ACR ResQLink AIS PLB-450 Personal Locator Beacon
- Brand:
- ACR
- Part no:
- 2933
Image: Fisheries Supply
Where to buy
Specifications
- Type
- PLB
- Positioning
- GPS, Galileo and Glonass multi-constellation receiver
- Return Link Service
- Yes
- AIS alert
- Yes
The ACR ResQLink AIS is a compact personal locator beacon that sends a 406 MHz distress signal through the Cospas Sarsat satellite system and adds an AIS transmission and NFC smartphone access. Positioning comes from a multi-constellation GNSS receiver using GPS, Galileo and Glonass, with a 121.5 MHz homing signal plus white and infrared strobes to help rescuers close in. It can be fitted inside a life jacket so it activates when the jacket inflates, or clipped to a belt or webbing. Return Link Service confirms with a flashing blue light that the alert was received. Operational life is over 24 hours, it weighs 0.42 lbs, and it is waterproof to 10 m for 1 hour.
Our take
The AIS transmission is the useful addition here: it puts the wearer on the screens of AIS-equipped vessels within VHF range, so a nearby boat can steer straight to a man overboard instead of waiting on satellite relay. The flashing blue return-link light then tells the wearer the alert got through.
From our buying guide
Only 406 MHz beacons alert by satellite. An EPIRB is designed to be mounted on a vessel and a PLB is a portable, handheld beacon for personal use, and registering either with NOAA is mandatory.
Check before you buy:
- It's coded for the US, since a beacon must be registered in the country it is coded for.
- It has a GPS receiver, which the Coast Guard prefers, since a position then goes out at once.
- You know how its battery gets replaced, since ACR and Ocean Signal say the owner must not do it for their models.