BriarTek ORCA Users Manual

ORCA

™

O

VERBOARD

R

ECOVERY

C

User’s Guide

Briar

Briar

TM

TM

Tek

Tek

Applied Innovations

Applied Innovations

OMMUNICATIONS

Incorporated

Incorporated

A

PPARATUS

If you have any questions or need

technical support contact:

Alexandria, Virginia 22301

Telephone: [phone] Extension 205

Email: [e-mail]

Technical Support
BriarTek Incorporated
112 East Del Ray Ave

™

ORCA

User’s Guide

March 2002

BriarTek Inc.

112 E. Del Ray

Suite A

Alexandria, VA 22301

ORCATM (Overboard Recovery Communications Apparatus) is a personal wa­ter-activated man overboard (MOB) alarm system developed by BriarTek Inc.
The alarm system includes a signal device transmitter (TX100-base model), a
receiving station (RX100-base model), and an optional direction finder (RDF).

TM

ORCA
come separated from the safety of their vessel, and thus exposed to the harsh
elements of the sea. When the alarm is activated, ORCA

aids in the detection, location and recovery of individuals who be-

TM

transmits an initial
FM message from the victim to the victim's shipboard receiver. The onboard
alarm sounds upon receipt of a valid message. If the wearer of the transmitter
does not disable the alarm within one (1) minute, the ORCA

TM

will begin
transmitting an AM alerting signal that can be received by standard SAR
equipment including most types of RDFs. The ID data will be rebroadcast on
average every minute.

ORCA thus allows for a locally managed MOB situation ensuring that a victim
is recovered quickly so as to minimize effects of exposure. Search and rescue
(SAR) assets outfitted with direction finding equipment are capable of homing
in on the 121.5 MHz emergency frequency to aid in a recovery effort.

TM

ORCA

Special Features:

Capable of communicating with rescue authorities and other ships

•

in the immediate area.

Uses patented technology to communicate with the ship in an emer-

•

gency.

•

•

Provides unique identification.

The RX100 can be used to determine how many sailors are in the
water and in need of rescue.

Enables the user to signal “All Clear” to all receivers in the event of

•

an inadvertent activation

The TX100 has very low current consumption for longer battery

•

life.

• The TX100 uses standard 9 volt alkaline batteries.

.

WARRANTY INFORMATION

WARRANTY INFORMATION

Please detach and complete the following warranty information and mail
to BriarTek Inc. at the address listed below. This updates our owner re­cords and places you on our private mailing list for updated product and
service information.

User Name __________________________________________

User Address ________________________________________

City/State/ZIP _______________________________________

User Affiliation (U.S. Navy, Coast
Guard, comm. boating, etc…) __________________________

Model #: _________________ Serial #: _________________

BriarTek Incorporated
112 East Del Ray Ave

Alexandria, Virginia 22301

1

14

BriarTek Inc. guarantees each product it distributes to be free from de­fective materials and workmanship and agrees to remedy any such de­fect, or to furnish a new or equal part in exchange (at its option) for a
period of one year from the date of purchase. For an exchange of the
product, carefully pack the equipment and return to BriarTek Inc. at the
following address:

This warranty is void if equipment has been subject to misuse, improper
installation by a non-BriarTek employee or designee, or has been re­paired or altered by a non-BriarTek employee or designee.

WARRANTY

BriarTek Inc.

112 E. Del Ray Ave

Suite A

Alexandria, VA 22301

FACTORY REPAIR

For repairs not covered by the warranty, or for repairs after the warranty
expires, the factory offers repair service for a nominal charge. For ser­vice, carefully pack the equipment and return to BriarTek Inc. at the ad­dress listed above. Please include a description of the problem as well
as your name, address and telephone number along with the package.

T

RANSMITTER OPERATION

Parts Overview -

A. Manual Activation/Test Button (ON)­ Depress for test purposes to
confirm the operability of
ORCA
B. Reset Button (OFF) - Depress to reset

to ‘Armed Mode’.
C. Water Sensors - Detects the
presence of water in a man
overboard situation. Keep
clear of debris!
D. LED/Antenna - Flashing LED
confirms the transmission of
emergency signal during a man
overboard situation or during
operational testing.

