Ocean Signals rescueME PLB

Ocean Signal is a UK company. Any sold in US would be coded for US.

As I stated in a later post, yes they're made in UK not AU.

I was distracted with a few things including unexpected guests at the time of my original post. Following the link to an AU company that had a lot of info to include re-coding advice if bought from the US, I falsely assumed that they were made in AU. They are in fact made in the UK.

The rest of the info I've posted regarding this topic came from talking directly to SARSAT in the US and from talking with Customer Service at Westpac Marine.

It isn't much trouble or inconvenience to talk to the vendor to make sure. I'm just suggesting doing so to be safe. Do so at your discretion.

"With the RescueME, it can be carried and if the battery is still strong, used again after winding the antenna back into the unit. That's my understanding anyway."

Keep in mind PLBs are designed to do one thing once. The manufactures state that if the unit is used it should be sent back to the manufacture so that the used battery can be replaced with a fresh one.
If a new battery is not installed the unit may not send out the emergency signal due to low battery voltage.

The transmitter in PLB is much more powerful than those in cell phones. Furthermore once activated the units continuously send out the signal to insure it is detected. As a result the battery is larger than those in cell phones and will not last as long.

Keep in mind PLBs are designed to do one thing once.

It’s a little more complicated than that.

The rescueME PLB, like many others, has a test mode, which sends one brief signal. You must extend the antenna to send that test signal, so easy retraction is a good thing.

Each PLB can send a limited number of test signals before compromising the “24 hour emergency transmission” standard required for PLBs. Some test modes take much more power than others. See the rescueME user manual for details.

— Rex

I think the rescue me specs state that the battery is good for about 30 hrs. That provides ample testing without impacting the 24hr tranmission.

I can’t be the only one who keeps thinking about this every time I see a post in this thread….

The user manual tells you what LED indications to expect when you Test. It does not tell you what to expect when you Activate the unit. I asked Ocean Signal to clarify. (There is only one LED "lens" which produces either Green or Red light. The white strobe is separate.)

Once activated, the strobe light will flash regularly. The Green LED flashes once every five seconds. When the GPS acquires the position the green LED flashes three time in quick succession.

Ocean Signal Ltd,
Unit 4, Ocivan Way,
Margate,
CT9 4NN
United Kingdom
http://www.oceansignal.com

The user manual does say there is a 50 second delay after pushing the button to allow you to cancel in the event of an inadvertent activation. So be patient while waiting for the Green LED. A second push of the button would shut down the unit. (And bear in mind that it could take as long a 20 minutes to get a GPS fix, depending on your view of the sky.)