Whats the difference between an EPIRB/PLB and SPOT?

What’s the difference between a SPOT and either a Personal Locator Beacon or an EPIRB?

We like to say it’s an apples to oranges comparison. If your intention is to buy a life saving device, the most important part is to do your research and ask the right questions. We like the SPOT product, it’s a neat little tracking device, but it’s absolutely not a replacement for an EPIRB or Personal Locator Beacon.

What are the power and frequency differences?
Power and Frequency are two key areas to consider when researching a life saving device. If you’re not an engineer, these two subjects can be a little intimidating. Think about it like this: Satellites are thousands of miles away from earth, so your beacon’s signal needs to have enough power to travel that far and be able to go through anything between you and the satellite (trees, weather, out of slot canyons, etc.).
Power
SPOT is powered by 400 milliWatts while ACR 406 MHz PLBs and EPIRBs use 5 Watts. Think about the Total® cereal commercial where they show you how many bowls of the other cereal you need to eat in order to get the nutrition from one bowl of Total. In our example, you would need 12.5 SPOT units to equal the POWER of one ACR PLB or EPIRB. When your signal has to travel 22,000 miles to reach a satellite, you want to make sure you have more than enough power to get it there!

Frequency
The basic principles of frequency are that the lower the frequency, the easier it can penetrate buildings, trees and meteorological activity that appear between the transmitting device (PLB, EPIRB or SPOT) and the receiving device (the satellites). FM radios and TV channels work on a lower frequency which is why they can penetrate buildings and the environment pretty easily. Now think about radar which uses a really high frequency. Radar works by hitting an object and bouncing off, that’s how radar knows where to place an airplane on the radar screen. So the higher the frequency, the less likely it can penetrate things in between, the lower the frequency, the easier it can penetrate. 406 MHz PLBs and EPIRBs use a dedicated frequency set up by the search and rescue community that is in the same range as UHF TV stations. SPOT uses the 1.6GHz frequency which is four times higher in the frequency spectrum. This means SPOT’s frequency is four times less likely to go through an object or weather than the lower 406 MHz frequency.

Summary
Considering power, combined with frequency, ACR’s 406 MHz beacon stands head and shoulders above satellite messenger systems like SPOT. ACR has 12.5 times more power and is four times more likely to penetrate objects in between the beacon and the satellite than SPOT.
Testing and ApprovalsSPOT is not a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). We’ve seen some websites calling it one, but make no mistake, it is not a PLB. Personal Locator Beacons, like EPIRBs, must be submitted to an independent test lab that verifies the frequency, operating life, testing in extreme temperatures, environmental testing, etc. From there, the product must go to Cospas-Sarsat, USCG and finally the FCC (or other comparable agencies in each country) for approval to certify that the EPIRB/PLB meets the standards for Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) and that it exceeds required operating and mechanical conditions that will appear in the marine environment. PLBs and EPIRBs are rigorously tested by governing agencies to confirm they will work properly in the environment. This is a big difference from SPOT which only has to self-test and self certify that it meets Part 15 FCC. If you are not familiar with Part 15, check out your garage door opener, it is approved with the same self certified rule.

Made in the USA vs. Made in China
ACR PLBs and EPIRBs are MADE IN THE USA, SPOT is made in China. While outsourcing a product to Asia can ultimately reduce the cost to manufacture a product, you also lose process control over the manufacturing, which is key to Quality. ACR strongly believes that products whose sole intention is to save lives must work the first time every time, PERIOD. The only way to meet this goal is to oversee the entire manufacturing process and test, retest, and test again during the process. If you watch our factory tour videos on our website, Facebook or YouTube, you will see the extreme steps we take to make sure we have a zero defect ratio. We actually had to email SPOT’s customer service to find out where they manufacture their units because they do not mark this information on the box, in the product support manual or on their website. “Axonn is the manufacturer and they out source labor in China” – Raquel Talarico, SPOT Inside Sales and Marketing.

