{"id":39936,"date":"2017-11-27T23:41:51","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T04:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=39936"},"modified":"2023-05-06T16:57:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T20:57:12","slug":"improving-the-odds-with-satellite-beacons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/improving-odds-with-satellite-beacons\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving The Odds with Satellite Beacons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Courtesy <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n DCIM\\101GOPRO<\/span>\n Courtesy of ACR<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

For most sailors, buying search-and-rescue equipment is akin to purchasing earthquake insurance \u2014 something wise homeowners carry but hope to never, ever use. Take the well-documented example of Leopard, a 57-foot catamaran that was some 400 nautical miles north of the Dominican Republic, sailing south-southeast en route to St. Maarten on the evening of November 16, 2016. Capt. Charles Nethersole was aboard with crewmembers Carolyn Bailey and Bert Jno Lewis as Leopard negotiated 18-knot winds and lumpy seas with a double tuck in her mainsail. Realizing that they were overcanvased, Nethersole, a professional captain with 41 years of experience, and Lewis reefed the staysail while Bailey prepared dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Nethersole and Lewis had just entered Leopard\u2019s pilothouse, with Nethersole at the interior helm, when a meteorological juggernaut of wind and waves arrived via the starboard quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe boat got literally picked up,\u201d said Nethersole, positing that they crossed tacks with a vortex-triggered pressure drop. \u201cIt was like being in an elevator. We went up, and then we just went over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The sea-smart crew quickly grabbed their ditch bag, immersion-survival suits and Leopard\u2019s life raft, and escaped the saloon for the (relative) safety of the inverted wingdeck, where Nethersole activated the boat\u2019s ACR GlobalFix Pro EPIRB. Several hours later, a U.S. Coast Guard C-130 arrived and directed the Mexico-bound bulk carrier Aloe to their rescue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

While you can bet your keel that abandoning ship was the last thing on the Leopard crew\u2019s mind three minutes before encountering their crisis, their story highlights the four critical components to a successful search-and-rescue operation, namely the ability to alert, locate, track and rescue a stricken vessel or mariner. Given that Leopard\u2019s emergency position-indicating radio beacon, or EPIRB, continuously reported its GPS location, along with its vessel-\u00adregistered 406 MHz emergency satellite-\u00adcommunications signal, rescuing authorities were quickly alerted to the emergency and updated with the EPIRB\u2019s position information. This let the Coast Guard pinpoint the catamaran and direct its rescue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Yet while Nethersole and company enjoyed a textbook-\u00adperfect rescue, this would not have been possible without the International Cospas-Sarsat Programme, which began in 1979 as a collaborative effort by the United States, France and the former Soviet Union to provide a satellite monitoring and emergency-signal relay service that\u2019s free of charge to all mariners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Today, Cospas-Sarsat involves 43 nations that maintain an always-listening system of satellites and air-, land- and water-based assets. While contemporary search-and-rescue equipment and systems, including Cospas-Sarsat, have already saved at least 40,000 lives, the next-generation satellite-\u00admonitoring system promises better and faster service, along with the ability to support more sophisticated beacons, the first of which are already hitting chandlery shelves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Satellite <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n This graphic from ACR highlights the advantage of including GPS data in an emergency broadcast, reducing the search area from 3 km to 100 meters.<\/span>\n Courtesy of ACR<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

