TracMe, not a real PLB
To be charitable, the new-to-the-U.S. TracMe looks to be a low cost, short range homing beacon that may have some safety value in certain circumstances. But it’s hard to be charitable about the company’s decision to market it as a Personal Locator Beacon, when it has nothing to do with the technology—and the international search & rescue system—that most of us associate with that term.
The good Doug Ritter of Equipped to Survive makes a strong case regarding TracMe’s limits, and how someone could get hurt because of the terminology confusion. And he doesn’t even get into some of the, um, dubious marketing on TracMe’s site. Note, for instance, this claimed benefit: “Significantly reduce the cost of false (satellite PLB) activations.” Well, you could say the same thing of a cell phone, or two cans on a string, or an FRS radio with a built in tape loop (which is all this is). TracMe doesn’t activate anything, false or positive! I guess I’m particularly agitated as just the other day I got a query from a cruiser wondering if a certain boat monitoring system would be as good as an EPIRB. Not even close. A lot of folks are confused by all this new technology, and the safety manufacturers in particular should be doing all they can to clarify their products, not confuse consumers further.
PS 8/8: Doug Ritter has filed complaints about TracMe’s use of the term “Personal Locator Beacon” and inflated product claims (“Suitable for yachting”?) with the FCC (generally slow, as we know) and with the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, Division of Marketing Practices. And he’s not mincing words, saying that confusing a TracMe with a real 406 MHz PLB “could end up killing someone.” I agree with him, and plan to follow up his complaint at the FTC. Meanwhile, TracMe is claiming that “Personal Locator Beacon” is not copyrighted and is an apt description of its product. You can email your comment to TracMe CEO, Joe Rainczuk, here.
PS 8/9: Apparently there’s now a letter in TracMe’s FCC file stating that “The US Coast Guard and the FCC feel that this {calling TracMe a PLB} is a misrepresentation of the device and could result in confusion with safety-of-life Part 95K PLBs,” and demanding thatTracMe change it. Good work, government!
Interesting folks.
If you click the news link on the TracMe website there's a picture of Doug Ritter and the text below it implies that Mr. Ritter has tested and approves of the product.
Somehow TracMe forgot to link to the review on Equipped to Survive. A minor slip-up that I'm sure they'll fix.