Kind that runs on flashlight batteries, 121.5

Would be ACK-01 or Ameriking

Bill Hale

Hi Bill,

it's hard to ask that question on a public forum because all you get are responses from FAR "experts" telling you it's illegal to install one yada yada

I found one last year by stopping by the local aircraft spruce store and asking if they'd tell me anyone local who had recently bought a 406. I cold-called a few of those folks and quickly found one willing to part with his old 121.5 unit for a song.

Yes i have a 406 in my bonanza that my family rides in, but I wanted something cheap for a different plane, and the "why" part of that is my own business and doesn't require any commentary

There is one on eBay for $750!! I want it for a replacement for a super cub that hardly ever leaves sight of the ranch. BH

I should have both , 856 419 5209

You cant beat those Ameriking 121.5 ELTs.
I just "refreshed" the batteries for a couple bucks. Mine even has a jack for communicating with SAR.

I am trying sooooooo hard to be gentlemanly and to refrain from making negative comments. It's sooooo hard to do because, well, there's a reason why the world has moved on to 406MHz ELTs.

How much is your life worth?
How much life insurance do you carry? (Remember, some insurance companies want to see your remains before they'll pay out - the ELT is one of the ways to find your remains!)

Depends on where and how you fly.
I am sea level on the east coast where any misadventure will be on YouTube before the ELT goes off.
If I were out west in mountainous terrain or flying IFR at night, then yes the 406 would be the way to go.

And there it is.
My champ hasn't been outside this circle in ~20 years. It's used to check on crops and cows. The same area is routinely travelled on an ATV. Do you want to give us a lecture on equipping each honda fourtrax with an ELT ?

fortunately, technology has caught up, and your iPhone 16-17 is able to make emergency communications to satellite.

Why bother with an ELT at all? For the flying you are doing it isn't required, I'd just toss the old one. When the boys wrecked my old Lance, the first alert was their cell phone calling their wives. When flying where there is cell coverage, technology has made the elt, old or new, redundant.

Jeff

Because the guy who signs off the annual prefers that it has one and I don’t care to argue with him.

I understand.

One of the reasons I got my IA many years ago was while most technicians can read English, far too many apparently don't understand it. I got tired of having to read, and then explain, the regulations to people I was paying for their expertise. The last straw for me was when the IA refused to sign off a plane we had recently reprinted because we didn't put 12" numbers on it.

Jeff