| Term | Detail |
| 121.5 MHz | An analog radio frequency exclusively used for transmission of distress signals; Sends homing signals. |
| 15 CFR | The CFR pertaining to Commerce and Foreign Trade |
| 406 MHz | A digitally encoded radio frequency exclusively used for transmitting distress signals |
| 46 CFR | The CFR pertaining to Shipping |
| 47 CFR | The CFR pertaining to Telecommunication |
| ACR- treuse™ | A specific and unique shade of high visibility yellow with a green cast. Used exclusively by ACR. |
| AIS | Automatic Identification System |
| AMSA | Australian Maritime Safety Authority |
| Automatic Activation | The ability of an EPIRB to turn itself on upon contact with water. |
| Automatic Deployment | The ability of an EPIRB to release itself from bracket via the HydroFix™ hydrostatic release unit (HRU) after being submerged. (Category I) |
| Black Box | A device that is under-mounted, and/or below deck, and/or requires no user interaction, and/or a closed system, etc. |
| BRC | Battery Replacement Center. An authorized ACR Service Center that can test and replace EPIRB batteries and reprogram 406 MHz EPIRB's UIN. |
| CAP | Civil Air Patrol: A voluntary organization performing emergency services, as assisting the U.S. Air Force on search missions, and offering aerospace-education and youth programs: founded 1941. |
| COB | Crew-Overboard |
| GMDSS | Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. Minimum safety standards agreed to by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). |
| LUT | Local User Terminal. The initial ground receiving station that picks up beacon signals from LEOSAR and GEOSAR and forwards them to the Mission Control Center. It also calculates the location
of the signal by precisely measuring the Doppler shift. |
| MCC | Mission Control Center. The location that gathers satellite information from the LUT, verifies user registration information to determine if the signal may be a false alarm, then issues an alert to the appropriate Rescue Coordination Center (RCC). |
| MED | Marine Equipment Directive. European approval for equipment that conforms to IMO/SOLAS requirements. |
| R&TTE | Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment. European approval for equipment that conforms to CE requirements. |
| RCC | Rescue Coordination Center. The location that deploys and directs search and rescue (SAR) personnel. |
| RDF | Radio Direction Finder |
| SART | Search And Rescue Transponder. This device amplifies a radar’s signal and returns it with an enhanced signature on the radar’s screen that consists of a line of 12 “blips” on the range lines of the screen, designed to get the attention of the operator. |
| SOLAS | Safety Of Life At Sea. Minimum safety standards agreed to by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). |
| Strobe | Intense, conspicuous pulsing light for enhanced location in poor visibility conditions. |
| UIN | Unique Identifier Number. Programmed into 406 MHz EPIRBs that is transmitted by the EPIRB in an emergency. |
| USCG | United States Coast Guard. The US marine SAR response and equipment approval agency. Regulates carriage of radios on most commercial vessels, foreign vessels in US waters, survival craft and vessels subject to the Bridge-to-bridge Act and operating in a Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) area. |
| Water Sensor Activation | The EPIRB will turn on when out of the bracket and it comes in contact with water. |
| Category | The type of EPIRB deployment used, i.e., Category I = automatic and Category II = manual |
| Category I EPIRB | Type of 406MHz EPIRB that will automatically deploy and activate when in contact with water. Unit can be manually activated while in its bracket or manually deployed and activated. |
| Category II EPIRB | Type of 406MHz EPIRB that is manually deployed. Unit will automatically activate when in contact with water and not in its bracket. |
| CCS | China Classification Society |
| Cd | Adopted in 1979 as the international standard of luminous intensity. |
| CEN | The Comité Européen de Normalisation, or the European Committee for Standardization |
| CENELEC | The Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique, or the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization. CENELEC is responsible for European Standardization in the area of electrical engineering. Together with ETSI (telecommunication) and CEN (other technical areas) CENELEC form the European system for technical standardization. |
| CFR | Federal Code of Regulations. The codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations (sometimes called administrative law) published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government of the United States. The CFR is published by the Office of the Federal Register, an agency of the National Archives and Records Administration. |
| Channel 6 | 87.5-87.9 MHz: A radio frequency which, in most of the world, is used for FM broadcasting. In North America, however, this bandwidth is allocated to VHF television channel 6 (82-88MHz). The audio for TV channel 6 is broadcast at 87.75 MHz. |
