As most of you already know, I believe that AIS crew overboard beacons are the biggest advance in crew overboard (COB) recovery in my lifetime.
In fact, Phyllis’ and my enthusiasm for this technology has led us to change our COB recovery strategy to be 100% reliant on the Ocean Signal MOB1 beacons that we bought in the spring of 2017.
That said, we recently discovered that for much (maybe most) of the first season after we fitted them to the Spinlock lifejacket/harnesses that we wear at pretty much all times when underway, they would not have self-activated.
And, while much of the fault lies with us, our experience does bring to light two potential problems that others relying on the auto-activation features of this beacon, particularly those who bought before mid-2018, need to be aware of.
Hi John,
Once again, thanks for all the hard work.
I posted when you first wrote about the MOB1 that, on ours, I found the initial set-up fussy in a way that produced errors and dead ends which we finally sorted.
I also looked at the thick thread on the loop with mis-giving, but it passed my tug test, so I went with it. I will definitely pursue the upgrade and again, thanks for making this happen.
I also appreciated the video as I looked at the wind-up tool that came with the MOB1 and its directions with mis-givings also.
Some directions just give me the willies as they scream at me that I am going to do something wrong.
I think there might be an argument for a “rule”: the fussier an operation is, the more likely something will go awry.
Finally, I know these are companies/products you admire so I appreciate and support your taking them to task for actions not (yet) taken.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Dick,
Glad it was useful. I too was intimidated by all the installation stuff and the fear of doing something wrong with these units. That said, once I found out that I had 15 seconds before transmission, I felt a lot more confident in messing with them.
And I like your rule a lot! In fact I think it might be a natural law.
Hopefully the next generation of these things will address some of these issues.
impressive post…i now have a new respect for your expertise and your thoroughness ?
Hi Richard,
Thanks for your kind words, that said, your respect would be more warranted if I had dug in and sorted things as soon as I got the units, and not waited six months.
Hi,
I have just read your comments on the MOB1. Very informative and slightly concerning!
I have two MOB1’s purchased in the UK in April 2015 and neither had a plastic cover or any reference to it. Following your article I have emailed Ocean Signal to ask for advice.
The only consolation I do have is that one of mine activated perfectly when I snagged my lifejacket on reaching into a deep locker!
Hi Les,
Thanks for coming up. And good to hear it worked.
That said, your experience confirms that the original units were shipped without the plastic cover, so Ocean Signal is way out of line for not actively publicizing this. When will these companies learn that bad news does not get better with age?
So true!
Hi John, good call. I also bought mine in 2017 and there was no protective plastic cap. Just off the phone with Ocean Safety sales service in the UK that seems unaware of the issue. That being said, looking at the protective plastic cap, it is not attached to the Mob by any strap. So you would lose it in case of an emergency activation.
Hi Guillaume,
Yes, the plastic cap would definitely be lost in an emergency activation, but I can’t see how that matters much since the beacon would have done it’s job. Also, after use the beacon would need to be returned to Ocean Signal for a new battery so a new cap could be acquired then.
That said, given that they were not shipping the plastic cap originally with the unit, it is clearly an after thought modification to fix a problem.
Hilarious. The gentlemen at Ocean Safety is telling me the cap is an extra optional part priced at £1.75 + VAT. One would hope the PLB activates quicker than the information circulates within Ocean Safety…
Hi Guillaume,
That’s very disturbing. The person I talked to who knew about it is Debbie Heath moc.langisnaeco@htaeh.eibbed
(Normally I would not publish someone’s email address like that, but to be blunt if Ocean Signal are not going to get their act together on this, they deserve an avalanche of emails.)
Once again, I thank you and Phyllis for falling on the swords of early adoption of new and potentially game-changing technologies and for doing the meticulous work of actually testing this gear aboard your boat (well, in the saloon, anyway). I find the lack of a way to register this sort of device anomalous, given that every PLB I’ve ever heard of, the device that has the greatest functional resemblance to this one, has a registration process that involves boat and personal info, MMSI, and all sorts of data sent to the usual SAR facility. I was told this was to avoid situations where a PLB was chucked out into the waste stream and might involve a “false positive” on a garbage tip.
Having read your piece, would you suggest buying these units from Spinlock or directly from Ocean Signal? I mean, I might give it a few months until they fix their string vs. ribbon issue…
Hi Marc,
Thanks for the kind words.
As to registration, two different things. PLBs and EPIRB’s are registered with the applicable government authority because it is they who will receive (via satellite) and verify any activation. On the other hand, AIS beacons are short range devices (max 5 miles) so there would be little point in governmental authorities keeping track of them. What I was referring to in the post was my belief that all manufactures of any safety equipment should provide a way for buyers to register with them so that in the event of a product problem or improvement the manufacturer could inform the buyer via email.
As to who you buy a MOB1 from, I don’t think it matters.
Ah, thanks, John…this occured to me after I posted. Your point is correct. I mean, SH encourages me to register my handheld VHFs…
In UK you should register your MOB-1 with OFCOM onto your radio licence, as an additional piece of radio equipment. I guess this relates to the gmdss radio alert part.