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If You Own a Kannad 406MHz ELT...


andyb

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I've had two related tasks regarding my Kannad 406MHz ELT, which up until now, I was unable to efficiently resolve.  My hope is that this will spare others the considerable effort I had to expend.

Battery Replacement

I recently noticed that my ELT battery had expired. I contacted Kannad, and they referred me to places in the US from which I could purchase a replacement battery.  The first on the list was Aircraft Spruce, and having an account a good experience there, I ordered it from them.  When it arrived, with many small electronic and structural parts, it was clear that it wasn't to be installed by the user.  I contacted some people on my home field, and no one would do it.  Kannad specifically said it had to be installed by a Kannad service center, and the locals said instructions weren't even available to them.  I got back in touch with Kannad, and they referred me to Mid-Continent in Kansas.  Normally they sell the battery and installation together.  Why Kannad would recommend a dealer that only sells the battery, and require it to be installed by another dealer, escapes me.  Mid-Continent was great, and was willing to do the installation with my battery at what I considered to be a very reasonable price.  That said, buying here and installing there is NOT the most efficient way to do this.  My suggestion is that if you need a new battery, the simplest and cheapest way to replace the battery is to purchase the battery and have it installed by Mid-Continent.

Registering the ELT

In the event of an accident, the ELT sends a signal to NOAA, and they contact both search/rescue and named emergency contacts.  Every 406 MHz ELT requires it to be registered with NOAA; this requires a 15-digit ID number.  Normally there is a sticker on the unit that provides this number.  Not on mine.  Whether this was supposed to have been supplied by Flight Design upon the installation, or by Kannad, I know not.  What I do know is that it wasn't there, and I therefore couldn't register it.  Therefore, in the event of the ELT activating, NOAA would know the presence and location of something distressed, but they wouldn't know who it was or even what to look for (airplane, hiker, etc.).   The ID was never provided with the extensive documentation I got with the plane, at least that I could find.  In my case, it required a Kannad service center (i.e. Mid-Continent) to reprogram the unit and generate a new ID.

 

For what it's worth, Mid-Continent was incredibly good to work with.  Importantly, they do 2-day turnaround and I felt reasonable prices.

Hope this helps.

Andy

 

 

 

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