UDF Teams    

                          

Urban Direction finding involves the use of specialized electronic direction finding (DF) equipment to locate Emergency Location Transmitters (ELTs) or Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs)

 

• ELTs are generally carried by light aircraft and gliders. They activate automatically during a crash landing, can be activated manually if the pilot is in distress. ELTs have been known to activate accidentally during a rough landing or if faulty.

• PLBs are carried by backcountry hikers, hunters and winter sports people. They can be activated by a person who may be lost, injured or in distress.

 

ELT/PLB signals are picked up via a satellite and CAP can be requested to deploy UDF and Search Teams to locate the beacon and its owner. http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/emerbcns.html

 

UDF teams are generally deployed in vehicles, but may be required to hike to locations as part of a Ground Search Team (see GTM description above)

 

UDF teams are normally commanded by a Ground Team Leader.