User's Manual

Page 10
4 CONTROLS
4.1 Activation switch
This slide switch is protected against accidental activation by a red tear-off seal which
indicates if the EPIRB has been activated previously.
The EPIRB can be activated manually by tearing the seal upwards, depressing the
locking button on the switch and sliding the switch to the left.
When the EPIRB is activated the strobe will start to flash immediately, but the EPIRB
will not make any distress transmissions for 50 seconds. This gives you a chance to
turn off if you activated it accidentally. During this time the red LED illuminates
continuously. When the red LED starts to flash, the 50 seconds delay has passed and
distress transmissions have started.
4.2 TEST button
This control allows various test sequences to be run on the EPIRB. Details of these
tests are given in Section 10.1.
4.3 Sea switch
It is important to realise that the only time the EPIRB is completely off is when it is
fitted in its mounting bracket or enclosure. As soon as you take it out, a magnetic
switch activates and puts the EPIRB into its “ready” state. It will not drain the battery in
this state, but it will turn on automatically if the sea switch contacts are immersed in
water. The sea contacts are the two studs, one on each side of the EPIRB.
Although you can control the EPIRB manually with the activation switch, the sea
switch overrides any manual settings. For the manual switch to operate properly the
EPIRB must first be dry so that the sea switch is de-activated.
To ensure the sea switch operates properly in rough seas, it has a built-in time delay.
It has to be wet for at least 2 seconds before it will activate and it has to be dry for at
least 8 seconds before it will de-activate.
4.4 LEDs
4.4.1 Strobe (white)
The strobe is the visual means of locating the EPIRB. When activated, the strobe
flashes (approximately) 21 times per minute, with a pause during the time when the
EPIRB is transmitting on 406 MHz.