Activation
(all ORCA
stalled). This will automatically arm ORCA
overboard situation or by depressing the ON button for manual activation or
operational tests. Once activated, the LED will begin blinking to indicate it is
transmitting an emergency signal. The emergency signal contains identifica­tion data tones to be decoded by the matching receiver, in addition to an ex­tended RDF transmission to aid in the location and recovery of the sailor over­board.

Once the device is activated, the LED will flash on and off for approximately
10 seconds. Once the unit begins to transmit an alert it will turn on and stay on
for at least a minute as the unit transmits the alert and ID code to the receiver
using FM mode. Once the ID codes have been sent the unit will transmit an
audible tone in AM mode to allow RDF equipment an opportunity to locate the
device. When the unit is transmitting in AM mode the LED will flash, and
when the unit is transmitting in FM mode the LED will remain illuminated.

™

TX 100.

™

ORCA

from ‘Transmit Mode’

- Insert an alkaline 9-volt battery into the rear panel of ORCA

TM

TX100s are shipped from the factory with new batteries in-

See Figure 1.

D

A

C

B

Figure 1. ORCA TM TX100

TM

until activated through a man

13

2

Deactivation - The OFF button should generally be used if the transmitter was
unintentionally activated. DO NOT DEPRESS THE OFF BUTTON IF YOU
HAVE FALLEN IN THE WATER. To deactivate ORCA

TM

, simply depress
the OFF button for approximately one second. Continue depressing the OFF
button until the LED powers off.

NOTE - Deactivation resets ORCA

TM

to its armed mode until activated to

transmit again or until the user removes the battery

Low Battery Indicator

- The ORCA

TM

is equipped with an internal low battery
indicator circuit. To determine if the battery needs to be replaced follow these
steps.

1. Activate the unit by depressing the ON
button

2. As soon as the LED begins to flash
depress and hold the OFF button

3. If the LED turns on and remains on for
10 seconds prior to unit shut off, the
battery is still useable. If however the
LED flashes on and off prior to
shutting down, the battery should be
replaced.

Battery Replacement
head screwdriver, unscrew the two battery
door screws on the rear panel of ORCA

- Using a small Phillips

TM

. Be
careful not to lose battery door gasket and
screws when replacing battery. Open battery
door and remove used battery by holding
battery connector and disconnecting battery.
See figure 2. Caution: Applying excessive force
on battery lead when disconnecting battery
may break battery lead and cause unit to fail.

Figure 2. Battery Removal

Notes

3

12

Notes

Attach new 9-volt alkaline battery and place in battery housing. Ensure battery
door gasket is correctly seated (see figures 3 and 4). Battery connector lead
should not interfere with seal between battery door gasket and battery compart­ment (see figures 5 and 6). Close and screw down battery door.

Figure 3. INCORRECT gasket seating

Figure 4. CORRECT gasket seating

Figure 5. INCORRECT battery

connector lead

Figure 6. CORRECT battery

connector lead

11

4

How To Wear The Beacon

The beacon should be worn in a manner such that the beacon will be easily ac­cessible should the person fall overboard. If the user intends the beacon to acti­vate automatically in the water, the beacon should be worn so that the water
sensors would be underwater and the antenna would be above water when the
person is floating in the water.

Receiver

Receiver

Size: 7.9 in x 5.9 in x 2.75 in

Weight: 15.2 oz

Power source: One (1) 9V alkaline battery or wall adaptor

Current draw (typical):

RF sensitivity:

RF Input Impedance:

Adjacent Channel Rejection:

.25 - .60 uVpd

55 mA

50 ohms

70 dB

Figure 7. TX100 placement - no

PFD

Figure 8. TX100 placement -

5

PFD

10

S

PECIFICATIONS

Transmitter

Transmitter

Size: 3 in x 1.5 in. x 1.7 in

Weight: 5.6 oz

Range: 2 miles (surface to surface) Ranges of 20 miles have been recorded

when alerting an elevated antenna.

Power source: One (1) 9V alkaline battery

Battery Life: One year or one activation. Once activated a minimum of 24
hours transmission time.

