New 406 ELT - Installation requirements

[QFF]

I am considering replacing my ACK E-01 (121.5) ELT with the soon to be available (!) E-04 with seems to be the most economical 406 mHz ELT on the market. Advantages - COST and also plug and play replacement for the E-01 (installation time quoted as less than 30mins - plug in new unit which has same footprint as E-01 and replace the antenna).

However, it has been suggested that even a simple swap in/out may require an engineering order (EO) - is that the case?

How does buying the unit from the US go, especially with regards to registering it with AMSA?

Thanks in advance.

[capt787]

this website should be able to help you out
http://beacons.amsa.gov.au/beacon-models.html

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

From the AMSA site....

"Any 406 MHz beacon registered with AMSA is required to be coded with an Australian country code. You may have difficulty recoding a 406 MHz beacon produced for the US market. There may be beacons manufactured to other national standards that are not compatible with Australian standards. You should make sure that any beacon you purchase will comply with the Australian requirements. "

Cheers

[Peter Fanelli]

Why does Australia require different standards for this?
Once again Australian users will be required to pay more because they will have to buy models unique to the Australian market :ugh:

[Sunfish]

Do not buy your ELT from the USA unless it's already coded for Australia.

Mr. Fanelli:

Why does Australia require different standards for this?
Once again Australian users will be required to pay more because they will have to buy models unique to the Australian market

They don't. It's a common international standard.


The 16 digit hexadecimal code which is pretty much hard wired into the unit includes a country designator and that indicates to the Satellite and ground station system exactly which country database to search for your details.

...So if you bought a US coded ELT then when you set it off in Outback Australia the system will route that event To Washington DC or wherever and the U.S. database will be searched for your details......good luck with that.

I'm not even sure AMSA will accept an American coded ELT into their database.

By the way, you should have changed your ELT last year shouldn't you?

Meanwhile a PLB will, I seem to recall, is an acceptable substitute for an ELT. I recommend carrying both. The AMSA database allows you to specify primary, secondary and tertiary uses for the beacon (Aircraft, car, boat)

[Frank Arouet]

Some years back AOPA fought very hard to have PLB's accepted in lieu of fixed ELT's. The matter was resolved after one Bill Miller and his mate trod water all night in The Gulf, (with all those bities swimming around), while his fixed ELT was attempting to transmit through mud from the inverted and sunk aircraft. A Huey picked them up at first light only after their PLB tied to Bill and floating right way up alerted all and sundry of their dilemma.

The fixed ELT rely's on the assumption that the aircraft will not be inverted, sunk, burnt and it activates on impact.

If possible(?) I would toss the fixed ELT and use the weight saved to take more fuel and buy a PLB which is about $400- $600 and legal. Don't need an engineering order either.

BTW. 121.5 MHz is used for homing on the new 406 MHz PLB's and ELT's. It is still the International Distress Frequency, yet we are all told to chuck them away. I would have thought the old 121.5 PLB's would be OK for bushwalkers who can usually be relied upon to get lost in a known area and are usually missed by their loved ones after a while. A helicopter could easily home in on these and save an all out Civil emergency via AMSAR.

Just a thought.

[Fred Gassit]

Satellites dont detect 121.5 anymore, think it's also illegal to use them now as well.

[frigatebird]

whether its illegal or not - if i'm that stuck that i have to trigger the old one (as well, - cause i am not just throwing it away, even though i have a new 406 one, - was made spend the hard earned so its now belt and braces) - i will....!

[Frank Arouet]

think it's also illegal to use them now as well.

Why Fred? The 406 MHz PLB's use 121.5 for homing. Also as the International Distress frequency, why can't a bushwalker use them to guide a helicopter that is equipped to home in on the frequency, especially if the bushwalker is in a known area and he has left the equivalent of a flight note.

I have also been told they should be destroyed, but don't see the sense. Old battery perhaps could make them unreliable.

[Fred Gassit]

Why they would make it illegal I don't honestly know, in any event it's coming up a year or so since they were last available so eventually they will all have flat batteries.

With these old beacons the only chance of it being detected is by an overflying aircraft so they are very limited in that sense. Given there is no guarantee of a detection maybe it's an issue of liability?

