Emergency Mil Radios

[Bill Coleman AA4LR]

On 3/29/99 22:11, James D. Mayfield at kb9bnr at REVEALED.NET wrote:

>I
>showed her an older tube type VHF/UHF survival mil radio I have. It's on
>121.5 on VHF and 243.00 On UHF. I am interested to know what the current
>bands are, I would guess 243.00 is still one current freq in use.

What you have is an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT). 121.5 and 243.0
are still the frequencies in use for this purpose.

>But must
>be others, also what output would this radio have? a watt or two at best I
>would guess.

That sounds about right. An ELT is equipped with an automatic impact
switch that activates it after a crash. I'm thinking, though, that
military aircraft may not necessiarly have ELTs, as an ELT would aide
enemies as well as allies in locating downed aircraft.

There is a network of satellites that listens for ELTs and attempts to
triangulate them. A typical ELT can transmit for about 1 day after a
crash.

As for your ELT, I would resist any temptation to fire it up. If a
satellite would lock on to your signal, it would activate a search and
rescue mission to locate a downed aircraft. While you certainly are not
in any danger, the resources expended to look for you might be better
used elsewhere.



Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at radio.org
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901

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