The International Cessna 170 Association

Couple days ago I get a call from wasilla city manager telling me they had a local mechanic go unlock my plane and shut off my elt. Immidatly I was wondering why I had not got the call from RCC asking about it, so I called them. Turns out, CAP was out flying and picked up a 121.5 strong at the airport in wasilla. Tracked it to my plane had someone unlock and pull the plug so to speak. No 406 transmition... Next day I pull the elt. Get home and it's corroded around the antenna connector. So off to NLA in Los Anchorage. They pull it apart and the sealed case has a extream amount of water in it, in the form of water drops and moister..with much more corrosion inside. What? Yep it's 5 years old! Told it's junk but we can sell you a new one...for another grand...
So, this is a Kannad Compact. No warranty but only 5 years old with enough water in it to kill it. Looked in the plane, bone dry. Always has been. Anyone flying with a Kannad see this at battery change time?
Needles to say, Kannad has been scratched from the replacement list. I may have needed that coroded POS to save my butt.
What are y'all runnin for elts now? Like it?
And no, haven't flown in a week or so, so it wasn't me

Yep. I'm still operating on my old E01 by ACK and waiting until it dies (16 yrs now) and, if forced to go 409, will upgrade to their direct-replacement E04 for about $580. But it gripes me no-end that no one seems to have developed a 406 Mhz ELT that uses common D-cells.

Well after looking things over with my mechanic, Im not real sure if the coax from the antanna had a loop in it or a droop, before attaching to the elt, as Im not the one who unhooked it the other day when it was going off. Its about the only way water could ever enter the unit is a direct drip into the connector we are thinking.
The E04 is what Im looking at, but sounds like it has to have a extra battery to power the remote switch. More research.......

All the remote switches must have another battery or two. Many of the remotes use the same unit.

The AmeriKing unit battery FAQ :
What are the alternative Battery Sources for ELT Main Unit and Remote Switch Unit?
Duracell MX 1300 and PC1300 batteries are approved alternatives for use in the ELT Main Unit. Sanyo CR1/3N, Eveready 2L76, Kodak K58L, Varta CR1/3N, Maxwell 4LR44 batteries are approved alternatives for use in the ELT Remote Switch Unit.

I always carry around in my flight bag a personal ELT. Legal in my country . It's regristered to me but has my aircraft particulars in its data base . It's built by GME has both frequencies of 121.5 and 406 with GPS . This is all I need for avaition use and I can jump from one aircraft to another at will. They are so cheap to purchase it's not worth replacing the batteries when due . Just buy another one . It has a built in strobe light in it also . ( and WATERPROOF) . It so small and light that I have hung it around my neck when on the job. This unit works anywhere in the world . The model (for those wanting to look it up on the net ) is MT410G

Well I just picked up a ACK. Should be a easy instal, out with the junk in with the new. I don't have a personal beacon like the spot or anything but I do have and use a sat phone religiously. Thanks everyone for your information. Greg

Be sure to "De register" the old ELT!

Thanks for the reminder. Did that a couple days ago when I registered the new ACK. Kind of have to look around on the noaa site to find out how to un register a elt or report it as destroyed or whatever. Greg

The GME MT401 series EPIRB have a safety re-call out: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... 1339,d.aWw

Here's the factory page to describe their product: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... nZkmXP2kew