Any Experience With Satellite Phones?

D

DancesWithKnives

Joined
Apr 21, 2001
Messages
1,385
I'm thinking of renting (and maybe eventually buying) one for remote wilderness trips in Alaska, Yukon, NWT, and some other areas. I've looked at ads for the Iridium and the Qualcom product, but have not heard any first-hand reports. Anyone used these and have any advice?

Thanks for your help.
 
I have used an Iridium satellite phone. It was a great tool. I was in western Kenya and the nearest phone (Eldoret, Kenya) was probably half an hour away at a minimum. If you are going to be in a remote area, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a satellite phone!

One tip: buy your minutes in as large of chunks as you can afford. It makes it much cheaper that way.
 
Thanks for the personal experience. I've seen a lot of satphones in use by TV newspeople in Iraq. Aside from the slight transmission delay, they seem to have good clarity/overall performance.
 
satphones tend to cost a lot...
Try looking into low band and Ham Radio sets as a backup or alternative. A lot of people in that neck of the woods (or tundra) use that method.
 
Thanks for the advice. Do you know whether a special license is required for all such rigs? Or, do they carry them and just figure that in an emergency you're willing to risk any fines for not being licensed?

Thanks a lot.
 
DWK-

Funny you ask.

This year, for our annual Baja fishing trip (Sea of Cortez), our group are all renting Iridium satellite phones from PHI Leasing.

The rental cost is $55/week (cheaper for longer rentals), plus a fixed $39 round-trip shipping via FedEx (regardless of how many units).

Call costs are: $1.50/min. to anywhere world-wide, $0.99/min. to other Iridium phones, and $0 for incoming calls (but those same calls cost the caller $3-8/min.)

We figured the Iridium were perfect for us to make calls to one another out on the open water, call home, or make SOS/Emergency calls (heaven forbid). We don't expect any non-Iridium-originated incoming calls.

Now, if you travel and need cost-effective incoming call capability, then the Globalstar is your choice. While the outgoing, and peer-to-peer calls are a bit more expensive, the incoming calls are bit more reasonable to the caller (equal to just normal long distance to a Texas a/c).

BTW, I have no connection or interest in PHI Leasing other than being a satisfied customer.

HTH
 
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