A Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), is an emergency device that uses radio waves and GPS to send your location to emergency services in order to bring help and rescue. These devices should only be activated in the event of an emergency, and are very useful in remote areas without mobile reception.

NOTE: If you have phone reception you should call 000 in an emergency as two way communication with the authorities is better for both parties.

PLBs are not a get out of jail free card, depending on your location and how detailed your trip description is (you registered your trip right?), it may take a significant amount of time for emergency services to reach your location. Eg. midway through a canyon where the beacons are likely to have the weakest signal and poor locating ability. You should be prepared to be benighted and handle whatever situation is at hand.

Where can I get a PLB?

You can borrow PLBs for free with a refundable deposit from:

  • The Club: UNSWOC has several PLBs you can borrow for a $50 deposit. You will need to register your trip online before your adventure, see below.
  • Blue Mountains: Blue Mountains Discovery Centre in Blackheath.
  • Kosciuszko NP: Perisher and Tumut Visitor Centres, and the Snowy Region Visitor Centre in Jindabyne.

Those locations might change in the future, consult the national parks website to be sure.

Registering Your Trip and Emergency Contacts

PLBs do not give an exact location, especially if you're in a canyon or under canopy. Therefore for the PLB to be useful, before every trip, you must add your trip details and your own emergency contact(s) to your PLB at the AMSA website.

  1. Sign in at top, login details are in the Trip Leaders FB page, or ask an exec/old timer for the details.
  2. Select ‘Update my beacon details’. Find your club beacon in the list (UNSWOC01-UNSWOC08). Click ‘edit’.
  3. Under ‘Trips Associated With This Beacon’ click ‘Add new trip details’. Enter clear information about your trip detailing:
    • Date(s) of trip
    • Name of destination (canyon/crag etc.) or journey description
    • Location description, nearest road and suburb
    • Latitude and Longitude of Destination (google maps and sixmaps can give you this)
    • Number of party members
    • Food/water supplies carried
    • Upload a map of your intended route (which you should have as a prepared trip leader!)
    • Hit ‘Save’
  4. Under ‘Emergency Contacts’ hit ‘Add new emergency contact’ (you may need to remove a contact first). Enter their name and number and hit save. It helps to send/leave a copy of your trip description (written in step 4) with this emergency contact.
  5. Send a facebook message or email to the club safety officer safety@unswoc.org with your trip description and emergency contact details and to confirm registration is complete.

Club PLBs

The club has has two PLB models, the GME Accusat MT410G and the KTI Safety Alert SA2G. Both PLBs are waterproof, float, and emit a signal for a minimum of 24 hours once activated. Instructions are also printed on both PLBs.

When activating make sure the PLB has as clear as possible view of the sky (if possible move away from cliffs, go on top of ridges etc) and is in an upright position (antenna pointed to the sky). Keep activated until rescue arrives.

Report inadvertent activations to: Aus 1800 641 792, NZ: 0508 472 269, USA 1800 851 3051 and UK 01326 211 569

GME Accusat MT410G

PLB accusat
GME Accusat MT410G

Activating: break the security seal on the back and raise the antenna. It will beep and pulse showing it is on.

Deactivating: use the key on the lanyard to depress the antenna latch. Swing the antenna fully down and latch. Re-wrap antenna around groove. Audio and visual alerts should cease.

KTI Safety Alert SA2G

KTI Safety Alert SA2G

Activating: Slide the red protective cover down to access the button, release the antenna on top and put in a vertical position. Press and hold the RED activation button until a green light starts flashing.

Deactivating: Press the blue test button until the strobe light stops flashing.

ResQLink™ View RLS

Activating: Unlatch antenna and rotate 90deg, Press Red ON/OFF button for 2 seconds

Deactivating: Press Red ON/OFF button until it stops flashing

Testing PLBs

The PLBs should be tested once a month by the safety officer or another exec member. More than this will kill the batteries, please do not test them yourself.

Garmin inReach

The club has 2 Garmin inReach Mini's which will be setup and available for use soon.