Biggles wrote:Keep your phone for emergency use when walking rather than drain the battery with a GPS app.
Biggles wrote: Make sure with a PLB you don't leave it around where it can be tampered with or activated. The AMSA issues huge fines for either accidental or deliberately false beacon activations (becaons should also never be tested as this reduces their battery life).
Biggles wrote: (becaons should also never be tested as this reduces their battery life).
Warin wrote:Biggles wrote: (beacons should also never be tested as this reduces their battery life).
. . . There is a very slight reduction in battery life . . .
peregrinator wrote:Warin wrote:Biggles wrote: (beacons should also never be tested as this reduces their battery life).
. . . There is a very slight reduction in battery life . . .
Warin, I have had a now expired PLB, then replaced it with a half-expired current one. I've tested each of them only once, when they were new. Why? Because although I have read that, as you say, testing can cause a slight reduction in battery longevity, manufacturers do not quantify that loss in any meaningful way. Can you help us understand this issue? I.e., how 'slight' is 'slight'?
tom_brennan wrote:A PLB up to its expiry date has to be able to transmit for 24 hours.
Let's say your test lasts for about - pulling a number our of the air - 30 seconds.
Assuming the test uses the same battery as in use, that would be about a 0.03% reduction in battery life... So use the test button.
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