PLB Education Needed

I have an ACR Personal Locator Beacon that weighs about 12 ounces and cost a lot.

Does the item shown at this link do the same thing as my ACR PLB at half the weight and cost?

http://www.rei.com/product/791972

Yes, I noticed this item came out two years after I bought my 11 oz. ACR brick for close to $600.

Do some google searches. I've read some reviews that say the transmitter isn't as powerful; others that say the McMurdo is fine. Since it requires special permission from the Coast Guard to actually test a PLB, we must rely on others (who probably haven't done an empirical test either). I have no idea, but I plan to wait until the battery warranty on my current brick--uh, PLB--is up (2 1/2 more years). By then, these gadgets may be down to one ounce and $100, or, better, maybe have a way to communicate so we can tell SAR what the problem is. Let's hope so, anyway! IMHO, the lighter unit is nice but not after I already spent so much money to keep my family off my back.

Short answer - Yes.

I'm trying *very* hard not to buy one - it's very difficult. (I also have an ACR)

I had that page bookmarked even before you started this thread. It is going to absorb my dividend this year, and much more out of my wallet. I did some hairier than usual x-country soloing last year and decided I owed to my family to get one.

Have to confess to being tempted now that they've halved in price and weight. The battery thing bugs me though. Why the heck can't I replace it every two or three years myself? That way I'd always be reassured I have fresh cells in it.

Cheers,

I think the deal of having ACR replace the battery is so they can test the unit and then warrant it for another five years. The problem with that is that the technology is advancing so fast that, as in this case, the unit is obsolete long before the battery is gone!

Sort of like computers!

Now now - our ACR's aren't obsolete OM, they will work just as well as they ever have, and probably just as well as the mcmurdo.

The "obsolete" is the 50% of the weight neither of us want to carry

You're right, Phat, I was thinking of the weight. The weight savings of the McMurdo PLB are very tempting!

Now if they also had a two-way communication device, so one could actually talk to SAR, I probably would buy it!

The concept of the SPOT is good but in actual practice it seems to be sadly lacking. My family would feel better if I had one which actually worked. There was some indication that an improved model was coming out shortly. Has anyone seen any more information on this?

Hmmmm, interesting. According to the US Coast Guard , the 121.5Mhz stuff was phased out early this year.

Review of the McMurdo Fast Find for those with wealthy relatives looking for Christmas present ideas.

According to the published specs, it's only functional up to 40,000' altitude.
;-)