| Channel 9 | 156.450MHz: Boater calling, commercial and non-commercial |
| Channel 16 | 156.8MHz: A standard international frequency known as a channel, and is designated as the calling and emergency channel. |
| Channel 70 | See “DSC” |
| “Chinese RoHS” | The standards published by China regarding pollution control of electronic devices and packaging recycling marks, specifically, SJ/T11364-2006, GB 18455-2001 |
| Class | The cold tolerance rating, i.e., Class 1 = extreme cold, Class 2 = temperate cold |
| Class 1 beacon | A beacon that is rated for extreme cold. All 406 beacons with HAZMAT batteries are Class 1. |
| Class 2 beacon | A beacon that is rated for operation in more temperate climates. All 406 beacons with non-Hazmat batteries are Class 2. |
| Class 3 beacon | Beacon developed to the Australian standard. A manually activated, non float free beacon qualified to be used at -20° to +55°C; Primarily intended for use by non-SOLAS vessels. |
| Class B beacon | A now-obsolete beacon that transmitted on 121.5 MHz and 243.0 MHz. This beacon is not capable to transmitting vessel identification information i.e. It has no memory to program with an identity. |
| Cospas-Sarsat | An international satellite-based search and rescue (SAR) distress alert detection and information distribution system, established and supported by Canada, France, the United States, and the former Soviet Union in 1979. The system consists of both a ground segment and a space segment. |
| DF | Direction Finder. A device capable of monitoring and finding beacons transmitting on the 121.5 MHz emergency frequency. |
| DF’ing | Jargon: Performing the activity of direction finding a beacon that is transmitting the emergency signal. |
| Doppler shift, Doppler effect | The shift in frequency of acoustic or electromagnetic radiation emitted by a source moving relative to an observer as perceived by the observer: the shift is to higher frequencies when the source approaches and to lower frequencies when it recedes. |
| DSC | Channel 70; Digital Selective Calling, part of the IMO/GMDSS system |
| Duplex | The majority of VHF channels: Allocated transmission channels where communication can take place in both directions simultaneously. Each duplex channel has two frequency assignments. |
| EPIRB | Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. A 406MHz EPIRB broadcasts on that frequency and is capable of transmitting a Unique Identifier Number (UIN) identifying the carrying vessel. |
| ETSI, ETS | European Telecommunications Standards Institute |
| FCC | Federal Communications Commission. A US government agency responsible for regulating products which make use of the frequency spectrum allocated in the United States. Also regulates all sales, marketing and use of radios in the US, including those onboard any recreational, commercial, state and local government, and foreign vessels in US territorial waters. |
| Field programmable | A 406 MHz beacon of which the digital Unique Identifier Number (UIN) can be reprogrammed by selected BRCs worldwide when sold into different countries. |
| Firmware | Computer programming instructions that are stored in a read-only memory unit rather than being implemented through software. |
| Floats upright | The EPIRB will float with the antenna in a vertical position, completely out of the water. (Units transmit most effectively in this position.) |
| FPR | Field programmer reader: Used to test and/or reprogram beacons. |
| Full functional Self-test | This feature, found on all ACR beacons, tests the battery for voltage, creates a test message, sends the message, fires the strobe (if present on the product) and conducts a circuitry test. |
| GEOSAR | Geostationary high earth orbiting satellites that receive 406 MHz signals nearly instantaneously. Position of the user is provided by a GPS-enabled beacon. |
| GPS | Global Positioning System: A system of satellites, computers, and receivers that is able to determine the latitude and longitude of a receiver on Earth by calculating the time difference for signals from different satellites to reach the receiver. |
| GPS interface | The ability for a beacon to receive positional data from an external GPS source to transmit along with the distress signal. |
| GPS, integral | The GPS functionality built into a beacon |
| GPS, internal | The GPS functionality built into a beacon |
| GUI | Graphical user interface (also see UI): A user interface based on graphics (icons and pictures and menus) instead of text; uses a mouse as well as a keyboard as an input device. |
| HRU | The HydroFix™ hydrostatic release unit. A device which senses water pressure and allows an EPIRB to be released from its bracket. |
| IEC | International Electrotechnical Commission |
| IC | Industry Canada. Canadian government approval for products transmitting over the airwaves. |
| ILS | In-line speaker. An EPIRB equipped with a speaker that emits an audible warble to confirm activation and transmission of a distress signal or to notify of accidental activation. |
| IMO | International Maritime Organization. Regulates the outfitting and operation of most vessels engaged on international voyages, except warships. |
