Morale boosting confirmation for survivors
A new generation of Personal Locator Beacons will provide survivors with the vital reassurance that a distress alert and location has been received the other end.
ACR Electronics has announced that its next-generation ResQLink™ Personal Locator Beacons (PLB) with Return Link Service (RLS) have received Cospas-Sarsat approval and are now available in Europe.
Offering survivors vital reassurance in a life-threatening emergency, the Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Return Link alerting technology will be available with the ACR Electronics ResQLink View RLS and the ResQLink 410 RLS.
The groundbreaking ResQLink View RLS is claimed to be the world’s first PLB with the capability to provide the user with a clear confirmation message via a digital display screen, verifying that the international satellite system Cospas-Sarsat has received their distress message and location. The ResQLink 410 RLS has a confirmation light to indicate that a signal has been received.
The ACR Electronics ResQLink 410 RLS and ResQLink View RLS will be launched in specific countries, pending approval of the use of RLS in each country.
The ACR ResQLink PLBs were developed by safety and survival specialist ACR to offer more user-friendly features and functionality than any beacon on the market to assist in saving lives across the world. They were specifically designed to offer users the leading personal locator beacon solution for providing the valuable reassurance of Galileo’s unique RLS and introducing two-way confirmation between a 406 MHz distress beacon owner and Search and Rescue authorities.
Incorporating a multi-constellation receiver utilizing both the Galileo GNSS as well as the GPS Satellite network for faster location and improved accuracy, the ACR PLBs operate on the three Cospas-Sarsat satellite systems including the new MEOSAR. This ensures they will offer the near instantaneous signal detection and transmission enabled by the global MEOSAR satellites and upgraded ground-station components. Using the next-gen network, anyone activating a ResQLink PLB can expect their beacon to be located within 100 metres (328 feet), 95% of the time, within 5 minutes of the distress signal.
The ResQLink series does not require any subscription but are required to be registered with the country’s national authority. Optional subscriptions for testing are available via ACR’s patented 406Link.com technology.
UPDATE: 16/11/2021:
ACR Electronics has won a DAME Design Award in the ‘Life Saving and Safety Equipment’ category for its ResQLink View RLS personal locator beacon at this year’s METSTRADE in Amsterdam.
As the only PLB capable of displaying Galileo GNSS Return Link alerting technology via a digital display screen, the ACR Electronics beacon was selected as one of the Category Winners of the 30th anniversary DAME Awards 2021 following judgement by a panel of top naval architects, boat, interior and industrial designers, plus user experts.
Mikele D’Arcangelo, Vice President of Global Marketing and Product Management for ACR Electronics, said: “We are delighted that the DAME jury has recognized the innovations and technology incorporated in our new ResQLink View RLS PLB. The Galileo Return Link technology will help save more lives and aid the rescue services, so we are proud to combine the service with all the other unique features, benefits and functionality that ACR Electronics has meticulously incorporated into our beacons over the years.
