Satphone experiences...

Large portions of Utah Colorado Wyoming and Montana are out of cell phone coverage area as well. Not to mention parts of Alberta Canada.

sleepy wrote:
cell phones are so good and have so much coverage that I can't imagine needing one in the 48 US states, Hawaii... and a good portion of Canada.. Most of us will not spend enough time in the outback of Alaska or Canada to ever need anything mor than a good cell phone and provider.

As far a satilite integrity... my OnStar has functioned all over the US and the places we've been in Canada no matter what the weather.(except the Everglades around 2006... we couldn't pick up the link)

We also have computer connections through Verizon... band width has always been OK... to excelant

I'd spend my money on PVSolar panels for the outback before I'd waste money on a sat phone if I wasn't ghoing to Douth america or some place exotic.

Assuming that was sarcasm or your crazy. Most of the ATV and dry camping areas in WA/OR have NO cell coverage at all. Two weeks ago in the Wenatchee National Forest (Central WA) only had very iffy cell coverage on a couple of the tallest viewpoints. I can be off cell coverage in an hour. Many of the mountain passes and back roads in Oregon have no coverage in many many spots. And I have Verizon too.

Sat phone is something I'm interested in too.

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

cell phones are so good and have so much coverage that I can't imagine needing one in the 48 US states, Hawaii... and a good portion of Canada.. Most of us will not spend enough time in the outback of Alaska or Canada to ever need anything mor than a good cell phone and provider.

As far a satilite integrity... my OnStar has functioned all over the US and the places we've been in Canada no matter what the weather.(except the Everglades around 2006... we couldn't pick up the link)

We also have computer connections through Verizon... band width has always been OK... to excelant

I'd spend my money on PVSolar panels for the outback before I'd waste money on a sat phone if I wasn't ghoing to Douth america or some place exotic.

We used the Iridium 9505A from:

Satphone store

We ended up with a $1200 phone bill in just over a month, but we did use it quite a bit. Keep the calls short and the bill can be more reasonable.

The problems with the phone:
You needed to be outside (Central and South America gets hot)
You needed to be free of obstructions
The delay was annoying
EXPENSIVE to use.

Good with the phone:
It worked when I needed it to.


Yours and others results may vary, but those were MY real time experiences it the field.

Mello Mike wrote:
This is a good topic, but really should've been posted in the RV Technology Forum here on RV.NET.

I'm sure you can move it.

We frequently go to Lake Powell in southern Utah. Two trips in a row, a buddy of mine rented a sat phone to use in case of emergecny. While my Verizon service was far from perfect, it was more reliable than his sat phone.

Not sure if there are different coverages, or if the quality of the phone makes a difference, but if his rented phone was any indicitation, I would not spend money on one.

Have you considered a cellular cellphone booster? My Wilson Electronics 4G Sleek booster averages 18db improvement in signal. My Wilson Mobile 4G booster can see upto 35db signal strength. The Mobile 4G has an internal antenna for the vehicle. The closer your device the stronger the signal.

Mello Mike...thought there were probably alot of Wahzoo type boondockers on this forum. Wanted some real life users to respond.

This is a good topic, but really should've been posted in the RV Technology Forum here on RV.NET.