5. How the Free-Floating Emergency Beacon Works

So far you have learned about the Cospas-Sarsat system as a whole. Now, it is time to look closely at the special beacon itself. It is a sophisticated device that is able to detach itself and activate itself automatically. This feature is necessary because manual beacons may be lost, or the crew may be injured or unable to activate them manually. So, the beacon must be able to operate even if the crew is unable to activate it. Go to page 8 in your coursebook and study the diagram of the beacon in Task 1. It should help you to complete this task. Its purpose is to make sure that you know the technical vocabulary to be able to describe the function of the beacon. Leave the completed exercise open. Then, while still looking at the same diagram, match answers with questions in this task. Again, leave the completed task open. You are going to need the two open tasks to describe the function of the beacon in seven sentences.

Use these clues to help you:

Free-floating emergency beacon for Cospas-Sarsat rescue system

How It Works

If the boat sinks, and the beacon is submerged below four metres of water, the water pressure activates the HRU (hydrostatic release unit) automatically.

The water pressure inside the HRU ...

This releases ...

The lever arm then ...

The beacon then ...

As a result, the beacon…

When it reaches the surface ...

Where appropriate, use sequencers to indicate the order of events, for example: first, then, after that, next, finally.

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Now you know how the beacon works. An interesting fact is that if the vessel is not sinking, you don´t need to throw it into water to make it activate itself.  You can simply activate the beacon manually. The diagram in Task 5 on p. 9 in your coursebook illustrates this manual activation. Study it and complete the missing verbs in these instructions. Notice that the most effective way to give instructions is to use the imperative mood and sequencers. The imperative mood of the second person singular and plural is simply formed by omitting “to” from the “to” infinitive, for example: to write (psát) → write (piš, pište).