Activation:

- Manual

- Water

Current draw:

-Armed 10uA

-Sleep 1 mA

-Transmitting 18mA

Modulation Frequency:

Frequency accuracy: +/- 2.0 kHz

Spurious and harmonic output:

-typical –60dBm

-max –45dBm

FM deviation: 1.5 – 3.5 kHz

Modulation bandwidth: 0 – 1500 Hz

Operating temperature:

Storage temperature:

121.5MHz FM/AM

-10 deg C to +55 deg C

-40 deg C to +80 deg C

R

ECEIVER OPERATION

Parts Overview - See Figures 9 and 10

A. LCD - Displays MOB
B. Keypad - Data input
C. Buzzer - Audible alarm
D. Serial Connector
E. Antenna jack
F. Power jack
G. Audio jack
H. Power switch - Activates receiver to receive MOB
transmissions.

D

E

A

C

Figure 9. ORCATM RX100 - face panel

F

Figure 10. ORCATM RX100 - end panel

G

B

H

9

6

Receiving MOB Transmissions

- Connect the antenna to the UHF coaxial antenna connector “E”.

- The ON/OFF switch ‘H’ is a rocker switch that, when in the ON position,
powers up the RX100 using 12VDC applied at the 1.3 mm 12VDC jack
“F”. The RX100B also comes with a backup 9VDC battery connector.

- The LCD “A” will display “ORCA v___” after the system has initialized.
It will then begin scanning and will remain in this mode until it receives a
MOB transmission.

- When a MOB transmission is received, the LCD will indicate which trans­mitter has been activated and an audible alarm will sound. The alarm is a
piezo-electric buzzer providing a 100 dB alert.

- When an alarm is received, the user should depress the asterisk on the key­pad to silence the alarm. Note: This only silences the alarm, it does not

clear the MOB from the database.

- If more than one transmitter has been activated, the LCD will display each
transmitter in sequence as the respective signals are received.

Resetting the Receiver

- To reset the receiver, push switch to the OFF position, wait 5 seconds and
then push it back to the ON position. Once the receiver has been reset, it

will continue to receive MOB transmissions from ORCA if the individ-

ual transmitters have not been reset to the armed mode. Note: A receiver
reset will not clear the MOB data currently in the database.

- When an individual ORCA transmitter is reset, the receiver’s LCD will

display “ALARM RESET”. This only removes that transmitter’s ID from
the receiver’s system. The identification numbers of all other active
ORCAs will remain displayed on the receiver’s LCD.

Automatic Systems Diagnostics

When the receiver is turned on a pattern of asterisks should flash across the top
of the LCD indicating that the system is functioning properly. If this pattern
stops or fails to appear the receiver will not receive alarms. The receiver
should be reset for 5 seconds and then turned on. If the test pattern appears in­dicating normal operations then no further servicing is required. If the test pat­tern fails to appear and move from left to right then the unit is broken and
should be returned to the manufacturer for servicing.

To register a transmitter as belonging to ownship

Press the A button on the receiver keypad. The LCD should change to display
“Activate the ORCA to be registered.” Follow the on screen instructions, acti­vate the transmitter and as soon as the transmitter is identified by the receiver,
the receiver will display “If ID number is correct press A.”

number is the same as the transmitter serial number, this number can be found
in two places. One label with the serial number is on the back of the transmit­ter unit, the other label is located inside the battery compartment. If the ID

number displayed on the receiver is not correct, press the B button on the key­pad and restart the process. Once the unit is registered the transmitter should
be turned off. To exit setup mode press the D button on the keypad.

To delete transmitter(s) from the ownship list

To delete one or more selected transmitters from the ownship list, press the B
button on the receiver keypad. The LCD should change to display “Activate
the ORCA to be Unregistered.” Follow the on screen instructions, activate the
transmitter and as soon as the transmitter is identified by the receiver, the re­ceiver will display “If ID number is correct press A”

the same as the transmitter serial number, this number can be found in two
places. One label with the serial number is on the back of the transmitter unit,
the other label is located inside the battery compartment. If the ID number

displayed on the receiver is not correct, press the B button on the keypad and
restart the process. Once the unit is unregistered the transmitter should be
turned off. To exit setup mode press the D button on the keypad.

To clear MOB from the ownship list

To clear the receiver of all MOB ownship contacts, press the C “Clear MOB

NOTE:

List.”

ceiver. It must be cleared by this procedure. It is meant to force attention to
the registerred man over board alarm. If power is recycled, an uncleared

MOB’s will reactivate the alarm.

The MOB list cannot be deleted by cycling power to the re-

NOTE:

NOTE:

the ID number is

the ID

7

8