McMurdo vs Ocean Signal MOB AIS comparison?

[Dr. Sea]

Does anyone have personal experience with the Mcmurdo Smartfind S20 Srs AIS Mob Beacon vs. the Ocean Signal Rescueme Personal AIS Beacon? They both will send out an AIS signal so that any nearby boat (presumably your own) will be able to find you in the water and they both have a built-in strobe light. From the Ocean Signal's advertising, "MOB1, unlike any other personal AIS Beacon, also provides a second way to assure your rescue, using DSC-equipped VHF radios of any vessels within line-of-sight range. You can manually send an All Ships DSC distress call by pushing a button on the device, in case your own vessel is unable to hear your transmission or respond." That seems to make it superior to the McMurdo. Does anyone know of a reason not to prefer the Ocean Signal device?

[monte]

Nope. Is it also possible to auto activate with an inflatable lifejacket, or is it automatically activated in water? Does it communicate the alert and position you your plotter as well as others, with an alarm?

[Dr. Sea]

As I understand both of these MOB beacons, they do not activate by immersion but by the inflating action of the PFD. I found a YouTube video that shows how to install the Ocean Signal model on a Spinlock PFD. I think it would work the same on any PFD, or at least most of them. These both can be manually activated, so if you installed one on a standard PFD (big orange kapok type) you could activate it manually. Check out this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5h4wqZkXZs

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by monte

Nope. Is it also possible to auto activate with an inflatable lifejacket, or is it automatically activated in water? Does it communicate the alert and position you your plotter as well as others, with an alarm?

Monte,

The models Dr. Sea is inquiring about all activate manually [not water activated.]

They can be activated by inflation of a PFD if properly installed. [Basically it is a lanyard pulling off an end-cap... so manual is also easy...]

RE: Alert: They have built-in GPS and broadcast a 'MOB' AIS signal with coordinates. [I have read older AIS receivers may not display 'MOB' but will still display the location, just not labeled 'MOB'.

Likewise for the units with VHF DSC: not all DSC receivers will work with them. [All from reading the manufacturers websites and the article linked in my more detailed post earlier in this thread...]

Cheers!

Bill

[Hydra]

At present, MOB beacons combining AIS with DSC are not yet legal everywhere: it's wise to check before buying.

Here (France), the DSC function of RescueMe beacons is deactivated pending authorisation.

Alain

[Dr. Sea]

Originally Posted by Hydra

At present, MOB beacons combining AIS with DSC are not yet legal everywhere: it's wise to check before buying.

Here (France), the DSC function of RescueMe beacons is deactivated pending authorisation.

Alain

Thanks, Alain. I wouldn't have thought of that. I suppose if I learned that the USA didn't authorize it, the rebel in me would say, "If I fall off my boat somewhere out in the ocean, I want my crew to come back and rescue me immediately. Then I can talk to the authorities about my violation when it is more convenient."

[Hydra]

The problem is, I have the choice between buying here a beacon with DSC deactivated, ordering one with DSC through a vendor in another country and risking confiscation by Customs (yes, they Xray scan mail order parcels) or going abroad and bringing one back.

I will wait a bit more and hope that the price comes down...

Alain

[Dr. Sea]

Originally Posted by Hydra

The problem is, I have the choice between buying here a beacon with DSC deactivated, ordering one with DSC through a vendor in another country and risking confiscation by Customs (yes, they Xray scan mail order parcels) or going abroad and bringing one back.

I will wait a bit more and hope that the price comes down...

Alain

Yes, I can understand your quandary. I need to check on that issue. The cheapest Ocean Signal MOB AIS that I have found from discounters in the USA is around $235. That's a good bit less than the manufacturer's suggested retail price.

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sea

Does anyone have personal experience with the Mcmurdo Smartfind S20 Srs AIS Mob Beacon vs. the Ocean Signal Rescueme Personal AIS Beacon? They both will send out an AIS signal so that any nearby boat (presumably your own) will be able to find you in the water and they both have a built-in strobe light. From the Ocean Signal's advertising, "MOB1, unlike any other personal AIS Beacon, also provides a second way to assure your rescue, using DSC-equipped VHF radios of any vessels within line-of-sight range. You can manually send an All Ships DSC distress call by pushing a button on the device, in case your own vessel is unable to hear your transmission or respond." That seems to make it superior to the McMurdo. Does anyone know of a reason not to prefer the Ocean Signal device?

Dr. Sea,

I can report first hand experience with the original version [SafeLink R10 - Kannad Marine] of what is now the Smartfind S20 [Identical according to the manufacturer.]

We have them attached to auto-activate upon inflation of our Spinlock DeckVests. We test annually by manually inflating the vests with a small bicycle pump [to keep moisture from our breath from accumulating inside the bladders...] They work every time and are not in the way- even when we don the vest's built-in spray hood.

Now that the Ocean Signal MOB1 device with DSC is available in the US, that is our current intended upgrade path, but I have no direct experience with those yet...

The British publication Yachting Monthly just published an excellent review of all such devices currently available including the two you are inquiring about.

To complete the thought, we also carry a PLB, a DSC VHF, Skyblazer aerial flares, and a Greatland Laser Flare on our vests to cover all rescue scenarios. These items are so small and relatively cheap these days I'm not sure we could afford not to have them attached to our person, but we frequent some pretty remote areas on land as well as on the water.

In hopes this is useful to some.

Cheers!

Bill

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

The British publication Yachting Monthly just published an excellent review of all such devices currently available including the two you are inquiring about.

It seems I accidentally linked to page 2 of 2 of the above article.

