6
5
PLB-110
The basic Cospas-Sarsat System concept is illustrated in Figure 4.
Figure 4 – Cospas Sarsat System Concept
The System is composed of:
• Distress beacons (your PLB) which transmit signals during distress situations;
• Instruments on board satellites which detect the signals transmitted by your PLB;
• ground receiving stations, referred to as Local Users Terminals (LUTs), which
receive and process the satellite downlink signal to generate distress alerts; and
• Mission Control Centers (MCCs) which receive distress alerts produced by LUTs
and forward them to Rescue Coordination Centers (RCCs), Search and Rescue
Points of Contacts (SPoCs) or other MCCs.
You are the reason for the system!
Your PLB has been designed and built to be fully compatible with the system. Taking
proper care of your PLB, learning how to operate your PLB, understanding when to
activate your PLB and registering your PLB to ensure the fastest rescue possible are
covered in the next sections.
If you want to dig deeper into the workings of the Cospas Sarsat System please visit
www.cospas-sarsat.org.
SECTIOn 4 – PLB REGISTRaTIOn
ALL distress beacons (PLBs, eLTs and ePIRBs) are required to be registered.
Why?
Registration is used by SAR organizations (and only SAR organizations) to talk to your
emergency contact person (or you if your PLB has been accidently activated) about what
medical conditions you may have, where you might be, whether you are traveling alone or
in a group and what you might be carrying.
Your registration form information and information from your emergency contact
are combined with historical SAR information and geographic and climate/season
information (based on the location of the PLB) to organize and plan the SAR mission.
If that doesn’t convince you then consider the pain you might be in (you activated the PLB
because you where in grave and imminent danger remember?) and the additional time it
may take to verify the activation is not accidental.
Let’s start the process…
Step 1 - Check the markings on your PLB. Is the country code the one for your country
of residence? If “yes” then proceed to Step 2. If “no” then contact the nearest factory
authorized service center and arrange to return the PLB for coding with the proper
country code.
Step 2 – Locate the paper registration form. New PLBs come with a paper registration
form for the country in which the PLB is coded and are pre-printed with the PLB unique
identification number (UIN). See SeCTIoN 2 – Marking and Labels. Note: Look at the
paper registration form. You may find that you can register your PLB using the Internet.
Follow the instructions to register online but keep the paper registration form for your
records. If you are purchasing a pre-owned PLB then contact the nearest factory service
center for assistance.
Step 3 – Register online or complete the paper registration form and mail it to the
address shown on the form (see below for US references). You are encouraged to do so
promptly so you won’t forget. once you mail it, you are done!
In the United States register online at www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov or mail the
registration form to:
nOaa SaRSaT Beacon Registration
NSoF, e/SP053
4231 Suitland Road
Suitland, MD 20746
