rebate deal on ACR Res-Q-Link / SAR Link PLBs

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.

Question: How prepared are the search & rescue teams to use the 121.5 MHz locator beacon?

I seem to recall that it was not as many as I might have thought, and that improper use of the equipment was a concern.

In those reviews did they use the Test button or the SOS button? If the latter, they must have made some type of prior arrangement with the PLB response authorities to avoid triggering a rescue effort. That makes me suspect they only used the Test function, which I addressed above.

There's another layer here that I think a lot of people overlook. When you register your PLB with the government, you provide a primary contact to them. This person will be notified if your PLB's SOS signal is detected, even if the GPS location did not make it through. Before every trip I give my contact person a very detailed trip plan, including a topo map screenshot. I use MS Excel and Nat Geo TOPO to generate this document, so I give them a hardcopy and I email them a PDF file of the document. This way they can easily email the PDF file to authorities hundreds of miles away.

If I send a PLB SOS and the GPS function doesn't work, by getting in touch with my contact person the SAR effort will still get my full trip plan and map. This goes a long way to backing up the PLB's GPS function.

Another thing: the PLB's power is 5 watts, which dwarfs the SPOT-2's 0.4 watts (400 mW). Plus the PLB uses a lower frequency than the SPOT-2, and the lower the frequency the better the signal gets through tree cover.

Bottom line: you can dream up all kinds of scenarios where a PLB might not work, but it's going to work better than you think and it's going to work better than a SPOT.

I think you may be confused. The vast majority of SAR is equipped to DF (Direction Find or "home") on 121.5. DFing on 121.5 is something of an art, but fairly straightforward with practice, especially when the provided location gets you very close. Someone trying to DF with no experience is going to get frustrated. <g> 121.5 DF gear is cheap, can be cobbled together from Radio Shack parts even, for ground SAR, and easily practiced.

406 DF is relatively new and the available equipment is very expensive and primarily fitted to aviation assets. At this point, virtually no 406 ground DF is available. USCG and CAP are equipping all their aviation assets with 406 DF. USCG is fitting some maritime assets with 406 DF. The advantages of 406 DF is that you can DF from up to 100 miles away due to the 5w signal. So, a big advantage when available.

The specs on the Acrelectronics website indicate that the ResQLinks+ (buoyant) model and the ResQLinks standard model are equally waterproof.

To be sure, can someone confirm that the only differences between the ResQLinks+ (buoyant) model and the standard ResQLinks model are that: the ResQLinks+ (buoyant) model is larger and about an ounce heavier than the standard model and the + model floats in water and the standard model sinks.

The standard model sinks. I haven't tested mine but the specifications say:
A non-waterproof PLB would be rather useless imo. I didn't need the version that floats because my ResQLink is tethered to the outside of my survival/flotation vest in a pocket high on the chest.

Thanks Russ for the info. Although I'm fairly certain that tonight I'll be ordering the standard ResQLink model, I thought that perhaps there could be a collateral benefit in having the ResQLink+ (buoyant) model in that the case might make the + (buoyant) model more impact resistant than the standard model.

You might want to contact ACR regarding impact resistance. The more buoyant case may provide add'l impact resistance but then again an impact may affect the waterproof integrity of either case making the difference moot. Both are made of an "Engineered polycarbonate blend" so my suspicion is that their respective impact resistance will be virtually identical. But ACR may have better information.

I'll send an email to ACR about whether or not the + model might be more impact resistent. I'll post their respose.

In any case I'll try using the rebate coupon.

Below is ACR's technical services reply to my question about whether the ResQLink+ (buoyant) model is more impact resistant than the standard (non-buoyant) model.

"Impact resistance of both units are the same. They are tested by independent laboratories to conform to Cospas-Sarsat specifications."

Grady

Making something float simply means you increase the item's volume (size) relative to its weight.

In this case it looks like ACR increase the volume, and it turn increased the weight a little - but obviously not enough to stop it from floating.

Floating is nice IF it doesn't float away. The only way to keep it from floating away is to attach it to something secure. If its attached, then you don't really need it to float.

... unless you are likely to be treading water, in which case this means that you don't have to hold it up while still treading water (assuming that the unit floats with both antennas are sufficiently out of the water and pointing to the sky).

I'm on land or a swimable distance from shore, so I'd go with the smaller unit. If I frequented the ocean or other large water bodies I might get the floating unit.

Same here. I'm ordering the standard Res-Q-Link.

Since if I ever use my ACR Res-Q-Link while I will most likely be in the water (hopefully in a raft), it is tethered to my flotation vest. I do not plan to be treading water.