#165

PLB1: Change of the internal Lithium battery.
How to open the case without damage

[@petersmith-ie9yb]

Great that saves people lot of money, They charge for battery worth 10£ over 120£!!!

[@albertoialongo2005]

Many thanks, great video.

[@WECB640]

A most valuable lesson Stefan. I truly hope they will heed your warning. 73

[@jimmurphy7296]

Thank you for making this video. Danke

[@PapasDino]

Even non-ham radio repairs are always interesting! 73 - Dino KLØS

[@dl7majstefan753]

BTW: It´s a VHF-/UHF transmitter

[@PapasDino]

@@dl7majstefan753 Yes it is a transmitter and thus the interest! 😉

[@tlrptg]

so it's basicly a dual band APRS beacon. Something we HAMs are quite used to. Of course they work on different frequencies.

[@xix94]

What battery dose it take

[@dl7majstefan753]

Don´t remeber the type, but a look into the web is useful i think

[@alistercarmichael4990]

Great to see inside. I wonder how much knowledge the authorised batrery changers have and how much care they take in the procedure? In the uk at least its relatively recent that land use was licenced for such devices. Reading the opinions of prospective users or even rescue personnel is somewhat revealing. Ignorance is a remarkable thing. Why do replacmet batteries cost almost as much as a new device ? Even sealed bolt on batteries that are user changable. I think i'd rather have one of these that i had check myself than not have one at all for want of not being able to afford one. It is also legal to use unlike keying up on an aircraft frequency to get help in a remote catastrophe, or whatever other solution you can think of. Also I'm not going to accept some nonsense of.. if you can't afford £10/£100/£1000 per month for the subscription you shouldn't be doing it. Sarsat is global and open for any register user. It saves rescue teams hours or days and is surely the most accessible and efficient distress system going for remote and inaccessible areas. Why is the cost of safety so high? If you need to say because accidents cost more you clearly don't get the premise of a PLB. Every year we are battered with news reports of lost(missing) hikers in Scotland. Deliberate generation of a public hate for people "having to be rescued that shouldn't be there" What a difference it would make if these were accepted as commonplace here. It reads as though responsibility is not permitted here. The government and your peers don't allow it. You couldn't be responsible for not activating the life at risk device at any other time, and you certainly couldn't be responsible for changing the battery in such a thing. A great video. Informative. Interesting. Contentious!

[@dl7majstefan753]

Mni tnx. Agree with your comments

[@carlahogeweg933]

manual:5.2 Battery "! Battery replacement must be done at an Ocean Signal authorised battery replacement centre." I am amazed that you promote this? Even you do not have the proper tools for battery replacement, such as a torque screwdriver. You cannot test the unit as you lack the equipment, such as a pressure tester and a 406 MHz EPIRB tester (or maybe you do, but other people don't), and you cannot reset the battery counter. You do not have the proper spares, if p.e. the antenna or the housing of the antenna is damaged or gets damaged during the process. Don't forget to mention you are handling potential explosive Lithium batteries that can cause fire, if handled in the wrong way. The original battery and gasket is not available to buy as an end-user. Using an original (tested)battery is very important when you service life-saving appliances.

[@shawntl7]

Wow Carla...that's some five-star fear-mongering there. These are essentially 5W (/50mW) transmitters, with an integrated GPS receiver. ...and yes a lithium battery! May you never swap a camera battery, you might explode!! Other PLB devices use a battery pack consisting of common Lithium CR123A camera batteries, so there is nothing fancy here. I wrote a longer draft (yes, longer than this) to explain how expensive these are for what they are, let alone the "battery service", but it is far too lengthy to write as a KZbin comment. So here are the bullet points: Battery Swap: It's a battery swap, and a fairly simple one. It's even got a standard connector, no soldering required (in which case, your Lithium point might be valid). And sure, a careless person might flub this up through static discharge, misalignment, mis-torquing, bad batteries, but that's his/her device and risk to realize. In fact, ACR/OS should support proper replacement through guides and videos rather than fee extortion....even with torque specs as you say! DL7MAJ warns as much in this video...perhaps ACR/OS should hire him to do the video. In fact, I think they've start offering EPIRBS with "user replaceable" batteries, so maybe they're learning! Even boat owners are wanting this, let alone cash-strapped hikers. Pressure testing...I'm sure that these have some sort of IP rating, but they are not generally submersible nor dive rated, so this is good measure for manufacturer design and specs, but less critical for normal/intended use...this one doesn't even float without the case. So if I take care to ensure things are put back together properly, and perhaps even add a little silicone grease for added seal, I'm very confident that the seal will hold as designed...but a new gasket would be great if ACR/OS offered them! And there also is a simple DIY test to ensure seal. Test counter...you got me there! The counters can only be reset with proprietary hardware and software (though there appear to be serial interface pinouts on the board...hmmn?). What an unscrupulous racket! For the sake of argument let's accept that their claim is remotely true about "battery depletion"; then the battery voltage test should fail. Or why not put a counter reset button/jumper on the board? I think that the counter limit and the service cost causes folks to test these far less than they should, and replace the battery less frequently. Transmission test...having some "authorized" boat-shop operator tell me it's working would be unnecessary if NOAA was as useful as the Candian counterpart! Canadians receive an email from their authority when their beacon owners activate a GPS Acqu/Send test...confirming a successful end-to-end test (and also used as an ad-hoc "I'm ok" notice to family). Instead we have to hope and pray the little green light means that it's working right. For a while ACR offered "406Link" (for a hefty fee of course) but no longer...but again, I'm sternly staring at NOAA on this! Yes this is an emergency device, that may have to work once. My smoke/monoxide detectors are far, far cheaper, and have to be continuously serviceable (for 10 years)...and I can test those indefinitely. They even tell me when to replace the battery (all by myself). Similar thoughts for my fire extinguishers, trauma kits, camera systems, firearms, and even my cell phone (for 911)...some of which I get far more utility from. And I have many other smaller electronic devices that do far more than this, very reliably, and are far cheaper. My point is that companies (and you) play on fear for these to justify the exorbitant cost and fees. I solo hike, so I have a similar beacon...and think that if these were a little cheaper most hikers would also...as a supplement, or in lieu of, sat messengers. These are great devices that fill a gap in our current cellular phone technology (though iPhones now have sat SOS...even so I'd still carry a PLB). So I'm grateful to ACR/OS, et al. that these exist for the few days/weeks of the year when I'm in an area without cell service. And I think that PLBs are better than sat messengers for many reasons: better power transmission, sat systems, SAR response,, better battery chemistry for cold temps, and most notably..no need for an active subscription to get help (So gross! Even cell phone services are better than that). So compared to the amazing technology of the satellite systems and SAR coordination networks, these are important but simple 5W transmitters...with common lithium batteries that eventually need replaced...and it shouldn't cost $150 and 4 weeks to do so! ...may we never need them. Thank you DL7MAJ for opening this one and showing us what's inside! Good tips. 73

[@user-ir4xh5hd9g]

Hello All Please don't be silly I own one of these devices and if you remove the battery you could risk your life by please get it done by the company and not yourself it does state this in the manual Ocean Signal shall not be liable to the buyer under the above warranty: • for any repairs or modifications carried out on the product using parts that are not supplied or approved by the manufacturer Ocean Signal including batteries and for work carried out other than by Ocean Signal or approved service dealers

[@SteveM-lv9sd]

!!!DO NOT DO THIS!!! Batteries should ALWAYS be changed by an authorised service agent. Any PLB should be fully tested for operation and watertight integrity following a battery replacement. Failure to complete this task fully will result in failed test results in the future and could endanger your life. Stefan - please remove this video