The Tasmania Police Westpac Rescue Helicopter today conducted a search for an EPIRB in the Dodges Ferry area near Hobart airport.  The signal from an old 121/243 Mhz beacon had been detected in the area by aircraft using Hobart airport.  AusSAR tasked the rescue helicopter to locate the beacon.

As a result of the search the helicopter landed at the Carlton Beach Surf Club and using a hand tracker an old EPIRB was located in a dinghy kept at a nearby house.  The beacon was disabled.

People are reminded that the old 121/243 MHz beacons have been redundant for some years.  The signal is no longer tracked by satellites and is only picked up by aircraft in the vicinity which happen to be monitoring the correct radio frequency.  These beacons should not be relied on as an emergency beacon.  The old beacons should be disposed of properly and replaced with new 406 MHz EPIRBS, preferably GPS equipped.

More information can be found on the Marine and Safety Tasmania and Australian Search and Rescue websites.

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