A 406-MHz beacon designed for use in an aircraft is known as an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT). One designed for use aboard a marine vessel is called an Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB). More information on SSAS beacons is available in the first tab below. A beacon designed to be carried by an individual is known as a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). Sometimes PLBs are carried aboard aircraft or vessels, but you must check with local authorities about the circumstances under which this is permitted.
Only beacons operating at 406 MHz are compatible with the Cospas-Sarsat System.
Information regarding beacon selection and purchase is provided at “How Do I Select and Purchase a 406 MHz Cospas-Sarsat Beacon?” (Public/Beacon Ownership).
Our “Beacon Coding Guide & Tutorial” (Pro/Beacons/Beacon Information) provides both an interactive description on beacon message protocol selection and guidelines on beacon message coding.
The information provided in this portion of the website is intended as a summary of the information provided in the following Cospas-Sarsat System documents (Pro/Documents):
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C/S G.005 “Cospas-Sarsat Guidelines on 406 MHz Beacon Coding, Registration, and Type Approval”.
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C/S S.007 “Handbook of Beacon Regulations”;
- C/S T.001 “Specification for Cospas-Sarsat 406 MHz Distress Beacons”; and
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C/S T.015 “Cospas-Sarsat Specification and Type Approval Standard for 406 MHz Ship Security Alert System (SSAS) Beacons”;
The above documents can be downloaded free of charge from the Professionals website at Pro/Documents/System Documents. If the information provided on the website conflicts with that provided in documents C/S G.005, C/S T.001 and C/S T.015, the official System documents shall take precedence.
Furthermore, individual administrations may have additional national beacon technical and coding requirements that are not addressed in the above documents.
Special Purpose Beacons
Further information about three types of special purpose beacons are presented in the tabs below.
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