Originally Posted by
jehrler
I understand but what seems to make this a bit of a long time to search is that, as noted in earlier posts, these communication devices have the equivalent of a MAC or IMEI address allocated based on the airframe.
It still has to be validated, then passed on through the correct channels. That takes time.
Imagine if someone spoofed a signal, the people receiving the signal didn't validate it, announced it immediately, and that drew the SAR effort a thousand miles away from the real site. Not a good idea.