, we cannot prevent thing's only do our bets to aid in distress.
You are right about the legal bit, luckily we have legal consultants for that part.

[jason-panpan]

Originally Posted by Don C L

I've got one of those handheld VHF w/GPS and I like it but it does not send out a message unless I push the button, and I'd have to have it in my hand or attached somewhere at all times. Not likely for me. I think your idea with a homing function makes it even more interesting. And I see this in addition to a PLB or VHF, not instead of. I wonder, what about a distress button in case you are outside and the wind is howling and you want to send an alarming yell inside to say "hey, wake up, I'm stuck and I need a hand out here quick!" Or did you mention it and I missed it?

Ah, yes automatic activation is a big plus.
PanPan is made to be exactly what you say, an extra layer of protection in the scheme of things.

Am I correct that your looking for something like a "Attention" button on the beacon? That's quite a neat idea although the first units probably wont see a button because of the complexity it brings with waterproofing the unit.