Personal Location Beacon

[UFO]

Looking for recommendations for a PLB for attaching to children's life-jackets.


Must be automatically set off with an on boat alarm and transmit position to Local Boats.


It does not need to transmit to Authorities as would be used to pinpoint location in MOB situation.

[slipaway]

I don't believe there is any one device that will do as you ask, that is auto-activate, set off a local alarm and transmit to all other boats in the area. What there are are: Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs), AIS Beacons and some specialty devices.

The PLB transmits a location signal to the Search & Rescue satellite system which then alerts rescue forces. To my knowledge there is no current PLB that auto-activates when someone goes overboard. Nor does the PLB automatically signal nearby vessels.

Contrast that with the AIS beacon which when activated which transmits a radio signal that can be received by vessels in range. Some can be activated by the inflation of a lifejacket if set up that way, I am not sure if any auto-activate upon submersion, there may be, just didn't find one. Note the AIS beacon will not alert the SARSAT system- thus if there's no one close enough to receive the signal (not every boat can receive AIS) no one will hear.

I don't believe there is a combined PLB/AIS beacon approved in the US yet.

There are also some signalling devices that do activate automatically and trigger an alarm (via smartphone app). No endorsement- the one I found is called "crew watcher." It's an interesting device which seems to work on the idea that if the receiver moves a certain distance from your smartphone (as in going overboard) it alarms. But other then providing an immediate signal back to you it seems of limited use in any kind of search situation.

Here's an interesting article: Here is an article that talks about this: https://www.soundingsonline.com/voic...-ais-satellite.

[Paul L]

For quick crew recovery you are better off with an AIS/DSC beacon. These can be auto deployed on inflatable vests, they are small, when activated they alram on VHF radios as well as issuing a SART alarm on AIS devices.

MOB1 - Ocean Signal

[UFO]

Originally Posted by Paul L

For quick crew recovery you are better off with an AIS/DSC beacon. These can be auto deployed on inflatable vests, they are small, when activated they alram on VHF radios as well as issuing a SART alarm on AIS devices.

MOB1 - Ocean Signal

Yes I've looked at that one, which would be good for my elder child, but the younger one I can not seem to find an auto inflating life jacket for her size and weight and I believe they activate on inflation.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by UFO

Yes I've looked at that one, which would be good for my elder child, but the younger one I can not seem to find an auto inflating life jacket for her size and weight and I believe they activate on inflation.

Yes, inflatables for young ones are tough. Even the older one should be taught how to manually activate the unit in case it fails to deploy.
You might find an inflatable fanny pack that could work.

Either way I think ais/dsc units are far superior to plb units for crew rescue. The response time for plbs is too slow and limited primarily to the coast guard. The ais/dsc units allow the vessel the mob fell off of to respond as well as near by vessels.

[NevilleCat]

https://www.whitworths.com.au/acr-we...tracker-4-pack
You might be best off with something like this system...works with app.
You won't find inflatable jackets for little kids. You can get harnesses though, use those.
https://www.whitworths.com.au/burke-...safety-harness

[UFO]

Originally Posted by NevilleCat

https://www.whitworths.com.au/acr-we...tracker-4-pack
You might be best off with something like this system...works with app.
You won't find inflatable jackets for little kids. You can get harnesses though, use those.
https://www.whitworths.com.au/burke-...safety-harness

My issue with those was that they only record the long/lat of when the incident happened rather than a current location like the AIS device

[Mr B]

I did see a plb a few years ago, It was egg shaped, You could get them in a pack up to six in the kit,
It registered the position on the GPS, MOB, and turned the motor off,
You could set it to a distance from the central unit, It went off when you exceeded the range limit, MOB, Etc,

[ilenart]

I think you will find that the Ocean Signal MOB1 is the smallest AIS unit you can get in Oz which has automatic activation on inflation.

When my kids were really little I had them either in a Child PFD 100 lifejacket or a harness and tether that was setup so the child could climb in or out of the cabin but was not long enough to climb out of the cockpit.

Ilenart