A poster-sized copy of a letter hangs in the modest lobby of Fort Lauderdale-based ACR Electronics, one of the largest safety- and survival-equipment companies in the world.

It's a simple thank you written by the crew of the Apollo 13. Two days after the April 17, 1970, launch of the lunar-landing expedition, the nation's third, an explosion aboard the spacecraft forced the astronauts to ration electrical power while coasting around the moon and back into Earth's orbit for an emergency landing.

The crew said it relied on penlights manufactured by the company as their sole source of light and praised their small size, which allowed them to be held between the teeth as repair procedures were executed.

'Your penlights served as our means of `seeing'. . .'' the letter read, ``we never wore out even one set during the trip; in fact, they illuminate today.''

The history of ACR, founded in New York in 1956 as a camera-repair company, is filled with dramatic stories of rescues and fights for survival in which the company's equipment played a critical role.

Steve Fossett, the famous aviator and adventurer, for instance, carried one of the company's emergency position indicating radio beacons, or EPIRBs, in his hot-air balloon when he attempted the first nonstop solo trip around the world. Fossett encountered rough weather that damaged the balloon and sent it plunging into the Coral Sea.

ACR's lead product, the EPIRB, when activated transmits a signal to a dedicated emergency satellite network shared by several countries. The signal, which can be transmitted from water, gets bounced back to the Coast Guard or nearest search-and-rescue ground agency anywhere on the globe. It tells rescue teams not only where but who the victim is. It helped rescuers find Fossett bobbing in a raft among the waves.

Fossett reportedly did not have an EPIRB during his solo flight last year across the Nevada desert. He is believed to have crashed and perished. Though his body was never found, hikers in California reportedly came across some of his belongings last week, including an identification card.

From its 56,000 square-foot facility off Sterling Road, ACR does it all under one roof -- designing and manufacturing about 200 survival and safety devices, from basic whistles and search lights to high-tech, satellite-linked personal locator beacons and bridge equipment for seaports and ships. Personal locator beacons, or PLBs, are similar to EPIRBs only smaller and designed for land use.

Its biggest customer is the U.S. military, representing roughly 20 percent of the company's sales. The commercial aviation and marine industries, as well as sales for outdoor recreation, make up the rest.

Staying on top of the niche market for more than 50 years has meant keeping a step ahead of technological advances and building products customers know they can count on, according to company president Paul Frank, a New York native who joined ACR in 1980.

''We try to design our products so they work in the real world and not just meet international standards. We go way beyond what is required by specifications,'' Frank said.

BEST YEAR EVER

After 15 years of year-over-year growth, Frank said ACR had its best year ever in 2007. Overall sales grew at about 16 percent, buoyed by growth in the outdoor market. Equipment sold to recreational users, like boaters, hikers, and mountain climbers, rose by 87 percent, thanks to a strong marketing campaign and growing interest in outdoor adventure.

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