Why was the decision made to phase-out 121.5 MHz satellite alerting?
The search and rescue community recommended phasing out 121.5 MHz satellite alerting because: • Responding to the tremendous number of 121.5 MHz false alerts (most of which originate from non-beacon sources) relayed by satellites is not efficient, and needlessly expends limited resources, or diverts resources from real incidents (there were an average of 120,000 false alerts per year over the past three years in the United States alone) • Identification information is not available which means a launch of resources is usually necessary to resolve the incident. • The 406 MHz system, which was designed for relay through satellites, is operational and provides increased reliability, identification information, better location accuracy, a global capability, and quicker alerting through the geostationary satellite system. The following table shows the difference between the 121.
The search and rescue community recommended phasing out 121.5 MHz satellite alerting because: • Responding to the tremendous number of 121.5 MHz false alerts (most of which originate from non-beacon sources) relayed by satellites is not efficient, and needlessly expends limited resources, or diverts resources from real incidents (there were an average of 120,000 false alerts per year over the past three years in the United States alone) • Identification information is not available which means a launch of resources is usually necessary to resolve the incident. • The 406 MHz system, which was designed for relay through satellites, is operational and provides increased reliability, identification information, better location accuracy, a global capability, and quicker alerting through the geostationary satellite system. The following table shows the difference between the 121.