A Multilayered Network<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

Things get complicated when dozens of satellites, ground-monitoring stations and different rescuing authorities, such as the Coast Guard, are involved. However, Cospas-Sarsat\u2019s schema involves a five-step process that begins when a satellite-mounted transponder detects a 406 MHz emergency signal from an EPIRB or an individually registered personal locator beacon, or PLB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The transponder either passes the information directly to an earth-based receiver, known as a local user terminal, or it stores and forwards when a ground station, or LUT, comes into range. Once the LUT receives the signal, it\u2019s sent to a mission control center that\u2019s located in the country of the beacon\u2019s registration. From there, the mission control center directs the message to a rescue coordination center, which conducts the physical rescue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The speed with which an emergency signal reaches a rescue coordination center depends on where the emergency signal originated and what kind of satellite received the call. Cospas-Sarsat currently has two fully operational satellite constellations aloft, with a third under construction. Each system works in a different manner, but collectively, these different constellations provide redundant and complementary safety layers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Cospas-Sarsat\u2019s first-\u00adgeneration and still active Low-Altitude Earth Orbit Search and Rescue system is a constellation of five satellites. LEOSAR satellites use Doppler processing to pinpoint a beacon\u2019s location, without a GPS position sent from the EPIRB or PLB. LEOSAR coverage is noncontinuous and requires multiple satellite passes, each taking roughly 100 minutes, to triangulate a beacon\u2019s latitude and longitude. Also, because these satellites sometimes store information while waiting for contact with a ground station, a rescue operation can be further delayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Cospas-Sarsat\u2019s second-\u00adgeneration Geostationary Orbit Search and Rescue system, known as GEOSAR, involves a constellation of six geostationary satellites that provide continuous coverage and the ability to quickly alert a ground station to an active 406 MHz signal. Unlike LEOSAR, GEOSAR satellites can\u2019t use Doppler processing to self-calculate a beacon\u2019s position, so contemporary EPIRBs and PLBs, including ACR\u2019s GlobalFix Pro, which Leopard\u2019s crew used, include a built-in global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, allowing the beacon to determine its exact position information from GPS (United States), GLONASS (Russia) or Galileo (EU) satellites. The position fix is then sent by the rescue beacon to the satellite and relayed to the appropriate rescue agencies. While GNSS information dramatically reduces the amount of time it takes for rescuers to arrive on scene, not all EPIRBs are currently required to carry GNSS receivers. When buying a rescue beacon, it\u2019s important to know if it includes this feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The third layer in Cospas-Sarsat\u2019s ever-evolving network, the Medium-Altitude Earth Orbit Search and Rescue system, known as MEOSAR, won\u2019t be fully operational until 2021 or 2022, but once complete, it will involve a constellation of 72 different satellites, plus upgraded terrestrial assets, including significantly advanced antennas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

MEOSAR incorporates the best of its forebears, namely LEOSAR\u2019s Doppler processing and GEOSAR\u2019s GPS-positioning capabilities. Once complete, MEOSAR will be able to quickly triangulate a beacon\u2019s signal and nearly instantaneously share this information with an LUT. One caveat, however: MEOSAR will not offer coverage in the highest latitudes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

While Nethersole and company endured some worrisome hours before the C-130 arrived, in the future, those in peril will not have to wait to see if their signal was received and whether rescuers are on their way. Galileo satellites within MEOSAR\u2019s constellation will include a return link signal (operational with properly equipped EPIRBs by 2018) that notifies a beacon user when their signal has been received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

This peace of mind can prevent life-and-death dominoes from toppling. Sean McCrystal, McMurdo\u2019s marketing manager of search-and-rescue solutions, recalls the story of four Irish mariners whose vessel sank. They activated their EPIRB, but a crisis of confidence ensued; convinced that their signals hadn\u2019t been received, three of them swam for shore and drowned. The fourth was rescued. \u201cThey made their decision because they didn\u2019t think help was coming,\u201d says McCrystal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Satellite <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n This graphic from ACR highlights the advantage of including GPS data in an emergency broadcast, reducing the search area from 3 km to 100 meters.<\/span>\n Courtesy of the Manufacturers<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

New Features Soon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

In addition to being faster, MEOSAR\u2019s advent, coupled with recently issued Federal Communications Commission regulations, allows EPIRB manufacturers to innovate in life-saving ways. For example, McMurdo\u2019s recently released FastFind G8 AIS broadcasts four signals. Two are data feeds associated with satellites, 406 MHz and 121.5 MHz (a legacy frequency employed by rescuing authorities for final-mile homing using specialized equipment), and the other two incorporate a GPS location and automatic identification system (AIS) data, which alerts all local AIS-equipped traffic to the emergency signal so they can quickly render assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

This is a critical upgrade because previous EPIRBs only transmitted satellite-\u00adcommunication signals, meaning that while an \u00adofficial rescuing agency gets notified, nearby traffic is electronically blind to any nearby plights. By also broadcasting an AIS signal, the crews of AIS-enabled boats will see emergency alerts on their chart plotter or AIS display. And if their own EPIRB has accidentally activated, it will stave off false alarms. As of this writing, McMurdo is the only manufacturer to offer a multi-signal EPIRB, but other players likely will follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, while manufacturers are adding AIS to their EPIRBs, MEOSAR will theoretically allow them to remove other frequencies. \u201cNext-generation EPIRBs won\u2019t need a GNSS-derived GPS location because of the sheer number of satellites, and also because ground stations are so much more accurate,\u201d says McCrystal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Still, while MEOSAR\u2019s Doppler location-processing capabilities may remove the need for GNSS, the data broadcast is likely to be included because Cospas-Sarsat employs a multilayered approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cTechnology is always getting better \u2014 for example, the additional level of satellites \u2014 but LEOSAR and GEOSAR are still fully operative and will continue to work,\u201d says Nichole Kalil, ACR Electronics\u2019 public affairs and media manager. \u201cMEOSAR is the icing on the cake.\u201d Because of this, EPIRBs will need GNSS receivers (at least) until older satellites are retired. In fact, the FCC is requiring that all new EPIRBs sold in the United States after January 1, 2019, be GNSS-equipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Besides a quicker rescue, sailors will benefit in other ways as manufacturers introduce new products. As with consumer electronics, feature lists are becoming richer while price tags are getting leaner, thus lowering an important barrier of entry. For example, a decade ago, a non-GNSS-equipped EPIRB sold for around $1,000. Today, $400 buys a contemporary GNSS-equipped beacon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to spend that or more on your Yeti cooler,\u201d says Kalil. Additionally, EPIRB rental programs, such as the one that ACR and McMurdo have created with the BoatUS Foundation or that ACR has established with Sea Tow, help make safety gear readily attainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Satellite <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Personal locator beacons and satellite tracking and communication devices include ACR\u2019s RescueLink and Garmin\u2019s inReach.<\/span>\n Courtesy of the Manufacturers<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Satellite <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n McMurdo’s FastFind S20 and the Gen3 from Spot<\/a> are two more options for personal locator beacons.<\/span>\n Courtesy of the Manufacturers<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

