"De mortuis nil nisi bonum" A good point. Also we were not present when these things happened. We have no way of knowing how determined to live, or how suicidal, they were.
_________________________
May set off to explore without any sense of direction or how to return.
thseng
Old Hand
Registered: 03/24/06
Posts: 900
Loc: NW NJ
Originally Posted By: James_Van_Artsdalen
A PLB needs a clear view of the sky. I don't think they work if submerged or through obstructions (the upside down hull). I know some marine 406MHz beacons are intended to signal if the boat sinks but I assume they're carefully mounted so they will float free of the boat and self-right so the antenna faces up (or have several antennae).
With many EPIRB's (marine precursor to the PLB) it is required that the device be allowed to float in the water to work properly. They use the conductive salt water ocean surface as a ground plane for the antenna.
_________________________
- Tom S.
"Never trust and engineer who doesn't carry a pocketknife."
WARNING & DISCLAIMER:
SELECT AND USE OUTDOORS AND SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES AND TECHNIQUES AT YOUR OWN RISK. Information posted
on this forum is not reviewed for accuracy and may not be reliable, use at your own risk. Please
review the full WARNING & DISCLAIMER about information on this
site.