Disposal, About the cospas-sarsat system – GME MT600GAUS User Manual
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I N S T R U C T I O N M A N UA L
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DISPOSAL
Special precautions must be taken when finally disposing of your beacon at the end of
its useful life. Legislation may determine the specific requirements which apply to you.
In the first instance contact your National Authority for advice. See page 17.
The following information may also be helpful:
•
To permanently disable the beacon, remove the 4 screws retaining the cover, open
unit, unplug battery lead, then reseal.
•
Lithium batteries are generally not considered to be hazardous waste when fully
discharged. Qualified personnel may be able to slowly and safely discharge the
cells for you.
DO NOT short circuit the cells or battery. DO NOT incinerate.
ABOUT THE COSPAS-SARSAT SYSTEM
The COSPAS-SARSAT system is a complete global search and rescue service using
geostationary and polar orbiting satellites. Many countries provide ground facilities
known as Local User Terminals (LUTs).
Polar orbiting satellites provide complete, although non-continuous, coverage of the
earth (due to the fact that these satellites can only view a portion of the earth at
any given time) and can accurately resolve an active beacon’s location. Additionally,
geostationary satellites can give an immediate alerting function in many regions of
the world.
The basic COSPAS-SARSAT concept is illustrated in the figure above.