REVIEW - AUTOTETHER Wireless Kill Switch Lanyard
 

AUTOTETHER WirelessKill Switch Lanyard

Background: If you are like me you have thought about how great it would be to maintain the safety of wearing a kill switch, but not have to wear that cumbersome lanyard that attaches you to the boat. The lanyard restricts your movement and is simply a pain to deal with. If you are on the boat by yourself it is very important to wear your kill switch lanyard but many of us do not, me included. I basically will only wear mine when I am running at night or if its very rough and I risk getting tossed out of the boat. I will never wear it when fishing because it is so restrictive, but fishing is probably when I have the most risk of accidentally falling out. Falling out of the boat is a rare occurrence,but we have all heard stories of it happening and it only takes one time…


At this Fall’s Annapolis Boat Show one of our customers brought a new device he just bought called the Autotether to our booth. I was glad to see it too. I visited the Autotether folks at their booth that afternoon for a demo and ended up ordering one.


Product Description: TheAutotether is a wireless kill switch lanyard which fits all brands of outboards and inboard kill switches. It consists of the base unit also called the “Host” and two wireless units called “FOBS”. It can use up to four FOBS. One of the included FOBS is for the captain and the other for crew. The host gets mounted to the boat and the FOBS are what the crew wear. The whole setup is powered by AAA batteries. The unit comes standard with batteries installed and a set of replacement batteries. Each FOB includes a Velcro strap to attach it to the user. The Host includes a Lanyard which goes between the Host and the Kill Switch with a built-in mechanism which makes it release from the Kill Switch when prompted. The Host also includes and audible alarm.


http://www.boemarine.com/images/inbox.jpg
Installation: Installation is simple. The Host comes pre-mounted with 3M Dual Lock tape on the back. Installing the Host on the boat is as easy as selecting a location, cleaning the location with the included alcohol wipe, pealing off the backing from the 3M Dual Lock, then sticking the Host in place. The Host needs to be mounted within 12” of the Kill Switch. I mounted mine right below the wheel on a horizontal surface so I would be able to see the indicator lights. There is no mounting required for the FOBS, they basically get attached to the crew on each outing.
http://www.boemarine.com/images/mounted.jpg

Performance: After I mounted the unit I sat in the slip for a while reading the manual. The Host has a bunch of LED’s on it that describe the various steps of operation. I found all of this to be a bit confusing so I had to read through it a couple of times. The Host has a power button and a reset button. Each FOB has a power button. To turn the unit on you hit the power button on the Host which puts it into “search” mode while it looks for FOBS. Then you hit the power button on your FOB to register it with the Host. When a FOB gets registered it will blink accordingly on the Host, and the FOB will blink green. When the system is armed and ready to go the Host will blink green. Once I tried registering the FOBS a few times I realized arming the system was quite easy. What I don’t like is there is no quick reference to see which FOBS are registered. Each FOB has its own LED to show if it is registered on the Host, I would like to see the light stay green on the host for as long as that FOB is registered. If you pay attention right when you register the FOB you can see and confirm it is registered, and the only way for it to unregister is to set off the alarm or trigger the kill switch, so its obvious if it becomes unregistered but I still would like this visual confirmation to be available, especially considering the LED is already there.


The FOBS and the Host communicate with each other every .5second. If there is a loss of communication between either FOB and the Host the system will trigger accordingly. If the Captains FOB (yellow FOB) loses communication the kill switch mechanism will trigger and release. If the passenger FOB (white FOB) loses communication the system will trigger an audible alarm. The kill switch is not triggered by the passenger FOB so the boat will not shut off which will enable the captain to go back to retrieve the passenger. The FOB communication can be lost by both submersion in water and distance. If a FOB falls in the water communication is lost right away which will trigger the system. Another scenario would be if you had your passenger FOB attached to the dingy you were towing, if the dinghy gets detached you would be alerted after it had drifted 80 or so feet away. You can use your imagination for all the uses of the passenger FOB, even keeping it attached to your kids while around the dock to alert you if they fall in.


The system can also be triggered by holding down the power button on the FOBS for 2 seconds, this method will cause the kill switch mechanism to trigger no matter which FOB is used.


The unit has some failsafes built in too for low battery power. Before it goes completely dead it will trigger the kill switch mechanism one last time to basically let you know it is no longer responsible. The system alerts you to low batteries for several hours through visual alerts on the Host and FOBS until they actually go dead.



To test the unit I tried to put the passenger FOB on my wife and throw her overboard but she wasn’t too agreeable, neither was the dog… So I attached the white passenger FOB to a PFD Bag and threw it overboard. The audible alarm went off almost immediately probably due to the FOB being submerged. I did the same thing with the Yellow Captains FOB and it triggered the kill switch mechanism immediately. So the system works just as advertised. At one point I was at the dock and got off the boat to get something and when I got back the audible alarm was going off and the engine was shut down. I forgot I had the captains FOB in my pocket and by walking too far away from the boat I had triggered the kill switch mechanism. This next pic shows about the distance the boat drifted away from the lifejacket bag before the kill switch triggered and the engine shut off.
http://www.boemarine.com/images/distance.jpg


I have been using the Autotether all weekend and am very happy to have this on my boat. I leave the Autotethers lanyard attached to the kill switch at all times. When I get on the boat I simply have to hit the power button on the Host, then hit the power button on the yellow FOB and drop it in my pocket. Now if I fall off the boat the boat will stop, plus I am not restricted by a lanyard between me and the boat during normal operation. If there is a “must have” new product this is it.

Ratings:
Installation Time: 3 minutes
Installation Difficulty: Easy
User Interface: 6 out of 10 (I was confused by the various combos of the LED’s but once I figured it out it was easy. I would like to see some clearer instructions or a simplified light pattern)
Cool Factor: 9 out of 10 (its hard to think of a kill switchas cool, but its cool to boat safer and this product allows you to do that)
Value: 8 out of 10 (this product is not cheap, but you can’t put a price on safety, if this enables you to wear a kill switch I think it is very valuable)
MSRP: $295.00
Likes: Simple to install, smart, unobtrusive,quality construction.
Dislikes: FOBS do not float, confusing LED patterns.
BUY NOW at BOE Marine - $279.00

I have heard so many horror stories about boats. The Autotether sounds like a great safety device! Has anyone used it? I purchased a boat last year and am thinking about buying the Autotether for it.