NYCkayaker New tricks-USCG

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To:               "Richard Hiscock" <rch at gmavt.net>
Subject:          New Coast Guard radio system pinpoints trouble
Date sent:        Tue, 8 Aug 2006 13:28:50 -0400

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Posted on Mon, Aug. 07, 2006

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New Coast Guard radio system pinpoints trouble

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - In a final transmission before their
20-foot boat capsized off Ocean City, Md., George Strawn and his
two fishing buddies sent Coast Guard rescuers three miles in the
wrong direction.

But Strawn, 74, and the others were saved when a Coast Guard
officer tried Rescue 21, a prototype maritime 911 system that can
pinpoint the source of a radio transmission to within a few feet.
November's rescue was the first for the $730 million system, which
is being installed at Coast Guard stations nationally.

The official rollout of Rescue 21 began this summer after five
years of delays and cost overruns. A Government Accounting Office
report said poor management pushed the system's cost to almost
three times the original estimate.

Rescue 21 is a network of computers and powerful radio towers
spread along coastal areas that can triangulate on a radio signal
and pinpoint its source. The system is designed to zero in on a
1-watt radio two feet off the water at a range of 20 miles
offshore, said Capt. Dan Abel, Rescue 21's project manager. He said
a typical 5-watt radio extends the range up to 100 miles.

Rescue 21 is now in use in New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and
Virginia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. The Coast
Guard plans to activate the first Pacific station in Seattle in
September.

C 2006 The Sun Herald and wire service sources.
http://www.sunherald.com 

Forwarded by C. Sutherland