Distress beacons

A distress beacon with an encoded (GPS) location is usually detected by the RCC and located within minutes. Distress beacons without the capability to provide an encoded position also provide an initial alert to the RCC within minutes, but there will be no associated position. If emergency contacts are aware of trip details or trip details have been submitted online, search operations can begin sooner. If the RCC has to rely on POE satellites to determine the location of a beacon, it will take longer to gain an accurate position thereby delaying search operations.

Accidental activation

If a beacon is inadvertently activated, the most important thing to do is to switch it off and contact RCC Australia as soon as possible to ensure a search and rescue operation is not commenced. There is no penalty for inadvertent activations.