I came across a $50 rebate deal on ACR EPIRBs and PLBs from Landfall Navigation. This brings their price on the Res-Q-Link down to about $210.

I believe this rebate promotion is from the manufacturer ACR so you might get a better net price elsewhere, I just wanted to put the word out on the rebate. It's all good!

No affiliation, though I have been a satisfied customer with Landfall.

update: here is the rebate form directly from ACR.

I read the rebate form.

It specifically says, "Purchase select ACR products from a participating retailer..."

I can not find a definition for the term "participating retailer" except that the offer specifically excludes on-line auctions & products resold by consumers."

My success rate at rebates has been pretty spotty.

Conway Yee

I wound up ordering the Res-Q-Link today from Amazon, I'll let you know how the rebate worked out.

Figured I'd give an update on this.

I bought the ACR Res-Q-Link PLB from Amazon.com. I submitted the rebate form and received the $50 check about 6 weeks after mailing it. The build quality and design details of this PLB are impressive. It feels like a professional instrument, and the SPOT-2 feels like a cheap toy in comparison. I put a keeper leash on the PLB.

I paid the optional yearly fee for sending "I'm OK" test messages to up to 5 contacts. This is really useful for me because I do a lot of stuff solo and it is nice to help keep my wife from getting worried.

I have had pretty good results with the OK messages. You have to understand how the ACR PLB works differently for test messages vs. SOS messages.

- a test/OK message is transmitted 1 time for a press of the test button.

- an SOS message is continually/cyclically transmitted until the unit is turned off or the battery dies, which is 12 hours or so IIRC.

So the upshot is this: it is quite possible to send a test/OK message and have it NOT make it to the satellite. And it is quite possible for an SOS message sent from that same spot to eventually make it through. It depends on how visible the satellites are from your position, and this visibility will change as the satellites move through their orbits. I have had some PLB test/OK messages fail to make it through when sent from spots where I had towering mountains on both sides of me. I'd say that 80%-90% of the test/OK messages I've sent have made it through.

Still, I think in an emergency it would be worthwhile to move the PLB to a high spot with as wide and clear view of the sky as you can get before deploying it.

What's the price for the annual OK feature support?

I noticed some of the reviews of the ACR Res-Q-Link PLB indicate that the beacons "must have a clear view to the Southern sky" for it to work. "It must be a clear view to very low in the southern sky, (like nearly to the horizon). It didn't work in an even slightly wooded/forested area."

A good portion of my more risky work is alone in remote heavily forested wooded areas, where, if the above comments are true, there whould be little or no chance of finding such an open space --- at least for miles in any direction.

I don't see where in the more typical scenerios for me (such as getting snake bit) this PLB would work. For instance, if I were snake bit, would I have where-with-all to walk several miles to a more open area where the PLB might not work anyway?

Any comments in this regard would be appreciated.

I'm nothing close to a PLB expert, but ...

First, you have to understand that the clear view of the sky is so that the PLB can get a good view of satellites - so that you can get a good accurate GPS location, BUT the newer generation of GPS chipsets do an AMAZING job of 'hearing' satellites even with quite a bit of vegetation overhead. I don't think you'll have a problem with that.

Second, modern 406 MHz PLBs actually have TWO methods of determining location. The most accurate is via the broadcast of the GPS coordinates - that can get to within 300ish feet of your location. The second method uses a Doppler effect with satellites to determine your location, which gets within 1-3 miles, and you have to wait for a satellite to swing around to your location, which could take up to one hour (probably less).

Third, that 1-3 miles might sound like a lot, but 406 MHz PLBs also have a 121.5 MHz homing beacon, which will help properly equipped & trained rescue crews narrow in on your location even without that exact GPS coordinate.

To my knowledge the SPOT only broadcasts the GPS coordinates.

Here is a GREAT description of how PLBs work on Equipped.org:

http://www.equipped.org/406_beacon_test_background.htm

KenK has it pretty much correct.

The issue with a "view to the south" is like so much regarding these beacons, confusion by those who don't understand the system.

The Geosynchronous satellites orbit directly over the equator. Due to curvature of the earth, they are only viewable from about 70 degrees north to 70 degrees South. So, as you move higher in latitude, the Geo at is lower on the horizon, south or north depending on your location. Geo sats provide pretty close to immediate alerting and if you have a GPS location, location as well.

Regardless, the Low Earth Orbiting, LEO, satellites, will eventually come overhead enough to get your signal, anywhere on the planet that has at least some view of the sky. Depending on where you are relative to the orbiting satellites this alert could be immediate or up to 1.5 hours delayed. In North America, typically no more than 45 minutes and usually much less. The LEO stas also provide a Doppler location that Ken talks about, even without GPS.

Oh, and just to make a point. I am lending my ACR ResQLink PLB to a friend who if flying to Australia. I did a self-test in the middle of my house which has a tile roof. The ACR service reported the signal less than 5 minutes later. 5 watts is a strong signal! Trees and such are not going to block it.

Thanks, Ken & Doug! I've always wondered that myself. The newest generation of PLBs will probably get me off the bubble- I plan to order one this summer.