🔍 Key Concepts

• Role of 406 MHz EPIRBs in the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system • What data is always encoded in a 406 MHz EPIRB transmission vs. what may be added later from a registration database • Difference between information encoded in the beacon signal and information looked up on shore (e.g., MMSI, vessel name)

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: What minimum information must the satellite and rescue centers get directly from the 406 MHz radio burst itself, even before any database lookup? • Which of these choices sounds like information that requires a shoreside registration database to interpret, rather than being sent over the air? • Think about the term “Hexadecimal I.D.” — what kind of thing is usually represented in hexadecimal in electronic systems?

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify which option reflects data that can be uniquely tied to a specific beacon, regardless of what vessel it is mounted on • Separate data that is explicitly transmitted by the beacon from information that is retrieved from registration records after the signal is received • Verify in current regulations and EPIRB manuals what is meant by the beacon’s unique identification code and how rescue authorities use it