Thanks guys, that's the kind of information I was looking for.
We had the Trenton SAR people at a COPA meeting, good people doing good work. I decided that night if these guys are going to come looking for me I would do my part and buy a 406 ELT. I will be backing it up with a PLB in my pocket.
I had not really looked at the Kannad, that does look like a nice unit.
Mark, do you care to elaborate on the problems you had with ARTEX? Perhaps off line?
Tailwinds, Terry.
Glad to hear you've decided to go with a 406 ELT, Terry.
As for ARTEX, I don't hide my experience from others, but rather choose to share it so others might avoid having a rotten experience as I had.
First, some background. In the early days of the ME406 product, it was not on the approved list for use in Canada. I took it upon myself to clear the bureaucratic logjam which was preventing approval of this ELT. ARTEX was aware that I did this for them (they had to be, since I was the one who emailed them both their Industry Canada and Transport Canada approvals!). All this was done because I was looking for a low-cost 406 ELT to install in my own airplane.
Fast forward a year and my nearly-new ME406 is in the shop for its annual recertification tests... which it failed. After a repair which cost over $250 I was back in business. Fast forward another 11 months and I've got the ME406 removed from the aircraft and sitting on nice plush carpet in my home, in a location where nobody can disturb it. Imagine my surprise when my son walks in the front door, sees the ELT and asks why the red light is on!!! Sure enough, it had failed again. This time it was going to be another $150 plus a new battery since I had no idea how long it had actually been transmitting while sitting inside my house (thankfully it appears it really hadn't been transmitting at all).
When I contacted ARTEX to see if they would help with the repair cost of this "repeat offender" ELT, they flatly said "it's out of warranty," and left me to my own devices. Then I contacted their marketing folks, the same ones who had received the Canadian approval certificates from me. We chatted for not more than two minutes when I was told, flat out, that the ME406 does not have a known issue with its G-switch - it was the G-switch which had failed in mine the second time. Then I made the mistake of suggesting the Australian's thought otherwise, and with enough conviction to have issued a mandatory Airworthiness Directive regarding ARTEX G-switches. That resulted in the phone being hung up by the friendly folks at ARTEX.
Not wishing to throw more good money after bad, I sold the ELT with full disclosure of its history, and at a price which didn't even pay for the repairs I had accomplished.
Since that time I have only installed Kannad ELT's, and none of them have exhibited any failures or faults. They've been rock solid. Likewise for Kannad as a company; I emailed them suggestions for improvements to their installation manual. They not only incorporated the suggestions but sent me a draft to ensure they had properly incorporated the information I had provided. They were friendly to deal with and treated me with respect, rather than the contempt I had been shown by ARTEX.
As a result of the above little bit of history, I now steer clear of ARTEX and recommend others do likewise. Their attitude toward customers is very similar to that of the now-defunct Ameri-King. Buyer beware.
