GME MT620GR Personal Locator Beacon Review: Quiet, Reliable Backup when you need it

Australians love to get out and about. Even with winter in full swing, we’re out hiking, boating and more, but it can go wrong pretty quickly – that’s where a personal locator beacon can come in handy.

Australian company GME has been making UHF CB Radios and Emergency Beacon products here for over 60 years and that’s where their GME MT620GR Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) can help.

PLB’s operate where even your mobile won’t – and as the newly improved mobile coverage maps have highlighted, not everywhere you want to go will have service. 

A PLB connects to a satellite service and reports your location. The GME MT620GR also includes a Return Link Service (RLS) to confirm your signal reaches emergency services in the event you have to use it. 

This latest beacon also now uses Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) – which incorporates American GPS, the European Galileo, the Russian GLONASS, and the Chinese BeiDou – so if you need to set it off, it can find you. 

I recently bought a block of land and between gullys, wombat & rabbit burrows and minimal phone coverage I (and my Wife) thought I should take along a PLB just in case

I’ve been wandering over my block for a month with the GME MT620GR and it’s been pretty great. 

It’s got everything you need in the box. Manuals, details on how to register your PLB with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority who manages the Emergency service. It also has a sticker with your PLB details including the Serial#. 

The device itself is compact and feels pretty sturdy. It’s got an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, and it floats if you’re ever needing to use it around water.

It’s also so small it fits in almost any pocket of your pack without too much trouble.

The design is excellent. There’s a wraparound antenna which has a red tab that locks in place. When you release it, it flicks up to attention. It seems to be made from the same material as a measuring tape – a great design so it remembers its shape when unfurled to transmit your location.

When you release the antenna, it reveals the Test and Power buttons you need to either test or activate the beacon – with instructions attached on the rear for easy reference in an emergency.

While there’s not a lot more to say on the design – apart from how well it all just fits together. I do love that there’s a transparent window around so you can see the electronics inside. 

It has a 7-year battery life – which is re-assuring as the PLB itself has a 6-year warranty, so it’s designed to outlast even the warranty and the best part is: no ongoing service fees, it just works.

You can’t really ‘set’ it off to test it – it’s a safety device, so you hope you don’t need to ever really use it. You can however test it, with both Self Test and GNSS tests – and there’s an app that can help track it too.

The Accusat Connect app, available for iOS and Google Play will let you track your beacon tests. 

You can scan the PLB with your phone. There’s an NFC chip inside the MT620 GR which helps quickly connect to your PLB and tracks the Self Tests and GNSS tests performed.

Final Thoughts

If you’re doing anything outside where you may go outside of mobile coverage – you really should be getting a Personal Locator Beacon. 

There’s no doubt that PLBs work, and the GME MT620 GR is incredibly well built and ready to go. 

The IP68 dust/water-resistance and inherent buoyancy makes it great for taking anywhere, be it with you on your boat, or just making sure you have it in your pack or day-bag for your next hike or adventure. 

At 9, it offers peace of mind to both you, and your loved ones for when you go off the beaten track. It lasts for 7-years – in which time you’ll hopefully never have to use it, but if you do, it’s there and will work well.

You can find the GME MT620 GR over on their website.