| IP rating | Ingress Protection rating. Normally expressed as “IP(number)(number)”. The first number refers to level of protection from dust and the second number refers to level of protection from water. |
| ITU | International Telecommunication Union. Regulates all use of radio spectrum by any person or vessel outside US waters. |
| JIS | Japanese Industrial Standards |
| Lanyard | Any of a variety of small cords or ropes for securing or suspending something, such as a whistle about the neck or a knife from one's belt. |
| LEOSAR | Low earth orbiting satellite that receives signals from beacons, records their Doppler shift data and sends the data to a Local User Terminal (LUT). |
| Location protocol beacons | A beacon that is able to determine its own location via an onboard GPS or an interface to an independent GPS. GPS location data is sent along with the distress message. |
| LORAN | A terrestrial LOng RAnge Navigation: A long-range navigational system in which position is determined by an analysis involving the time intervals between pulsed radio signals from two or more pairs of ground stations of known position. |
| Manual activation | The beacon must be turned on by the user in an emergency. |
| Manual deployment | The act of releasing an EPIRB from its bracket by hand. |
| MLO | The cost to manufacture a product, made up of materials costs, labor costs and overhead cost (a.k.a., Standard cost) |
| MMSI | Maritime Mobile Service Identity |
| MOB | Man overboard |
| NMEA | National Marine Electronics Association |
| NMEA 0183 | The standardized protocol for data transmission developed by the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) that governs the type and sequence of information shared by navigational equipment. |
| NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The United States government agency that, among other things, manages the USA’s beacon registration database, SARSAT program and serves as a nodal MCC. |
| OS | Operating system: The collection of software that directs a computer's operations, controlling and scheduling the execution of other programs, and managing storage, input/output, and communication resources. |
| NTIA | National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Regulates all use of radios onboard any federal government vessel, including military. |
| PFD | Personal Flotation Device, including life jackets, buoyant vests, flotation aids, throw-able devices. |
| PLB | Personal Locator Beacon: For land, marine and aviation use. |
| RMRS | Russion Maritime Register of Shipping |
| RoHS | European Directive 2002/95/EC on the Restriction of the Use of certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment. |
| RoRo | A marine market segment, particularly in Europe, consisting of ferry services to the public. A “roll on, roll off” service, i.e., RoRo |
| RTCM | The Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM): An international standards organization. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Coast Guard use RTCM standards to specify radar systems, Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons, and the basic version of Digital Selective Calling radios. |
| S.A.M.E. | Specific Area Message Encoding, localized weather |
| SAR | Search And Rescue. Emergency response forces that could be funded by federal, state municipal or private agencies. |
| SBM | Shore based maintenance |
| Self locating beacon | A beacon that has a GPS engine onboard and transmits GPS coordinates as part of its emergency message. |
| Simplex | Single- frequency VHF operation. Normally indicated by an “A” after the channel number, communication can only take place in one direction at a time. A transmit button on the set or microphone determines whether it is operating as a transmitter or a receiver. |
| Spray-resistant, Splash-resistant | The ability of a piece of equipment to continue functioning if it comes into contact with water but is not immersed. Sometimes called Water-resistant |
| UI | User interface: Term is usually applied to end user software |
| Use case | In software engineering and systems engineering, a description of a system’s behavior as it responds to a request that originates from outside of that system. The use case technique is used to capture the functional requirements of a system6. |
| Useful Life Policy | ACR’s policy regarding the service life of a product in the field. |
| VHF | Very high frequency: A band of radio frequencies falling between 30 and 300 megahertz. |
| VTS | Vessel Traffic System |
| Waterproof | The ability of a piece of equipment to prohibit water penetration of its exterior case or housing for a period of time. Often rated as the ability to continue to remain functional despite complete immersion to a specified depth. |
| Water-resistant | The ability of a piece of equipment to continue functioning if it comes into contact with water but is not immersed. Sometimes called Spray or Splash-resistant |
| WEEE | European Directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive |
| Wet sense | See water sensor activation |