
Y1-03-0362 Rev. A
Company Confidential
8
Return Link Service (RLS)
Additionally, beacons with Return Link Service (RLS) functionality (eg. PLB-410 & PLB-435)
provide confirmation to the user that their beacon’s emergency message h
as been received and
that their location has been detected. RLS works by sending a signal back through the Cospas
Sarsat network to confirm to the beacon user that the distress alert from a beacon has been
received, and their location detected, by flashing a blue light (PLB-410) or flashing a blue light
and displaying a message on a digital display (PLB-435).
Important Information Regarding RLS Beacons
The PLB-410 and PLB-435 beacons have the Return Link Service (RLS) feature. The RLS feature
is an indication on the beacon (see the section of this manual
on “Activating your Beacon”
) that
confirms to the beacon user that the distress signal from an activated beacon has been
localized by the Cospas-Sarsat system and is being sent to the responsible search-and-rescue
(SAR) authorities. It does NOT mean that a search and rescue has yet been
organized/launched, only the fact that the distress alert has been received and is being routed
to the appropriate SAR agencies.
The RLS is designed to send an acknowledgment to the beacon. Alerting of the distress to SAR
authorities is independent of (and likely will occur before) the RLS acknowledgment indication
on the beacon. This specification is described in the Galileo SAR Service Definition Document
(
https://www.gsc-europa.eu/sites/default/files/sites/all/files/Galileo-SAR-SDD.pdf
).
You may visit the web page on Countries Allowing RLS Beacons (
https://cospas-
sarsat.int/en/beacon-ownership/rls-enabled-beacon-purchase
) to learn the most recent
information about regional/global support for RLS.
Cospas-Sarsat strongly recommends that you register your beacon. It only is possible to register
a beacon in the registry operated by the country matching the
“country code” (generally
matching the country of point of sale) electronically programmed into the beacon (or the
International Beacon Registration Database (IBRD) (
https://www.406registration.com/
)) if the
country uses it for their registrations). For example, it only is possible to register a beacon with
a French country code in France’s national registry. However, owners of Belgian
-coded beacons
must register in the IBRD. The country code is encoded in the beacon’s unique identification
number (UIN, also called Hex ID), which is used to register the beacon. Visit Where to Register
My Beacon (
https://www.406registration.com/countriessupported.aspx
) to see where you can
register your beacon.