From the AEGIS e-Journal, Volume 11 Number 4, April 2008
MicroPLB™, Type GX Microwave Monolithics $898 http://www.micro-mono.com/ After a long wait, Microwave Monolithics’ personal locator beacons (PLBs) are being offered for sale to the general public. We bought ours before they were available to the general public, and thought they were a bargain at roughly $1,500. At $898 (other brand PLBs sell on eBay for between $500 and $650) they become affordable to all who might need them. The first question is who should have a PLB? The answer is anyone who might get in trouble in an inaccessible place. (We don’t really need one in Manhattan.) It is obvious that when we are driving through the hills along the Great Silk Road in Central Asia, if we go off the road it is unlikely that we will be found. Ever! It is equally obvious that if you are a mountain climber, or a hiker, or a skier who goes off trail, or driving through the desert in the American Southwest, or anywhere that you could be trapped with nobody around, you are at risk and should have one. The second question is why the MicroPLB™, Type GX? What makes this PLB worth the extra money? The answer is that it is a professional piece of equipment, and while we hope we never need to use ours, we are fully confident in its ability. For a start, it is so small that we can stick it in our pocket. The GX version, which has built-in GPS, measures 1.1″ x 2.4″ x
ÆGIS, April 2008 7 5.9″ and weighs about 10 ounces. The batteries, by the bye, are DOT approved, so there is no problem taking it on a commercial aircraft. At the end of its five-year service life, the batteries on the GX, should work for 48 hours minimum at an operating temperature range of ¯20°C to +55°C. There is no warm-up time with this device, so the first burst comes rather quickly. Which brings up an interesting issue: If a PLB has not been activated for some time – somewhere between many months to years – the internal GPS almanac can become obsolete. So while it will work, the GPS receiver might be slow in acquiring its coordinates, taking up to twenty minutes to update itself. The MicroPLB™, Type GX, has a feature to allow you to update the internal almanac, which we do before taking any major trip. This helps assure that the exact coordinates go out on the first burst of the device. Adding to the value is the fact that each unit is fully burned in, and individually tested throughout the entire temperature range. Finally, three actual burst are transmitted inside a Faraday cage, recorded, and archived. When this baby goes in your pocked you have a strong feeling that it is ready to go! We consider the MicroPLB™, Type GX, to be a must-have device, and don’t go on trips without one in our pocket. If you travel outside high- density population areas you should have one with you, too. As a courtesy to our subscribers, Microwave Monolithics Incorporated has offered a special courtesy rebate of $25.00, valid through July 31, 2008. When you order the MicroPLB™, Type GX, to partake in this special event you will need to click optional message (a box will appear) and enter the phrase “AEGIS rebate” in that box just before finalizing the transaction (pay now). The $25.00 rebate will be credited back to your charge card within a few days. 7. Subscription/Unsubscription/Copyright Information •• ÆGIS is supported and maintained by voluntary efforts. This publication is owned, published, and copyright © 2008 by The LUBRINCO Group Ltd, Inc. and Financial Examinations and Evaluations, Inc. It is edited jointly by Richard Isaacs (RBIsaacs@lubrinco.com), L. Burke Files (LBFiles@feeinc.com), and Terry Philips (TPhillips@aegisjournal.com). LUBRINCO provides services in three high-threat areas, too specialized to be dealt-with in-house, that can adversely affect domestic and international bottom lines.
ÆGIS, April 2008 8 • Identification, valuation, and protection of intellectual assets and critical information. • American businesses lose $300 billion in revenues annually to competitive intelligence, economic espionage, inappropriate disclosure, and information theft. • LUBRINCO provides private sector consulting access to OPSEC, the government-standard process for identification, valuation, and protection of intellectual property and critical information. • Implementing an OPSEC program is likely to increase revenues for an at-risk operating group by $75 million. • International asset location and due diligence. o Location of concealed assets in fraud, theft, and divorce. o Due diligence to prevent fraud and loss in China, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the offshore financial centers, Latin America, and the Caribbean. o Financial fraud, anti-money laundering, and anti-corruption program development and training. • Protection of management, staff, and families. o In the high-threat environments of Latin America, Africa, the Mid- East, and Southeast Asia. o When traveling and living overseas. o When transporting items of substantial value. LUBRINCO identifies and quantifies threats and vulnerabilities, and their associated risk, then manages the vulnerabilities so you can transfer or live with the residual risk. We prevent disastrous financial loss to your company, and physical harm to you, your family, and your staff. For information on LUBRINCO and its services, or for the archive of all past issues of ÆGIS in PDF format, please go to http://www.aegisjournal.com/. Subscription to ÆGIS is available for $15 per year in North America and $20 per year outside of North America. To sign up for a complimentary subscription to ÆGIS or the ÆGIS PDF notification list, send an email to subscribe@aegisjournal.com. To subscribe to our AvantGo channel, go to http://avantgo.com/channels/_add_channel.pl?cha_id=1773
ÆGIS, April 2008 9 To be removed from the subscription list, send an e-mail to unsubscribe@aegisjournal.com. If you know of anyone else who should be receiving ÆGIS, please send their e-mail address to subscribe@aegisjournal.com. If there is a topic that you would like to know more about, send it to editor@aegisjournal.com and the editors will consider it as the topic for an article in an upcoming issue. If you would like to submit an article for publication in ÆGIS, send it as an attachment to an e-mail to editor@aegisjournal.com. Submission of an article certifies that (a) all information in the article is in the public record, or (b) that you are authorized to release any personal or corporate proprietary information contained in the article, and (c) that none of the article has previously been copyrighted. The submission of materials for publication in ÆGIS constitutes a license to LUBRINCO, and/or Financial Examinations and Evaluations, Inc, their assigns, associates, or affiliates, to abridge and/or edit said submission, and to copyright and publish/republish any submitted materials in whatever written and/or electronic form they may choose. If you would like to go beyond normal fair-use in reproducing articles from this issue of ÆGIS, you may do so freely as long as appropriate source, copyright, accreditation, and link to the ÆGIS Web site is included. This should be in the form
Article Title, from the April 2008 ÆGIS (© 2008 LUBRINCO and FE&E), to be found at http://www.aegisjournal.com/. ÆGIS is a forum for the exchange of information, ideas, operating styles, theories, and related topics for corporate managers who make decisions about threats typically outside the expertise available in-house, yet which have the potential to affect their company’s domestic and international bottom lines. Nothing appearing in ÆGIS should be construed as legal advice. The information provided is “general information,” not “specific advice.” The solution to any problem is highly dependent upon the precise facts involved. Thus, before making any reliance upon anything said here, you should consult with an appropriately skilled professional. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher, and may be presented to encourage a dialogue among subscribers. The publisher and any re-publisher cannot be held responsible for any loss incurred as a result of the application of any information published in ÆGIS. Please be safe, and be smart.