Product of the Week- Raymarine's Life Tag

by SAil-World Cruising on 31 Dec 2007 Raymarine LifeTag is your personal wireless man overboard system. Utilizing the very latest in radio frequency broadcast technology, LifeTag monitors up to 16 tagged crew members ensuring they are safe and sound onboard. Each LifeTag pendant broadcasts a unique identification code back to the LifeTag base station, telling it that its wearer is 'safe.'

In the event of man overboard, the link between the victim's pendant and the LifeTag base station is broken and the alarm is raised automatically onboard the boat. The lightweight LifeTag pendant can be easily attached to your life jacket, PFD, safety harness or belt. Its featherweight (1.5 ounces) and compact size make it unobtrusive and easy to wear. LifeTag's state-of-the-art electronics ensure a long battery life in excess of 2000 hours.

In the event of an actual man overboard situation, the victim's LifeTag signal is rapidly degraded by immersion in water, or as the distance between the victim and boat increase (typically 30 feet.) The LifeTag base station responds automatically by sounding an audible alarm onboard to roust other crew members. Each LifeTag is also fitted with a manual activation button. Pressing and holding the button for three seconds will manually trigger the system. This enables crew members to call for assistance in case of fire, flooding, medical emergency or other situations where an immediate response is needed.

LifeTag can trigger the automatic man overboard in Raymarine SeaTalk compatible chartplotters, radars and instruments. SeaTalk network integration triggers vital actions automatically such as:

* Sounding the SeaTalk network MOB alarm, providing audible and visual alerts to all stations.
* Recording the GPS latitude/longitude of the MOB event, and making it the target waypoint on all connected SeaTalk devices
* Displaying critical search and rescue (SAR) data
* Lowering the range scale on connected Raymarine chartplotter and radar displays to the lowest possible range scale, enhancing seeing the victim on radar and facilitating maneuvering to recover the victim.

Thanks to LifeTag's SeaTalk network integration, the system is expandable to support larger vessels or crews in excess of 16 people. Simply add another LifeTag base station (part number A18130) where you need additional converage, and add up to 16 additional LifeTag pendants.

The LifeTag Wireless MOB System includes 2 LifeTag Wireless pendants, a Lifetag base station, batteries, straps, external alarm module, power cable and handbook. Additional pendants are avaible seperately (part number E15026.)

For more information, go to the Raymarine website.