Editing Emergency position-indicating radiobeacon (section)

== Personal Locator Beacon ==
[[File:Personal Locator Beacon.jpg|alt=A hiker clips her personal locator beacon onto her bag.|thumb|Personal Locator Beacons now include GPS, White and IR Strobe Lights and Return Link Service.]]
Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) are designed for use by individuals who are hiking, kayaking, or conducting other activities on land or water where they are not in or associated with an aircraft or vessel that is equipped with its own ELT or EPIRB. As with EPIRBs, the RTCM maintains specifications for PLB devices.

PLBs vary in size from cigarette-packet to paperback book and weigh 200 g to 1&nbsp;kg ({{frac|1|2}} to 2{{frac|1|5}} lb). They can be purchased from marine suppliers, aircraft refitters, and (in Australia and the United States) hiking supply stores. The units have a useful life of 10 years, operate across a range of conditions {{convert|-40|to|40|C|F|abbr=on}}, and transmit for 24 to 48 hours.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cospas-sarsat.com/DocumentsTSeries/T1Nov05.pdf |title=Specification for COSPAS-SARSAT 406 MHz Distress Beacons C/S T.001 Issue 3 - Revision 7 |publisher=cospas-sarsat.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060520003603/http://www.cospas-sarsat.com/DocumentsTSeries/T1Nov05.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 20, 2006|date=May 20, 2006}}</ref> [[File:COSPAS-SARSAT Locator Beacon Sweep Up.ogg|thumb|The radiotelephony locator beacon sound made by PLBs and some EPIRBs]]The alarm signal is defined as an AM signal (A3X and/or N0N emissions), containing a swept tone ranging from 300&nbsp;Hz to 1600&nbsp;Hz (upwards), with 2–4 sweeps per second. PLBs shall sweep upward.<ref name=":11"/><ref name=":12"/>

PLB alerts are passed to State and Local agencies.<ref name=":10"/>

They must be registered to a specific person (with NOAA in the U.S.).

PLB equipment is required to include 406&nbsp;MHz plus a homing frequency on 121.5&nbsp;MHz.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf08736.html|title=RSS-287—Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB), Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELT), Personal Locator Beacons (PLB), and Maritime Survivor Locator Devices (MSLD)|date=August 2001}}</ref>

As of 2017, PLBs must have an internal GPS.<ref name=":14">{{Cite web|url=http://www.made-simplefor-cruisers.com/2017%20FCC%20rules%20update.pdf|title=2017 FCC Marine Communications Rule Changes|access-date=2018-02-06|archive-date=2018-02-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207005804/http://www.made-simplefor-cruisers.com/2017%20FCC%20rules%20update.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===PLB sub-classification===
There are two kinds of personal locator beacon (PLB):
* PLB with GPS data (internally or externally provided)
* PLB with no GPS data

All PLBs transmit in digital mode on 406&nbsp;MHz. There are AIS PLBs that transmit on VHF 70.

Personal locator beacons operating on 406&nbsp;MHz must be [[#Registration|registered]]. PLBs should not be used in cases where normal emergency response (such as [[9-1-1]]) exists.

====Obsolete PLBs====
* U.S. Military forces at one time used 121.5/243.0&nbsp;MHz beacons such as the "PRC-106," which had a built-in VHF radio. The military is replacing them with modern 406&nbsp;MHz PLBs.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}