Satphone experiences...
never used one. Any real issues you would need to be aware of?
Forum Discussion
If you already have a sat phone, take it along, but it's not worth buying or renting one - they are expensive if you don't have a real need. Because of satellite placement Globalstar phones only work well around the center of the earth which is where their satellites are. For good / dependable reception don't use them north of the Canadian border or too far south into South America. Iridium's satellites circle the globe and offer much better reception and therefore are more expensive.
I do have a sat phone for snowmachining and hunting. The down side of a sat phone is you can't call 911 in an emergency - the sat phone system doesn't know where in the world to route your call to. So to use one, you need to know specific phone numbers to call. In other words you need to have actual real phone numbers to call for emergency services. And you can't call toll free numbers such as 800, 866, or 877 phone numbers with one. See if you can get a non - 800 out of most airlines to make reservations on, or from Good Sam for road side assistance. We may have finally got one from them, but I'll have to double check that.
To use one, you must have a clear line of sight to the satellites. I remember watching the show "24 Hours" several years ago when the President is in a bunker 20 stories underground and he whips out his sat phone to call Jack. It of course worked in the movie, but it would never work that way in real life. If you don't have a remote antenna to bring the sat signal inside to you, it isn't going to work. So if you need to make a call you'll be outside in the cold, heat, rain, snow or mosquitoes making it.
Sat phones can be great, just don't expect them to work the way they do on TV.
Bill
I do have a sat phone for snowmachining and hunting. The down side of a sat phone is you can't call 911 in an emergency - the sat phone system doesn't know where in the world to route your call to. So to use one, you need to know specific phone numbers to call. In other words you need to have actual real phone numbers to call for emergency services. And you can't call toll free numbers such as 800, 866, or 877 phone numbers with one. See if you can get a non - 800 out of most airlines to make reservations on, or from Good Sam for road side assistance. We may have finally got one from them, but I'll have to double check that.
To use one, you must have a clear line of sight to the satellites. I remember watching the show "24 Hours" several years ago when the President is in a bunker 20 stories underground and he whips out his sat phone to call Jack. It of course worked in the movie, but it would never work that way in real life. If you don't have a remote antenna to bring the sat signal inside to you, it isn't going to work. So if you need to make a call you'll be outside in the cold, heat, rain, snow or mosquitoes making it.
Sat phones can be great, just don't expect them to work the way they do on TV.
Bill
