Before the #iPhone, I bought a #Breitling watch.

Breitling makes a watch line called the "Emergency", because it includes a 121.5 Mhz #EPIRB beacon.

To deter people from setting off the EPIRB frivolously, the FAA would levy a $100,000 USD fine on anyone who did so.

These #watches were, as you might suspect, not big sellers, but they did save lives.

#Apple now sells consumer devices that have satellite EPIRBs, and shitty software that activates them without cause.

https://coloradosun.com/2025/07/23/colorado-911-call-centers-iphones/

#xkcd : EPIRBs
https://xkcd.com/3169/

#segeln #seefahrt #sailing #epirb #beacon #falsealarm #falscheralarm #notrufboje

EPIRB Cat 1 unboxing for my #sailboat Shazam
I choose the Ocean Signal Sea safe that is good for Mediterranean that self deploys
Also my PLB includes AIS and this simpler model meets the international requirements I could encounter

#ericson36 #boatlife #cruising #boatsafety @liferaftpros #oceansignal #epirb #epirbsaveslives

⚠ #PSA ⚠

#Garmin have made a quiet change to their #InReach satellite communicator / #EPIRB plans. The new plans have several serious disadvantages for users, and are significantly more expensive than the existing ones.

*** DO NOT CHANGE YOUR EXISTING CONTRACT. ***

You can remain on your existing plan, but as soon as you change, you CANNOT swap back.

Note this applies to all InReach accounts worldwide, including in Australia.

Screw you, Garmin.

#GarminInreach

Whats most worrying here is this couple appear to be seasoned and experienced travellers and were well prepared, but appeared unable to have sent out a MAYDAY call when their small boat got into trouble (possible collision with bulk cargo vessel in same channel) and did not have an #EPIRB (they did at least file traffic report with the Coastguard who reported them missing on 2024-07-03)

#Canada #Maritime #sailing

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c84jxgy8nmlo

It refuses to power up when fed with DC.
DO these EPIRB things need a complete battery for test or other use?

Do note, I have removed the high power UHF PA and wired the PA input pin and the antenna port into BNC pigtails, so that emissions on 406MHz 121.500MHz are contained and not radiated.

I want to modify the 406MHz side to the #70cm amateur radio band and the 121.500MHz side to somewhere on 2m.

#2m #VHF #UHF #amateur #radio #EPIRB #junk

#enos is good because it's cheap, doesn't require licensing nor registration and since it's not using emergency radio bands, is not susceptible to costly false alerts...

Personally, I did consider buying my own #ENOS beacon as a #diver since it's cheaper than any other #EPIRB and can be really helpful in areas of strong currents where it's impractical to swim.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENOS_Rescue-System
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_position-indicating_radiobeacon

A. Costin et al., "Cybersecurity of COSPAS-SARSAT and EPIRB: threat and attacker models, exploits, future research"¹

COSPAS-SARSAT is an International programme for "Search and Rescue" (SAR) missions based on the "Satellite Aided Tracking" system (SARSAT). It is designed to provide accurate, timely, and reliable distress alert and location data to help SAR authorities of participating countries to assist persons and vessels in distress. Two types of satellite constellations serve COSPAS-SARSAT, low earth orbit search and rescue (LEOSAR) and geostationary orbiting search and rescue (GEOSAR). Despite its nearly-global deployment and critical importance, unfortunately enough, we found that COSPAS-SARSAT protocols and standard 406 MHz transmissions lack essential means of cybersecurity.
In this paper, we investigate the cybersecurity aspects of COSPAS-SARSAT space-/satellite-based systems. In particular, we practically and successfully implement and demonstrate the first (to our knowledge) attacks on COSPAS-SARSAT 406 MHz protocols, namely replay, spoofing, and protocol fuzzing on EPIRB protocols. We also identify a set of core research challenges preventing more effective cybersecurity research in the field and outline the main cybersecurity weaknesses and possible mitigations to increase the system's cybersecurity level.

#arXiv #ResearchPapers #EPIRB #COSPAS #SARSAT #SatelliteSecurity
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¹ https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.08361