Here is the link to the beginning of the article for reference.

I apologize for any confusion...

Cheers!

Bill

[Dr. Sea]

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

Dr. Sea,

I can report first hand experience with the original version [SafeLink R10 - Kannad Marine] of what is now the Smartfind S20 [Identical according to the manufacturer.]

We have them attached to auto-activate upon inflation of our Spinlock DeckVests. We test annually by manually inflating the vests with a small bicycle pump [to keep moisture from our breath from accumulating inside the bladders...] They work every time and are not in the way- even when we don the vest's built-in spray hood.

Now that the Ocean Signal MOB1 device with DSC is available in the US, that is our current intended upgrade path, but I have no direct experience with those yet...

The British publication Yachting Monthly just published an excellent review of all such devices currently available including the two you are inquiring about.

To complete the thought, we also carry a PLB, a DSC VHF, Skyblazer aerial flares, and a Greatland Laser Flare on our vests to cover all rescue scenarios. These items are so small and relatively cheap these days I'm not sure we could afford not to have them attached to our person, but we frequent some pretty remote areas on land as well as on the water.

In hopes this is useful to some.

Cheers!

Bill

Bill, thanks for your link to the Yachting Monthly review, and your follow-up in a later post. And I like your procedure for annually testing the MOB beacon. Question: how do you carry all those devices on your PFDs? Each one is small, but when you put them all together they are a lot of gear. Doesn't that become rather cumbersome for ordinary life on the boat?

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sea

Bill, thanks for your link to the Yachting Monthly review, and your follow-up in a later post. And I like your procedure for annually testing the MOB beacon. Question: how do you carry all those devices on your PFDs? Each one is small, but when you put them all together they are a lot of gear. Doesn't that become rather cumbersome for ordinary life on the boat?

Dr. Sea,

We use an add-on Spinlock pocket attached to our Spinlock PFDs to hold the PLB. We standardized on the belt pocket model so we could transfer it to other PFDs we might wear. [i.e., the Belt pockets don't have proprietary attachments like the Spinlock triangular pockets do...]

It is a lot of stuff, [not unlike a cop's equipment belt tossed into a fanny pack...] but we justify the habit of keeping it on us when transiting on the boat, paddling kayaks, and on shore because we only have about 10 minutes to self-rescue in the water temps we boat in [unless we are wearing our Kokotat dry-suits...] so expedience is crucial.

Detailing what is stored where:

The AIS transmitter is mounted inside of the inflatable PFD.

The PLB, aerial flares, spare knife w/ magnesium fire starter, 900 lumen combo flashlight/strobe/SOS [penlight size], Laser flare [penlight size], DSC-VHF, etc. all fit easily [tethered] in the belt pouch.

When properly packed, it is easy to retrieve the item you want without everything else falling out... [e.g., flashlight, laser flare, and 3 aerial flares are all affixed in series (using simple loop knots- one on each end of each tubular device) on one length of small diameter bungie cord. Pull out the cord and you have the flashlight on the end. Remove an aerial flare from the bungie to fire it, etc.] This belt pack concept is a holdover from our sea kayak touring days...

We issue similar kits to guests paddling or going ashore, and those include a FSR [Family Service Radio] for inter away party and ship-to-party comms.

They are instructed how and when to use each item in case the mother ship is 'struck by a meteorite' while they are away...

You should see our bail-out bags...

I hope this is helpful.

Cheers!

Bill

[Dr. Sea]

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

Dr. Sea, We use an add-on Spinlock pocket attached to our Spinlock PFDs to hold the PLB.

The Spinlock belt pack is a good idea. I wasn't familiar with he Greatland Laser Flare, but I've been looking at the Ocean Signal Rescueme Edf1 Electronic Distress Flare. It is omni-directonal including overhead to be seen by an airplane or helicopter, and it claims to be visible for 7 miles, but it only lasts for 6 hours. I found it at Pricefalls for $101 USD.

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sea

The Spinlock belt pack is a good idea. I wasn't familiar with he Greatland Laser Flare, but I've been looking at the Ocean Signal Rescueme Edf1 Electronic Distress Flare. It is omni-directonal including overhead to be seen by an airplane or helicopter, and it claims to be visible for 7 miles, but it only lasts for 6 hours. I found it at Pricefalls for $101 USD.

I've always liked that flare because is is very bright. The downside [from memory] is the proprietary battery and it isn't [yet?] USCG approved as a replacement for pyrotechnics like the Sirius light is [which only flashes SOS and is much dimmer, and requires the day signal flag for USCG compliance.]

The plus for both lights is 360° signaling.

The minus for both is size [for carrying on person] and 360° signaling... [which blinds the user...]

Our Spinlock vests have a built-in flashing light [not a strobe...] on a wand that deploys above and behind the wearer's head. Visibility from a mile away was good. [Testing was done on land.]

We also keep an ACR firefly in the belt pouch [With Lithium AA batteries...]

The laser flare will range 5-20+ miles.

Between the laser, Firefly xenon strobe and the quick-flash/SOS built into our waterproof [adjustable] lumen flashlights, I feel we are well covered. It would be nice to find a miniature version of the EDF1 that took standard batteries for inclusion in the arsenal...

May we never need to use any of these devices in an emergency...

Cheers!

Bill

[a64pilot]

I have two of the smartfind 20's, I have used neither, but they both test OK.
I believe there was an article in Practical Sailor? about them, they tested one and was impressed with the results.

I have a DSC handheld on the vests as well as I think maybe person overboard being able to contact the boat is of value.