Standard Self Tests as recommended by beacon manufacturers and SAR authorities check the internal operation of the beacon and provides a local indication of pass or fail. A SafeLife Systems Through Satellite Self Test checks if the signal emitted by your beacon during a Standard Self Test was detected by the Cospas-Sarsat search and rescue satellites and SafeLife Systems ground stations, thus providing a complete test of the system from end to end.

Normal Cospas-Sarsat ground stations ignore Self Test messages, but the SafeLife Systems ground stations have been specially adapted to receive these Self Test messages so that we can provide you with this ultimate level of confidence in the operation of your beacon in an emergency.

Assuming that your beacon transmits a message during the Self Test then you can use the SafeLife Systems Through Satellite Self Test. If your beacon transmits a message during its Self Test and it is detected by the SafeLife Systems ground stations, the message will be decoded in the same way that a real message would be to provide the same information that would be provided to the rescue services in the case of an emergency.

Specifically we are able to determine and provide the following information:

• Confirmation of whether or not, your beacon would be detected by the satellites used by the International Search and Rescue network
• The encoded beacon information (15 HEX ID, Country Code, Beacon Type and Programmed Identity) for your verification / records.

If you have a GPS Beacon that can perform a GPS Self Test then we can also provide the encoded location transmitted as a part of the Beacon message and an email and/or SMS* acknowledgement that the Self Test message was received.

SafeLife Systems Through Satellite Self Test advantages:

• Confidence that your beacon can transmit a signal that can be picked up by the satellites
• Confidence that your beacon transmits a signal that can be recognized and decoded by the ground stations
• Confidence that the details programmed into your beacon are correct, thus helping to speed up any rescue should one be necessary at some point in the future
• Overall confidence in the complete system from end to end in case of an emergency
• If your Beacon is fitted with a GPS Self Test then confidence that the GPS Receiver is working correctly and that the beacon correctly encodes your location into the transmitted message and that it is received and decoded correctly

Please note that some older models of Beacons do not transmit a 406MHz self test burst, so they cannot be tested in this way. In addition some current models of Beacon incorporate features (e.g. a rolled up one time only use antenna) that reduce their radiated power output during a Self Test and therefore these beacons do not transmit a signal that is strong enough to reach the satellites (Note when the antenna is correctly erected these Beacons radiate at full power the same as any other Beacon).

Note : *SMS text service is only available in N. America