On a Personal Note<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

While EPIRBs are registered to vessels, PLBs are intended to be worn by individual crewmembers, which means you can carry one whenever you go out on the water, and on any boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

PLBs that transmit 406 MHz satellite signals must be registered to individual sailors, just as an EPIRB gets registered to a particular boat. When activated, they connect with the Cospas-Sarsat network to alert rescuers ashore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

AIS-broadcasting personal beacons, which transmit on VHF radio frequencies, are programmed to send a signal to your own vessel and chart plotter or other AIS-equipped boats in the vicinity, but an alarm will not be picked up by any satellite network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Examples of contemporary PLBs and AIS man-overboard devices include ACR’s ResQLink+ PLB<\/a> and its new AISLink MOB<\/a>, and McMurdo’s FastFind 220<\/a> and SmartFind 220.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In a perfect world, sailors could buy one device that would operate in both modes, but as of this writing, the FCC doesn\u2019t allow a single personal device to broadcast both 406 MHz and AIS signals. Part of the issue, at least, is because of battery-life requirements and the limitations of just how big a power supply can be built into a pocket-size beacon. However, regulations remain the highest hurdle to jump before a single PLB-type device will be legally allowed to broadcast both 406 MHz and AIS signals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

As a result, some safety-\u00adconscious sailors carry multiple devices to ensure their emergency signals are heard by rescue authorities, local marine traffic and their own boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something the market wants,\u201d says Kalil, adding that ACR is listening. Hopefully, the FCC will change its regulations, but until then, the best move is to stack the odds in your favor because the costs are relatively small and the return on investment is immense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Manufacturers also build GPS communicators\/messengers that can reliably be used in emergencies. Examples of this equipment include Garmin’s inReach<\/a> and the Spot Satellite Messenger<\/a>. Depending on the model, users can employ these devices to send pre-scripted messages\u00a0to friends and family (e.g., “All good on our end.”), along with latitude and longitude information. Some models also let people on shore ping the unit to learn the user’s location information, and these devices also come with an SOS button that directly contacts the privately operated GEOS Rescue Coordination Center with the user’s position and personal information. It’s important to remember that GEOS is a private U.S.-based company, not an internationally funded, multinational government program like Cospas-Sarsat. However, the two organizations often contact the same rescue agencies in the event of an emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Garmin\u2019s inReach devices can be paired with a user\u2019s smartphone, taking advantage of its keyboard to type, send and receive short text messages via the unit\u2019s Iridium satellite communication connection. Some inReach models include a built-in chart-plotter screen so the device itself can be used for navigation. Other units can share information via Bluetooth with a smartphone and tablet, providing those devices with location data. Users can also download weather reports. Unlike the other equipment discussed in this article, both the Spot and Garmin\u2019s inReach require a monthly or yearly subscription service. However, these plans can sometimes be \u201cwinterized\u201d during months of inactivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u2013\u00a0\u2013\u00a0\u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

David Schmidt is CW\u2019s \u00adelectronics editor.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a new satellite constellation soon to be operational, rescue agencies are hoping to reduce the searching involved in search-and-rescue operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"David Schmidt","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"20171127","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"163","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"With a new satellite constellation soon to be operational, rescue agencies are hoping to reduce the searching involved in search-and-rescue operations.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Improving The Odds with Satellite Beacons %%sep%% %%sitename%%","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"QM3HYSQ2MGHZUOYIDOP7RM4WJQ","arc_website_url":"improving-odds-with-satellite-beacons\/","custom_permalink":"improving-odds-with-satellite-beacons\/","arc_subtype":"no-sidebar","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":0,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163],"tags":[184,157,362,181,569,567],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39936"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}