portable Beckers

[RiverAux]

Does anyone have any experience with the portable Becker DF units? 

The USCG has been buying them in certain areas for the Auxiliary.  Looks like a big backpack with a mast sticking up with a becker-type cylinder on top. 

[cap235629]

linky???

[Jerry Jacobs]

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS79858+01-Feb-2009+PRN20090201



What I found after some googling

[a2capt]

Dang ...

..and that thing just has "Expensive" written all over the look of that picture.

If the feline pounder costs $2,000... 

hey, but I bet this one is available. ;-)

[Jerry Jacobs]

You have to admit though, that thing is one cool toy.

[heliodoc]

Without looking at the dimensions

Looks like a PRC-77 radio carried around by  many a US Army soldier

And again without looking at the dimensions and weight......that would be FUUUN carrying around all that weight on top of the already weight laden CAP combat SAR type

It would be SAWEEET to see how many sign in CAP to carry that baby around IF CAP updates 

[Jerry Jacobs]

No need to update, if anything CAP needs to go to cheaper more effective DF units.

[Major Lord]

The Coast Guard has different DF'ing needs than CAP, since its probably safe to say that most of their missions are over water, where the physics of RDF is somewhat more predictable. ( yes, I know they have cliffs and coves, and giant squid,  but allow me to generalize a bit) They also have this cool thing called "funding", which we could probably use a bit more of. I may be in the minority when I suggest that terrestrial RDF tools (like the L-Per) are just about as good as they are going to get, and if I had a couple-million bucks to equip CAP with, I would spend it on airplanes with thermal imaging capabilities, and training. ( Of course, there is the Tigerstrike, which can DF anything and cure  swine flu, all the while dispensing cold beer, so maybe I generalize to widely) It would open us up for a lot of different types of missions. I know that for a GTL, this is kind of blasphemous. As far as carrying the PRC around, that's why we have cadets......

I went to the Becker website to try and find out more about the manpack unit, but no joy. I have to admit, that my internal -engineer lusts to take one apart and see what makes it tick......

Major Lord

[LTC Don]

Don't know about the backpack thingie above, but click on this link and take a look at slide/page 16: http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/BMW%202009_files/USCG%20SARSAT%20Report.pdf


Cheers

[cap235629]

I would love to see one of these!  Looks like it attached to an ALICE frame.

[heliodoc]

Good to see the USCG getting new equipment and probably some PROPER training on the item.

Sure CAP could get funding...called grants.  But before that could be done, someone in CAP would have to get REAAALLL serious and sit down with AF nad Congress.  I read about all these feel good things we do.  How about some REAL non feel good things like getting more leadership and I do not necessarily mean the NHQ types.  Not all them have the gumption for Beltway operations,

CAP could get a PAID grant writer by funneling funds from Vanguard ripoff bling and get moving on FEMA and DHS grants...they are out there.  More than once I seen it

Good Luck

[Major Lord]

Sure CAP could get funding...called grants.  But before that could be done, someone in CAP would have to get REAAALLL serious and sit down with AF nad Congress.  I read about all these feel good things we do.  How about some REAL non feel good things like getting more leadership and I do not necessarily mean the NHQ types.  Not all them have the gumption for Beltway operations,

Great plan, or , in the alternative, we could train and equip pigs to fly the missions for us! ( No offense intended, Robert!)

Major Lord

[RiverAux]

So, no one has used one?