The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Looks like I am going to be replacing my old ELT since it is draining its batteries each time I replace them. Its an old unit that I have had for 26 yrs and I don't know how old it was when I purchased my plane. The old one fits in a holder that is mounted where the back seat ashtray used to be. I would appreciate suggestions for a make/model replacement. I'm looking for one at a reasonable price, if there is such. I may (?) need to go with one that mounts behind the baggage compartment, but am needing guidance.

Thanks

Avoid Ameri-King. Might be a good time to upgrade to a 406 MHz unit although they don't meet your "reasonable price" criteria.

Will the ELT be required after the ADS-B out and next gen is implemented?

DWood wrote:Will the ELT be required after the ADS-B out and next gen is implemented?

The FAA hasn't said it won't be, and it's probably a good idea anyway. If you are out bumming around VFR no where near a tower facility and you blip off, is someone going to see it? And if they do, have you crashed, or just landed in a field, or on a road, or on a lake a if a seaplane/skiplane? What if you are near an airport and they think you just landed there? One of the accident investigators at work told me one time they spent 2 days looking for a plane that crashed 2.5 miles from the airport. Sure if you are overdue and a search is initiated they can rewind the tape and pinpoint your location, but how much time has passed at that point? Hours....a day?

Conversely a 406MHz ELT will let them know that an accident happened, and it will let them know immediately! No guessing, no waiting, no relying on someone's interpretation. As soon as that thing triggers the Coast Guard (in the US anyway) knows about it. Within 15 minutes they'll be calling down a phone list that you set up. If no one answers and says, "Oops, must have tripped the switch accidentally" they send our SAR immediately. Without a GPS interface they'll get within a mile or two. With it, a couple hundred yards.

Price has come down substantially. Yeah there are some spendy ones with built in GPS's, but you can get a bare bones unit for about $500. Not chump change, but not bad if you ever need it. We've set these off at work (accidentally), and the response made a believer out of us.

All that being said, this would be an interesting question to pose to the FAA at EAA this summer.

DEM

I accidentally hit the test button 30 minutes into a 1-1/2 hour flight and it was about 5 minutes before I noticed it and turned it off. About 10 minutes after I landed I got a phone call inquiring about the ELT activation. When I explained what I thought happened, the guy said no problem as long as everything is ok. I wonder when they are going to start charging for that. My 406mz ELT is Ameriking but I probably would not buy another one until they get a green flag from the feds.

I have a 406 Ameri-king that replaced a 121.5, both have been problem free but I guess that's not the point the FAA are making. That 121.5 is about 10 years old, gathering dust, yours Frank, if you can use it.