Looks good. Any idea on when it will get FCC authorization? Smaller & lighter goes a long way when it's also better.

Is this of the 'pay for it all at once' or the 'pay a fee every year' type?

I love this trend of PLBs (and gear in general) getting smaller and lighter. With PLBs it means I'll always be able to carry it on my person. With other gear, traveling lighter means less fatigue and, therefore, safer romps through the forest. While I'm not a ultra light hiker/camper, I do realize that and ounce here and an ounce there can really add up.

I just recently picked up a SarLink View. Size and cost aside and from a pure functional viewpoint I'm wondering how it stacks up against the ResQLink.

Is information available in regards to transmit watts ERP ?

I suppose this one will also won't be user-rechargeable? Will the unit need to be returned to the factory for battery replacement if it's ever deployed?

The answers to your questions are in the article.

Yes, I read in the article "ACR claims that the ResQLink will always exceed 5 watts output" but was wondering if there was a more concrete measurement? Does "always exceed" mean 5.1 ?

I like the size of ResQLink compared to my SarLink View and being able save space in my pack would be terrific. The SarLink is rated at 6.3 watts. Is there a point of diminishing return on output wattage? Would 6.3 versus 5 watts have a real world difference?

My issue with the ACR battery is that you use up battery life if you subscribe to the "I'm OK" etc. messaging service. This option to send such a message is valuable to me. As a frequent soloist there are plenty of situations where I may not exit the woods at the agreed upon time but I'm not needing rescue:

- weather that had to be waited out

- unexpected difficulty with the terrain that slowed me down or forced a re-route

- delay due to helping out another party

That's why the Spot 2 keeps looking attractive. I know ETS isn't thrilled with the Spot 2 but there are other serious evaluations where it did quite well. BackPackingLight.com did one such eval, but it requires a subscription to read.

My issue with the ACR battery is that you use up battery life if you subscribe to the "I'm OK" etc. messaging service. This option to send such a message is valuable to me. As a frequent soloist there are plenty of situations where I may not exit the woods at the agreed upon time but I'm not needing rescue:

- weather that had to be waited out

- unexpected difficulty with the terrain that slowed me down or forced a re-route

- delay due to helping out another party

That's why the Spot 2 keeps looking attractive. I know ETS isn't thrilled with the Spot 2 but there are other serious evaluations where it did quite well. BackPackingLight.com did one such eval, but it requires a subscription to read.

"PLBs currently are prohibited from having rechargeable batteries."

Doug, rechargeable or replaceable? If McMurdo can have replaceable batteries,can ACR have the same thing or is that strictly a US law? Also is there any way they can put a external adapter to allow plug in to a car battery, solar, battery pack or so forth to work around the law?
http://www.rei.com/product/791973

I had waited for ACR to come out with something awhile back but due to how slow they are to come to production with things I ended up with the fast find 210 and like it except for the cap design. The ACR looks very nice and I like the design and when it's time to replace mine for batteries I may get one unless McMurdo Counters this design by making a removable battery and a a better design of the cap which holds the antenna to allow for multiple use, which really is a small design change to counter this design. I hope ACR will look into seeing if there is a way to add replaceable batteries and or external power jack as a workaround before release of production. They had said first quarter release, I'm thinking very late 1st quarter or slip into second quarter at the very least. With a replaceable battery pack, a extra battery can be modified to accept external power, I did that with the steripen and other devices to where I can hook it to a regulator and a solar cell.

Anyway, thanks for the update and hopefully the competition between the different manufactures will continue to lead to better products.

Doug -- Is battery type an FCC issue or an FAA issue? Seems FCC shouldn't care, but FAA very much cares that the unit have stringent battery life/reliability specs.

With a rechargeable battery that spec would be lost. Even with zero leakage, when was it last used and when was it last recharged?

Perhaps a non-FAA compliant PLB could be made for non-aircraft use that uses a rechargeable battery, but would it be in the manufacturer's interest to make it? Who gets blamed when the rechargeable isn't and the battery fails?

Thinking out loud . .

The RTCM (Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services) Annual Meeting and Conference was held the week of May 5, 2008. I was asked to make a presentation as part of a panel discussing “Innovative Satellite Technologies.” Invitations to be included on the panel were sent to a number of organizations currently marketing distress alerting and distress communications services, or planning to do so (SPOT, the only service currently being marketed to consumers, was invited according to RTCM, but did not attend). My topic wasn’t about any particular service, per se, but rather was addressed to those attending or considering such service. The provocative title was, “What Price Your Life? Distress Alerting as a Commercial Service.”

While RTCM is ostensibly about maritime service, by the vagaries of such things, they have also become the standard setting body in the United States for PLBs (Personal Locator Beacons). The RTCM SC110 sub-committee develops standards for PLBs, as well as EPIRBs. I have been involved for some time now as the sole “consumer advocate” on a committee made up of industry, manufacturer, government and search and rescue representatives. A revised RTCM standard for PLBs was approved just prior to the annual meeting (click for more about this revised standard). A revised RTCM standard for EPIRBs is next on the agenda.. . .

Right now there's no perfect solution.