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Personal Locator Beacon (Distress)
The ARI-23237 was a small hand-held personal locator beacon intended for use
in distress situations, manufactured by Graseby Dynamics in the UK.
It was often carried by Special Forces (SF), such as the British S.A.S. during
the First Gulf War in 1991, as part of their standard gear.
The devices operates on the Military Air Distress (MAD) frequency, or UHF Guard,
of 243.0 MHz.
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The device is known by US and UK Special Forces as Tactical Beacon —
or TACBE for short.
The image on the right shows a typical TACBE unit, carried in the palm of a
hand. It is shown here without its antenna. The lower half is the battery.
The small hand-held radio can operate on two frequencies that are
monitored 24 hours per day by Air Force units around the world.
Despite the fact that TACBE has officially been phased out, the frequency is not. Some units may still be in service and the frequency is monitored around
the clock,
Do not attempt to use a surplus unit.
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When in distress, the operator simply removes a blocking clamp by pulling
a string. The unit then immediately starts sending out a distress signal
on 243 MHz. This frequency is monitored 24/7 by Air Force units world wide,
by airplanes that are passing by and by NATO AWACS airplanes.
The operator can also talk to the pilot of a passing plane on the same
emergency frequency, by pressing the PTT-switch (Press to Talk) on the side
of the radio. For reception, the PTL-switch (Press to Listen) has to be
pressed. If no button is pressed, the radio broadcasts a
distress signal.
Power and frequency of the radio have been choosen such that its range is very
limited. When talking to a pilot, the plane has to be in the 'line of sight'.
This was done to allow operation for a relatively long period of time from a
small battery, and to avoid detection by enemy
intercept and direction finding stations.
The TACBE can also be used for tactical
short range ground-to-ground communication
by using the auxiliary channel on 282.8 MHz.
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The TACBE was used by British Special Forces (SF) during the First Gulf War in
1991. It was carried by SF members as part of their standard gear. It would
only be used in case of an emergency, e.g. when their normal
PRC-319 radio was lost or out of range.
They would use the distress frequency (243 MHz) to contact the AWACS plane
that was continuously flying overhead at high altitude.
They could also use TACBE to contact passing fighter jets, but as these
planes were generally flying very low - in order to stay below radar - the
time for a conversion would be very limited.
A good example of the use of the TACBE is given in the book Bravo Two Zero,
written by Andy McNab (pseudonym). The book is based on a real SAS mission
in Iraq lead by McNab in January 1991.
Four of the eight members of his team carried a TACBE for emergency purposes.
In one case they managed to send out a distress call to a passing American fighter pilot.
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Personal Locator Beacons today
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Today, the use of Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) has shifted from
line-of-sight to satellite communication, whilst at the same time
it has become available for everyone who want to go camping, hiking,
fishing, skying, etc., at remote locations that have little or no
GSM coverage.
PLBs are available from several suppliers and can be registered
with the telecom authorities in your country. In case of distress,
it will contact the local authorities through one of the available
search and rescue satellites, and send the GPS coordinates of
your present location.
➤ More information (off-site)
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Tuesday 10 August 2010. Last changed: Tuesday, 29 September 2020 - 13:50 CET.
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