Yep, have had one since they were first available. I also have a slightly more sophisticated Garmin thingy that I bought for 4×4 treks in places like Death Valley
Funny you mention it. I was probably one of the first to buy an inReach in Europe and then used it handily while spending a week in death valley (alone). Reassuring indeed.
Anyone know a good source? I’d like to buy a PLB. Preferably one that’s already registered somewhere without incurring monthly fees.
Snoopy wrote:
Anyone know a good source? I’d like to buy a PLB. Preferably one that’s already registered somewhere without incurring monthly fees.
406MHz Copas-Sarsat beacons (PLB, ELT (aircraft fixed), EPIRB (boat)) are all without registration or monthly fee. Bu you need to register (with Fernmeldebüro for Austria). I would buy from Amazon or an outdoor shop to avoid the “aviation tax”.
Spot or InReach require a contract with annual or monthly fees.
I don’t want to pay monthly. I believe PLBs can be registered in countries without such a fee?!
I’ve never heard of a fee for a PLB.
I’ve got 3 of them.
I’m sure someone can confirm that it’s not just a UK thing.
In most countries it’s free. Some charge a monthly fee.
Snoopy wrote:
I believe PLBs can be registered in countries without such a fee?!
No fee for registering a PLB in Sweden.
There is a fee in Norway, about €40 yearly. It’s payed to NKOM, the national communication authority (the “CAA” for everything radio frequency). From what I could see there are some PLBs with non emergency satellite texting capabilities? These requires a payed plan to be used.
Have a Garmin inReach for quite some time – yes, there is a monthly fee but family is happy to invest it for the tracking capabilities (seems to be comforting feeling to know where my corpse is located if something is happening ;-))
Will get a PLB in addition for my US trip this year as I do not trust me to be able to activate the inReach it if I really have to ditch in the North Atlantic. Any recommendations for an inexpensive source to get one?
I have bought one about 10 years ago, after moving to Norway. The planes I used to fly in France had been equipped with 406Mhz ELTs a few years before but the ones in Trondheim still use the old 121.5 ELTs. That struck me as odd because the terrain around Trondheim is a lot worse in case of problem than the terrain around LFOL were I used to fly. So I bought a PLB and I have not used it until now, and plan to keep it this way :-) but I always have it with me, in case…