What does Search and Rescue (SAR) say about the differences?
A 406 MHz signal coming from an EPIRB/PLB is recognized by SAR as a true emergency, and they act immediately. By law, search and rescue is required to find and turn off any 406 MHz beacon once activated. Search and Rescue has made it very clear that SPOT and other tracking gadgets are to be treated as a missing persons report: until they get more information regarding the distress message, they are going to wait and see, and not deploy their forces for the possibility that someone simply has a flat tire on the side of the road and needs help. Additionally, if the SPOT unit is unable to download and retransmit a GPS position (see frequency and power issues above), SAR has no idea where the transmission has come from and will not put their forces in danger looking for a needle in a hay stack.

Redundancies
Murphy’s Law has taught us all that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. We embrace that philosophy with every product we make so that you are given every opportunity available to get rescued. PLBs and EPIRBs have multiple ways to contact SAR in order to get you rescued. SPOT has one single transmission method. PLBs and EPIRBs can contact SAR via 406 MHz, which locates your beacon using Doppler Shift, it can contact SAR using GPS data and it also has a 121.5 MHz homing frequency so when SAR forces get a few miles away from you, they can home in directly on your beacon and find you faster. SPOT uses GPS only to send its location. If you cannot download GPS, SAR will have no idea where you are.

Satellite Monitoring
406 MHz signals are monitored by a governing agency in each country. In the U.S. that’s the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and in Canada its The National Search and Rescue Secretariat. These agencies maintain the registration, and alert search and rescue of any activation. SPOT has hired a company called GEOS to monitor and alert search and rescue of an activation. The Cospas-Sarsat and NOAA have had over 26+ years of experience monitoring these frequencies and alerting Search and Rescue. GEOS is relatively new and not well known to the SAR community and does not have authorized use of the SAR system.
CoverageEPIRBs and PLBs use the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system which contains 2 different satellite systems (LEOSAR – Low earth orbiting and GEOSAR – Geostationary). These two systems cover every inch of the planet. SPOT tracker is part of Globalstar and uses the Globalstar (Nasdaq: GSAT) satellite system which only covers a certain percentage of the earth, but has quite a few locations that are undetectable.

Experience
If you had to have knee replacement surgery, would you have your family doctor do the procedure or would you rather have someone who has nothing but knee replacement experience, someone who helped write the latest surgery techniques, someone who teaches other doctors how to do knee replacement surgery? The Cospas-Sarsat satellite system has been in place since 1982; it is a collaborative system of the worlds search and rescue community dedicated to saving lives. The system is credited with saving over 24,500 lives thus far. Of all of the registered 406 MHz beacons, ACR accounts for more than 60 percent. We have over 25+ years of experience building life saving beacons, 53 years of experience building life saving signaling products. When you buy an ACR product, every single product comes with that experience, knowledge and lessons learned of how to effectively build the world’s most quality life saving products available. The Globalstar satellite system began commercial service in 1999 and has had a shaky operating life thus far. The satellite system was designed for voice communications and SPOT (launch in December of 2007) is their first product aimed at providing a form of safety.

Overall
One other thing to be aware of is that SPOT requires an annual subscription fee of $99 or $149.99 if you want tracking. The device cannot be used until the subscription fee is paid. The 5 year ownership of a SPOT unit is much more expensive than a PLB or EPIRB: $149 unit cost, $499 in subscription fees, $250 for tracking fees, plus GEOs insurance (total 5 year cost can range between a minimum of $648 to as high as $1,649). If the Globalstar company were to close, your SPOT tracker would not work anymore. EPIRBs/PLBs do not require a subscription fee since they use the Cospas-Sarsat satellites (a humanitarian SAR system fully funded by member states of the U.N.). If you are looking for a tracking device that does not have to work every time, get a SPOT. If you want a life saving device, designed and manufactured to work when your life depends on it, get an ACR EPIRB or PLB.

Apollo 13 Thank you letter

ACR has been saving lives since 1956, in fact, our Pen Light was a key product that helped assist the astronauts of Apollo 13 return home safely.

The crew of Apollo 13 sent us a great thank you note (see below) and years later Jim Lovell was cleaning out his desk and found the exact Pen Light he had with him on the Apollo 13 mission...and it worked like it was brand new.

