The smallest and lightest Personal Location Beacon in the world

The Fastfind standard 406MHz Personal Location Beacon has all the features of the Fastfind Plus but without GPS. The 406MHz frequency provides an alert signal to the rescue services within 90 minutes maximum, depending on satellite passes and gives a positional accuracy within 3nm. Once in the vicinity the 121.5MHz transmitter provides a signal for the rescue services to home-in on. This information is more than sufficient to enable rescue services to find a vessel or individual in distress particularly if equipped with flares and lifejacket light.

Weighs just 9 oz.
Global alert to Cospas-Sarsat satellites
406MHz transmitter
121.5MHz homing frequency
Alert time within 90 minutes
Positional accuracy to within 3 m
Compact and stylish
Complete with lanyard and designer carry case
User replaceable battery packs (-4^oF or -40^oF)

The Fastfind Personal Location Beacons feature the same advanced technology as found in the award winning Rescue and Precision 406 GPS EPIRBs. Designed using miniaturized components to fit into an aesthetically styled compact casing both versions employ a simple three-stage manual operation and feature user replaceable battery packs, which are available for use in temperatures of -4 and -40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Carrying the Fastfind could not be simpler, there are a number of easy fixing options which either come as standard or as optional extras. Bother versions are supplied with a lanyard and designer carry case to enable the user to keep the PLB safely attached at all times.

These latest advanced products from McMurdo/Pains-Wessex have been designed to provide recreational and professional boaters, aviators as well as outdoorsmen with the very best chance of being found without delay at sea in an emergency.

Each PLB is programmed with its own 15-character Unique Identification Number (UIN) that uniquely identifies its owner and instantly provides emergency contact information to rescuers. When the PLB is activated, its digital 406 MHz signal is received by a constellation of 10 COSPAS-SARSAT satellites in polar orbits, each of which makes an orbital pass every 90 minutes. Using the Doppler shift technique, the satellites take a precise fix on the origin of the signal.

The distress signal with its UIN and Doppler position (and possibly GPS coordinates if the PLB transmitted them) is stored by the satellite. As soon as the satellite passes over the next available ground monitoring station, or Local User Terminal (LUT), this information is downlinked. The LUT forwards the data to a Mission Control Center where it is verified that the signal is from an actual emergency.

One major advantage of a 406 PLB (compared to the older-technology 121.5/243.0 MHz ELTs) is that it provides unique identification information to rescue forces, so they can call the emergency contact numbers provided by the PLB owner and find out what to expect. Another advantage is that a 406 MHz PLB greatly reduces the time it takes to get to an individual in distress. Because of the satellite's sophisticated tracking capability, a Doppler position accuracy of one-half-mile is possible, narrowing down the search area considerably.

Registering your PLB

This information is entered into a database accessible at the Mission Control Center, so that if your PLB is ever activated, your information will immediately pop up on a computer screen at the MCC. Personnel at the MCC will then attempt to contact you and your designated emergency contacts to establish that your distress signal is genuine (and not a false-alarm), and to find out everything they can about your whereabouts and situation. This information will then be passed on to the appropriate local search-and-rescue agency.

Users in the United States may now register their 406 MHz PLB online, and may also access and amend their registration information. The site is http://www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov/.