Which ELT?

[Lood]

Don't know whether you guys have heard the very sad news about the two Albat's gone missing on Sunday. The aviation community here in SA is shocked and nothing has been found yet. Bad weather is tying S&R down - very sad incident.

http://www.avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=82542&p=942522#p942522

Anyhow, this has renewed my interest in installing a 406 ELT in my Mooney. I fly over rural SA most of the time and land at very remote places without any mobile phone coverage. I've done a bit of look see on the internet and as expected, there are many different makes, all sporting quite a few models. And, at a rather wide price range, of course. I'd like some opinions on which of these are good and maybe which should rather be avoided.

[DaV8or]

You want one that broadcasts your GPS coordinates. Many do not. It really speeds up the time it takes for them to find you. When I looked at them a few months back, I felt the ACK E-04 was the best for the money. I layed in the wiring for this unit, but I have not yet bought it. In the mean time I fly with a PLB that can also broadcast my GPS coordinates.

[Cruiser]

I just registered my new ACK E-04 today. If I were flying in remote and difficult terrain, a PLB in addition to the ELT would be mandatory.

[danb35]

Another vote for the ACK--it's the cheapest unit that will broadcast GPS data by about half (i.e., the next cheapest unit I'm aware of costs 2x as much).