Can somebody give me some advice on EPIRBS for commercial use please?
The company I work for operates 2 Halmatic launches (9.9m and 12m) and has been recommended to install EPIRBs on these as they are not currently fitted. Nobody here knows much about it so I volunteered to try and find out...
From a bit of reading I deduce that the 121.5MHZ ones are a waste of time and a dual 121.5/406MHZ one is the way to go, though I know the local SAR helicopter can home in on a 121.5 unit as somebody set one off accidentally a few years ago and caused a bit of a flap.
Do these need to be registered with somebody to give the vessel name etc, how is this done, is there an annual subscription, would something like this one
http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/epirb...-1539449.bhtml
be appropriate or not? (A lot of our stuff comes from mailspeed so it was a link given to me)
Is an "automatic" one the type that would be secured to the top of the cabin and float off with some sort of hydrostatic trigger, like an auto liferaft? Or if not what would you ask for in order to get such a unit?
An idiots guide to these and some recommendation for a sensible choice would be much appreciated if there are any commercial users running this sort of sized boat.
Many thanks!
Stephen