There are places (battery world for one) to dispose of old beacons, too many are winding up at garbage dumps-not very glamourous for the SAR folk.

The 121.5 part of the newer beacons is much weaker than it used to be and is intended for final homing when a satellite position has already been obtained. In many cases unless you are very close to the source this signal cannot be detected.

http://beacons.amsa.gov.au/ is a good reference for this stuff

[Old Akro]

I understand that you can buy Oz coded ELT's from the US. I understand that if the mounting cradle to the fuselage needs to be changed, then an EO is required (what a rort). Many of the old 121.5 ELT's ran only 2 wires to the remote switch, but the 406 beacons require 3 wires. Therefore some installations require new wire from the ELT to the cockpit switch. In some aircraft this requires removing a fair bit of the interior which is time consuming (expensive). If you can get a 406 ELT that will use the same mounting tray as the old one and you have 3 wire cabling to the cockpit switch, then I believe its just a matter of changing units & antennae.

In Australia the prime method of picking up 121.5 signals has always been overflying aircraft. Read this: CAN IT EVER BE APPROPRIATE TO MONITOR 121.5 EN ROUTE? (http://www.airsafety.com.au/why121p5.htm). The airlines and many private pilots monitor 121.5 in cruise with otherwise unused radios. All of these guys will still receive the signals.

[Graybeard]

Doesn't OZ 406 ELT installation require wiring of position info from the GPS, if equipped?

[djpil]

then an EO is required (what a rort)Unfortunately CASA is going down the EASA path rather than the USA's FAR's where the approval path for a minor change is very straightforward and there is an appropriate progression in rigour as the task becomes more complex and broader in nature - the 337 (I note the criticism of 337s but thats a result of people abusing the process rather than following the process as defined by the FAA) and the STC. Here, per the new CAAP 35-7:
According to the regulations, all repairs and modifications, major or minor, to Australian registered aircraft must be approved."All" means "all" and the approval required is per Reg 35.
It should be easier for minor stuff but my guess is that it won't get any easier with the new suite of regulations.

[Thermal Bandit]

AMCA cancelled the class licence for all the old 121.5 EPIRB/ELT/PLB on the
01/02/10 - the new spec required it to be part of a 406 unit - this has nothing directly to do with CASA or AMSA, they are all following international standards

As for distress signals - once upon a time they used smoke signals; you would probably be rescued then arrested these days for lighting a fire in the open :confused:

[Westaussielame]

Part of the reason for EO's is that the structural requirements for the mount has changed.

EO's also ensure that other modifcations incorporated in an individual aircraft do not affect the performance of the system such as having antennae installed too close together or inapproprite locations.

Will also address weight and balance changes.

The new beacons require a a much stiffer bracket and specify a maximum amount of deflection of the bracket under a given load .

I suspect this is to ensure the G switch are activated as designed .
IE a flexible bracket would dissapate the shock to some extent.

Most instalations will require additional sheet metal work.

Cheers West Aussie LAME

[triadic]

CASA Instrument 12/09 was issued on 8 Jan 2009 which in not so many words give approval to:
a) specify how maintenance on an aircraft, aircraft component or aircraft material is to be carried out; and
b) are contained in any advisory documents published by CASA, EASA or the national authority of a recognised country........

NZ being one such county, the following is applicable:
The CAA in NZ have published an advisory circular AC43-14 that provides acceptable means of compliance in relation to avionics etc....
This AC covers; (amongst others)


FAA TSO C126 ELTs




Have a read... you may qualify?


Regarding 121.5, I believe you may find that the satellites still are capable of picking up that frequency, however many countries including Oz having introduced a requirement for the new beacon, no longer subscribe to that data. The intro date in some countries has not yet occurred so obviously the 121.5 data is still supplied .....

[Thermal Bandit]

121.5 MHz data ceased to be processed by Cospas/SARSAT on the 01/02/09 – there was only a 9 year period between when this was announced and when it happened – how much notice do some people need?

If you need to learn more, take a look at International Cospas-Sarsat Programme (http://www.cospas-sarsat.org/)