Victims of Domestic Abuse: calling 911 for pizza

[dvcochran]

Personal locator beacon.

I have wondered just how precise they are. Is it really within a few feet?

 

[drop bear]

I have wondered just how precise they are. Is it really within a few feet?

I would be happy within a couple of hundred meters.

But no idea.

 

[Tez3]

I would be happy within a couple of hundred meters.

But no idea.

What do people do when they go off into the Outback? We often read stories about backpackers etc getting lost and dying because they are lost etc.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I have wondered just how precise they are. Is it really within a few feet?

Like pretty much anything else, it depends. PLBs are becoming quite common for divers in remote areas, especially in areas of high current.
The PLB broadcasts a signal that the communications satellites can use to locate it to within a couple of miles. They also broadcast a low power beacon. Once rescuers are within that couple mile radius, a directional antennae is used to triangulate the PLB.

 

[drop bear]

What do people do when they go off into the Outback? We often read stories about backpackers etc getting lost and dying because they are lost etc.

Yeah. Happens a bit.
Bushwalking safety | NSW National Parks

You can get a free plb off the cops in some places.

 

[dvcochran]

Like pretty much anything else, it depends. PLBs are becoming quite common for divers in remote areas, especially in areas of high current.
The PLB broadcasts a signal that the communications satellites can use to locate it to within a couple of miles. They also broadcast a low power beacon. Once rescuers are within that couple mile radius, a directional antennae is used to triangulate the PLB.

We do something similar in water applications in very rural areas. A Yagi antennae plumes a signal high in the atmosphere and a VHS antenna grabs the signal.