Personal Locator Beacon; MicrOFix from ACR

If you are lost in the wilderness a simple handheld GPS receiver may help you a lot. But if you are hurt or out of supplies or in some other serious trouble a mere GPS receiver won’t help. That’s because a GPS device will only tell you where you are - but will not notify authorities that may be looking for you. That’s why you need something called a personal locator beacon (PLB).

Meet MicrOFix from ACR. Popular among hunters, pilots, hikers, climbers and other outdoors men these devices when activated transmits on 406 MHz via the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite system with the sender’s unique registered, digitally coded distress signal. Emergency officials monitoring the system not only will be able to tell who is sending the signal (thanks to the coding and registration data) but precisely where the signal is coming from as a result of the built-in GPS engine. The beacon’s highly-sensitive, built-in -136 dBm GPS receiver provides for faster acquisition, a bonus in any rescue where every second counts.

The MicrOFix is a new model from ACR which claims to be smallest PLB ever built - 35% smaller and 25% lighter than its predecessor, the ACR TerraFix. MicrOFix is available throughout the U.S. for a suggested retail price of $740. You can also read a comprehensive review on MicrOFix.