This ACR Pen Light is currently in the SMITHSONIAN

NASA magnesium powered penlight - Used on the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle programsSole light source on Apollo 13

More than just a battery replacement

Learn exactly what is involved in a standard battery replacement service.

We hear from customers all the time that they would simply like to replace the battery in their EPIRB or Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) themselves in order to save a drive to the local battery replacement center, but a lot more goes into a battery replacement then most people know.

EPIRBs and PLBs are designed and manufactured with one main goal: to save your life. If you needed knee surgery, you wouldn't try to do the operation yourself; you would find a qualified doctor to solve the problem successfully. It is the same thing with a life saving product. While it might be an inconvenience to send your beacon out for service, it is a lot safer in the long run in case you ever have to activate your beacon.

First of all, a lot more is involved than just a change out of the batteries. The first step is a thorough visual inspection of the product. Your beacon is checked for any damage that might have occurred to it over the past 5 years. Think of all the times you have accidentally dropped your beacon, all of the ultra violet rains hitting the product day in and day out. We have seen beacons struck by lightning and even had one chomped on by a Kodiak bear like it was a chew toy. A professional visual inspection is critical because you want to make sure your beacon is in tip top shape for the next 5 years of service. If the case has a crack from being dropped or if the antenna is damaged, we'll identify the problems and get them corrected.

The replacement of the battery is the easy part; we simply remove your old battery and replace it with a brand new battery, custom-built at ACR. Next we have to make sure your product is waterproof and buoyant (depending upon the product model). We replace the main gasket and all of the hardware with new screws and o-rings to ensure a waterproof seal. Once we seal the product, up we test the beacon to make sure it is waterproof by performing a pressurized test to ensure no water will penetrate the beacon. Finally we perform a full functional self test to make sure your beacon is working exactly the same as when it left our manufacturing floor the day it was built.

At ACR, we have 196 employees with 1,643 years of experience building ACR products that will save your life. We emphasize this to prove the point that we are emphatic about building the highest quality life saving devices on the market, and this quality policy is not just for the products we manufacture, it also is adhered to for the service we perform on our products.

Here is a list of battery replacement frequently asked questions:

How do I know when the battery is due for replacement?
It depends which unit you have, but there is a battery expiration date label on every PLB or EPIRB. Look for “battery needs to be replaced if used or by date shown” on the body of the unit. Can I buy a battery from you and replace it myself?No. The battery of any EPIRB or PLB needs to be replaced by an ACR Certified Battery Replacement Center (BRC), where trained technicians will perform this service. The battery cannot be purchased by the user. This is a life saving device and you need to have the proper tools, hardware and software to perform a battery replacement. Full functional testing is done on the unit, after the battery is replaced, to make sure that the unit will last another 5 years in the field. Click here for the location of a service center near you: www.acrelectronics.com/brcloc/default.htm

What will happen if I do not replace the battery every five years?
The chances of surviving a life threatening situation is greatly diminished if proper care and maintenance is not given to an EPIRB or PLB.Do I have to replace the battery if the beacon goes off by mistake? Why?Yes, because this is a lifesaving device, it should be diligently maintained to perform as specified. For this unit to transmit for the full 24 or 48 hours, it will need a new battery as any inadvertent activation will deplete the existing battery.

Why must I replace the battery at 5 years when it has an 11-year lifetime?
The battery does not have an eleven year “useful” life; it has an eleven year SHELF life. Once you install a battery in an EPIRB or PLB, current is being drawn when you self test the unit during the first 5 years of battery life. There is also a minute current (in the micro amp range) being drained from the battery, in the “rest state” of an EPIRB or PLB, during the full 5-year period of the battery’s stated life. The battery is guaranteed to last the full, specified period of 24 or 48 hours if activated in an emergency, any time during the 5-year replacement life. When the “replacement due date” is past, the activation period of an EPIRB will start to decline and cannot be guaranteed any longer.

Where do I dispose of an EPIRB battery?
Please contact your local waste management. For information about shipping lithium batteries or products containing lithium batteries, please click here: www.acrelectronics.com/hazmat/default.aspx