What ELT type did you go with?

[muleyman78]

I'm shopping for an ELT. The price is drastically different from 121.5 to GPS. I notice most back country pilots carry the portable gps locators on them also. What system did you or are you going to use?

[whee]

IMO a 406 ELT with a gps connection is the only choice. Wether your dead or alive you want to be found and you don’t know for sure that you’ll be able to set off your PLB or InReach before something happens. I know that ELTs don’t always trigger but I think it’s your best shot.

I installed a AKC E04 under the co-pilot seat and put the antenna in the tail.

[Flygirl1]

Dennis and I both went with the ACK Model E-04. Also It has a nice looking remote on the panel activator/tester. I don’t remember the price. I know you didn’t ask but while on the subject we mounted it behind the baggage area along with the antenna. I always thought putting the antenna on the outside was counter productive. An emergency landing hard enough to set it off might include a nose over and how is the antenna going to do you any good smashed under the plane?

[Battson]

Kannad 406 Compact, the light weight one.

[Steve W]

Kannad 406 Integra. Has built in antennas.

[jaredyates]

I also have the integra. Rumor has it there will be a Kitplanes article on the topic shortly.

[Ed.Meyer]

We also mounted an ACK E-04 behind the baggage compartment with the antenna inside and we know it works. During ispection the FAA inspector wanted to see it tested and I inadvertently push the wrong button activating it for just a few seconds inside the hangar. Within a minute or two, the phone was ringing from Air Force saying they had received it. I appolgized profusely and all was fine.

[schu]

Some clarification:

A 121.5mhz ELT isn't actively monitored by comsat any more. If you activate it, nobody is going to come looking for you. It's not until you are missing will they start investigating, and even then there are lots of false positives.

A 406mhz ELT has a serial number, is digital, and must be registered. So if it goes off, someone will start looking for you, and they know who you are, what color/type of your aircraft.

Now in the 406mhz space, you have gps and non gps. The ACK E-04 is the one I'm familiar with. It can be installed stand alone, where people will start searching, but they must triangulate your position, or GPS, where you configure some GPS to spit out NMEA data through a wire into the connector on the ELT. With GPS, they will get the last known GPS coordinates with the beacon.

Some other units like the Kannad have a built in GPS. So if you don't have a hard mount GPS in the cockpit or don't want to run a wire to the ELT, this might be the better option.

There is also some quality differences. The Ack is built like the old ack. Telephone cables and such. I think I like the other better, but then again, it's a LOT cheaper, and is known to work.

Another thing to consider is the battery cost. These don't work the 'D' cells anymore. So you will need to buy a new brand specific lithium battery every few years. So check the battery prices when determining what you want to buy.

Lastly, an ELT is the right tool for the job in an emergency, but I would encourage any and all pilots to also carry a Garmin in-reach as well. It's like a spot, but two way. Basically, it's a SAT phone, but text messages only, no voice. So you can send a text or email message to anyone in the world, from anywhere in the world. It's great for those non-emergency situations where you need to tell someone that you are okay, and not to send help, or okay, and send help that isn't the coast guard.

Hope that helps,
schu

[Archer39J]

Seems like the ACK fits my mission best, especially considering the recurring costs. What are the arguments for the integra?

[N3UW]

I have a different way of thinking. I go with the least expensive ELT the rega will allow. The main thing I want it for is to be found if I go down. There are so many cases of elt not being activated or destroyed after a crash. I install the Spot asset tracker in my wing that send my location out every 5 minutes when it detects movement. It tracks startup to shutdown automatically. I have it linked to a web page that I give to trusted family members. I also carry a personal PLB that I could manually activate.