U.S. flag An official website of the United States government.
Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

i

EPIRB vs. GPIRB: Faster Rescue Results



Details

  • Personal Author:
    Backus A
  • Description:
    With recent improvements in global positioning technology, fishermen now have the opportunity to better their chances of recovery on the high seas by upgrading their 406 MHz EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) to a 406 MHz GPIRB, which is the acronym for an EPIRB with Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities. As most fishermen know, the ability to determine the position of a 406 MHz EPIRB sending an emergency distress signal is based on the movement of satellites in orbit above the earth. The land-based receiver of the emergency radio signal hears the greatest number of signal bursts from the emergency beacon when the satellite receiving those bursts is directly above the emergency beacon. As the satellite moves away, the receiver notices that the frequency of the bursts drops off. This is analogous to what happens when we hear a train. When the train is closest to us, the pitch or frequency of the whistle is highest. As the train moves away, the pitch of the whistle drops quite abruptly. This frequency drop is known as the Doppler Shift and was first described by German physicist Christian Doppler in 1842. It may actually take us a while to notice when a train is nearby. Once we realize it, we may know the general location of the train and the direction in which it is moving, but not its exact location. Similarly, EPIRBs provide the land-based receiver with a general location and direction of movement of the radio beacon on a vessel or in the sea. However, the time required to get a fix on the location is somewhat long, and the location of the radio beacon cannot be pinpointed more exactly than about three nautical miles. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • ISSN:
    0273-6713
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Funding:
    Grant
  • Genre:
    Journal Article
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20061939
  • Citation:
    Commercial Fish News 2005 Jan; :20A
  • Contact Point Address:
    Ann Backus, MS, Director of Outreach, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston MA
  • Email:
    abackus@hohp.harvard.edu
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2005
  • Performing Organization:
    Harvard School of Public Health
  • Peer Reviewed:
    False
  • Start Date:
    20030701
  • Source Full Name:
    Commercial Fisheries News
  • End Date:
    20050630
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:2756701e94401cc919e6592a8f3d2f83532702aeb014cffa857e9147d50126f7e6290c27e0784fe0d5d991a90899c5983f8ac2d9cbb5418e908d53d3188f3fe5
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 242.74 KB ]
PREVIOUS
ON THIS PAGE
Details
CDC STACKS serves as an archival repository of CDC-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other public health information authored or co-authored by CDC or funded partners.

As a repository, CDC STACKS retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.
BACK TO TOP