I have been getting a number of inquires about Astronics DME Corporation's SATRO PLB-110 "world's smallest and lightest" PLB that we first wrote about back in December of last year (2011) http://www.equipped.org/blog/?p=376. Besides being small, one of the unique features of the PLB was a form factor that mimicked a modern smart phone, making it flatter and more pocketable than existing designs. It was also buoyant, despite the small size, another unique feature at the time. There's been a lot of interest and DME was saying that they expected to reach market in the Spring of 2012, though Spring came and went without the PLB being available.

You may be surprised by what we found when we started digging into why it isn't for sale yet:

http://www.equipped.org/blog/?p=523

ughhh! Lawyers...

I call dibs on the movie rights!!!!

Lawyers in situations like this just do what their clients tell them to do. Of course, clients don't always know what they don't know...

Amazing. Likely the real losers in cases such as this are the consumers. Stifle the competition, yes. Kill innovation, yes.

Reminds me of the greedy &99)_'s at Apple.

Regardless of the lawyers doing the bidding of their clients, it seems that before the battery in my ResQLink goes out of date, there may be an even smaller/lighter PLB to replace it. Based on ACR's new management, it would not surprise me to find DME's logo on the new PLB.

Really I don't care whose logo it carries; smaller and lighter means I'll be more likely to have it in my vest.

I am just about to join the PLB generation, especially after considering that I have enough packs, ropes, knives,and stoves to last several lifetimes. What I don't have, and could really use, would be a PLB - light as possible, of course, so it would be on my body when SHTF. I have already started the ball rolling, pointing out that I have been a good boy (well, fairly good, anyway) and that maybe Santa could drop one off.

When I dug into the literature, I was happy to see the ACR units available and well regarded. For years I carried the ACR Firefly Rescue Lite, employing it to provide our location to choppers performing hoist operations during mountain SAR in Arizona. It was an absolutely marvelous item. Hit the switch and in no time you had a chopper hovering overhead, lifting your cares and problems away.

I hope they can settle and, one way or another, provide good unit for sale. PLBs are clearly useful tools - the more (and lighter) the better.

What if ACR's claim is justified? What if you sunk your capital into developing a product then had the intellectual property stolen? Wouldn't you want the option to pursue redress? What kind of nondisclosure agreements or other contracts did those former ACR employees sign, then (maybe) violate? Remember how we at ETS complained when it came out that Doug's knife design was cheaply copied and marketed?

Like Doug says, lawyers only do what their clients say to do. Maybe ACR is right, maybe they are wrong, maybe they are doing this to stifle competition. But at this point in the game it is incorrect to lay blame.

That really was a flippant off-hand remark -- rhetoric that really meant nothing. It is readily apparent that lawyers have a very important role in any litigious society.

That said, having read DME's statement, it seems to me they have a very good chance of prevailing if this goes to court. That said, I don't really care who wins. By the time my ResQLink battery goes out of date, there should be a newer smaller lighter model.