WST bringing next-gen beacon tester to market

Story by Christine Knauer

February 2022

Currently, the world’s satellite-aided search and rescue network is undergoing a massive upgrade. Together with second-generation beacon technology developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the system promises more robust signals, more accurate location data and quicker response times.

As the industry waits for the next-gen system to be fully functional, WS Technologies of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, and other test equipment manufacturers have been developing test capabilities for the new beacons.

“The SGB technology uses a complex signal structure to greatly improve the effectiveness of emergency locator beacons,” said Bill Street, who founded WST more than 20 years ago. “These new beacons will be on the market very soon and, over time, will replace all first-generation beacons.

”The international Cospas-Sarsat system, which is active in more than 200 countries and territories, detects and locates radio beacons from people, aircraft and marine vessels in distress and forwards the alert data to authorities. The new beacons take advantage of an improved network of satellites in medium-Earth orbit, increasing accuracy from kilometres to meters.

According to NASA, the new beacons also front-load their distress transmissions, sending more of them immediately after activation then reducing the transmissions as time goes on, helping to provide more data faster while also preserving battery life.

This year, WST plans to add SGB testing capability to its series of BT200 hand-held beacon testers and STB100 bench test systems, which it designs, develops and manufactures at its state-of-the-art facility in Kelowna.

“Our development and engineering teams have been working closely with key SGB stakeholders and are nearing completion of full test capabilities for SGB beacons,” Street said. “WST will be the first SGB beacon tester on the market capable of accurately decoding and precisely measuring the entire complex signal structure of SGBs.”

Handling everything in-house
After helping to develop emergency locator beacon technology in the 1980s and 1990s, Street founded the business in the basement of his family’s house in 2000. He launched the original BT100 Beacon Tester four years later. Thousands of those original units are still active in the field today, according to Street.

WST now employs 10 staff members who operate out of the company’s recently expanded 6,500-square-foot facility. Adding to its previous 4,000 square feet, WST acquired and renovated a neighbouring building to provide more space for executive offices and R&D.

“Our facility houses everything – the engineering and production teams, machining, support, sales and administration,” Street said. “All of our product design, assembly, QA and shipping functions are also performed here.”

To meet the needs of its global audience, WST’s engineers prioritize ease of use and intuitiveness in the company’s products. Their goal – after using a WST beacon tester once, a customer shouldn’t need to read the operator’s manual again.

WST also focuses on providing exceptional customer support, striving to respond to inquiries within 24 hours, according to Street. Customer feedback is often incorporated into future product upgrades.

“The Beacon Tester, our core product, features extremely detailed measurement parameters,” Street said. “Many beacon manufacturers rely on our Beacon Tester’s measurement capabilities during beacon development, as well as integrate them into their production lines to boost efficiency. It’s exciting. WST will soon have the only Beacon Tester on the market worldwide with SGB testing capabilities. We’re breaking ground on never-before-seen test equipment.”