Cobham Avionics - Le Plessis-Robinson designs and manufactures airborne emergency locator transmitters (ELT) compatible with the COSPAS-SARSAT system.
Our beacons emit the registration of the aircraft in which they are installed, for at least 48 hours at -20°C (and more longer at ambiant temperatures). They can be activated manually, from their front panel or from the cockpit, or automatically activated by the crash sensor included in the beacons (g-switch). Our 406Mhz beacons have an selftest function.
The beacons are usually installed in the upper rear fuselage. Using quick fasteners, our beacons can be used as "Automatic Fixed" ELT (AF) or "Automatic Portable" ELT (AP), in that case, they can bea easily carried out of the aircraft by the crew or passengers.
The COSPAS-SARSAT system consists of a series of satellites which detect distress beacons and relay the radio signals to ground based control centers (CCM) world-wide. These centers are responsible for locating the beacon and initiating search operations when a beacon transmits. Using 406Mhz beacons permits a faster and more precise location than bi-frequency 121.5 and 243Mhz beacons (1km precision using 406Mhz, and 10km using 121.5/243Mhz beacons).
You can visit the COSPAS-SARSAT website if you are interested by details of the satellite system for search and rescue.