PUBLIC NOTICE
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
DA 09-1415
Released:   June 25, 2009
WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUREAU CLARIFIES THAT CERTAIN 121.5 MHz 
DEVICES ARE PERMITTED DESPITE TERMINATION OF SATELLITE PROCESSING OF 
121.5 MHz DISTRESS SIGNALS
Emergency position-indicating radio beacons (EPIRBs) operating on frequency 121.5 MHz are 
no longer “heard” by search and rescue satellites as of February 1, 2009, because of a decision by the 
international organization overseeing the satellite-based search and rescue system to terminate satellite
processing of 121.5 MHz distress signals as of that date.1 When the Commission prohibited the continued 
use of 121.5 MHz EPIRBs on U.S.-registered vessels, however, it stated that it would permit the 
continued manufacture and use of 121.5 MHz man-overboard devices and homing transmitters for which 
waivers of the EPIRB technical rules had been granted.2 Such devices do not rely on satellite detection, 
so their usefulness is not affected by the phase-out of satellite monitoring.  
Waivers of the EPIRB technical rules were granted for the following 121.5 MHz devices:
Manufacturer FCC Identification Number(s)
Marine Rescue Technologies Ltd.
(formerly Sea Marshall Rescue 
Systems Ltd.)
NWGSMRS8
BriarTek Incorporated QJYORCA, QJYORCA13
ACR, Incorporated B668ACR-RLB30
McMurdo Limited KLS-88-100
For further information, consult the manufacturers noted above or contact Mr. Jim Shaffer, 
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Mobility Division, at (202) 418-0687, TTY (202) 414-1255, email 
James.Shaffer@fcc.gov.
-FCC-
  
1 See Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Reminds Aviators and Mariners that Satellite Monitoring of 121.5 MHz 
Alerts Will End February 1, 2009, Public Notice, 24 FCC Rcd 149, 149 (WTB 2009).
2 See Amendment of Parts 13 and 80 of the Commission’s Rules Concerning Maritime Communications, Report and 
Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, WT Docket No. 00-48, 17 FCC Rcd 6741, 6761-62 ¶ 47 
(2002).
3 BriarTek also was granted a request for waiver to manufacture a beacon that adds the Digital Select Calling 
transmitting frequency 156.525 MHz to its previously approved 121.5 MHz homing device, but has not applied to 
the Commission for certification at this time.  See BriarTek Incorporated, Order, 21 FCC Rcd 11979 (WTB MD 
2006)