The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, AMSA, manages water and land rescues in Australia. If a beacon goes off the signal goes to AMSA. Beacons should be registered with AMSA, and in some cases this is mandatory.
The AMSA website says:"If the beacon battery was replaced or serviced by a non-certified service centre then the beacon is non-compliant for carriage requirements and there is a risk the beacon may not function correctly."
As far as I can determine, the carriage requirement aspect applies only to boats and aircraft. This does not apply to PLBs carried by bushwalkers. The last words about functioning correctly are very relevant for bushwalkers.
Industry commentIan Vietch of AllSat Communications advises that when dealing with a non-certified person or entity to replace the battery, "If the unit fails with one of their batteries then you may die … Unless you are an authorised service centre then they are reusing old parts. Authorised Battery Replacement Centres have the tools, the training, and the skills to ensure it is fully operational. More importantly, they have the correct approved battery packs and new seals which is vital. Others don't.
"Also, the devices have internal counters that indicate battery usage and tests remaining. If you don't have the programming wand and software then they cant reset that. Therefore, your device will indicate that it needs a battery replacement when it does not.
"All devices have sacrificial stickers to indicate tampering over the screws. If they are damaged then there is no warranty.
"What people have to ask themselves is if saving a few dollars worth the risk."
Matt Corton of M.O.S.S. Australia and Zachary Newman of GME had similar advice, and I suspect that this applies for all dealers. As far as I can tell, most battery replacements cost around $200, lasting 5-10 years, or $20-$40 a year. A serious bushwalker would not buy a PLB unless she was going on enough trips in remote regions to justify the cost, so say 12 trips a year. The cost of the PLB is thus $1.70-$3.40 a trip. This is insurance cover, a few litres of petrol. I'm quite comfortable paying $180 to All Sat for my PLB1 battery replacement.
One person said "I’d prefer to be sure that the unit was going to operate in the event of an emergency rather than be too concerned with the price of replacing the batteries." This seems reasonable to me.
New battery or new PLB?Buy a PLB with a long battery life. You will probably not need to activate it, and after 10 years technology will have improved so that replacing the battery is not as attractive as buying a new unit. Costs should also come down.
Posting PLBsAustralia Post says: "Make sure that the electronic device you're sending can't be turned on accidentally, and you have used strong internal and external packaging." It thus seems that PLBs may be sent via Australia Post. See the above link and make your own enquiries.
Official Australian outlets
ACR is done by MOSS Australia
GME make emergency gear
KTI ceased trading in the last few months. The owner died several years ago, and they have closed the door. Their website says to contact the retailer. I'm advised that retailers don't know what to do.
McMurdo has no Australian distributor.
Ocean Rescue All Sat Communications
There's a discussion on the Bushwalk.com forum.
Bushwalk
