Satphone experiences...

Sometimes I sit and think, sometimes I just sit (Author unknown)

I've been thinking about all of these gizmos and I remembered that recently and commercial airplane disappeared into maybe the indian Ocean or...?

Then I think about my cell phone... it has a GPS built in... and I can easily find it if it gets stolen or lost...

Now, I'm thinking...

About Sat Phones and airplanes

They can't find anytrace of the airplane with satallites and the worlds best technologies, what ever. Somethings wrong... even I can find my phone. How many of the passengers had phones?

Now, I'm really tyhinking...

How ofter do Sat Phones save someone? Close to 100% of the calls that make it and some agency is able to respond in time.

What is the failure rate for Sat Phones... it could be much higher than the sucess rate... We never hear about the failures... (if they couldn't save themselves they won't be reporting the failures... they may be dead.

read Subconsulting's trip report... about the german man on a Macho trip with his family.

Don't be macho... learn the basic skills and more before you get in over your head... then add the toys if you wish.

If they can't find an airplane... why do you think they can find you?

Sleepy

We asked ourselves this question a few years ago. I couldn't justify the expense of a sat phone - we would end up using it for non-life-threatening purposes and run up a big expense. Also, I would be suspicious that when I really did need to use it the battery would have died. We also didn't want the hassle (and expense) of renting one.

In the end we decided that our primary need was to ensure that if truly had a life-threatening situation we had something that would give us a chance of summoning help. E.g. if we rolled the vehicle in the desert and barely managed to crawl out with broken legs.

As much as I would probably like to be able to receive emails or important calls or update my facebook page everywhere, these things were not of life or death importance. As an exercise I like to think back to the days of global travel before global communication, when someone would kiss his wife goodbye and head by stage-coach for Portsmouth for a ship with words like "look after the children, hopefully I'll be back in 3 or 4 years".

I decided that being able to get mobile phone reception every few days so the phone will pick up any messages as we pass through a zone with signal, was sufficient for non-fatal-emergencies. If we are somewhere that we cannot get a cell phone signal for several days we are probably somewhere it will take multiple days of travel to get home anyway even if a relative is dying.

In the end I settled on a EPIRB / PLB - one that transmits on an emergency frequency and also receives a GPS position which it transmits to satellite.

I know if I am trapped down a slot canyon or in a forest then I may not be able to use such a device effectively, but in many other cases it will work and may be the only thing between me and death.

The EPIRB was a one-off (ish) cost. The battery lasts something like 5 years, after which you must send it back for a new battery (at a cost). But there are no subscription costs.

If I pull the trigger on it the signal will be sent to the coast guard who will try to contact me on the phone number registered with them. If that fails they can alert the relevant rescue authorities (if any exist in the country I am in).

So this works for us and I carry it when travelling or performing risky activities in locations where I am unlikely to get discovered by someone in a few hours. It is small enough and light enough to carry on my person whether hiking or climbing, which also means I am more likely to have it on my person in the event of a vehicle fire, and it is cheap enough that I am less worried about the likelihood of theft. It is also waterproof.

Steve.

Sleepy's only error was saying," if the gizmo fails." When the gizmo fails is proper. All the gadgets are aids and are bound to fail. To this day the basic tool of the Navigator is still a #2 lead pencil with an ERASER. All competent Navigators start with a chart and the # 2 pencil and set a ded reckoning course, so there is something to fall back on when the GPS craps out or the power fails. Life raft canisters, VHF and single side band and Ham radios, EPIRB, Sat Tel, flares are all good, if they can be activated. The basic, an attitude of self reliance, is still the most important fall back safety tool. Outward Bound which started as a training course for seaman's survival, learned that those with a positive attitude towards getting by, were most likely to survive.

In the woods or on the sea it's pretty much the same, the McGeyver types tend to fare the best.

We rented an Iridium 9505A for our Alaska trip last year. DH has severe heart issues and wanted to make sure we were covered. We also used a "Spot" locator. We shared the cost of $407.33 with the other couple traveling with us and we had 65 minutes in our package. Never needed it, although I did use it a couple times calling our son in Florida. It worked perfectly and it gave us some peace of mind that we would be able to communicate with either the phone or the Spot locator if an emergency arose. We rented it for 3 months.

Dale

...just charts and sextant or communication aids other than a VHF radio

....that reminds me of radio-relaying along the Mosquito Coast (Honduras & Nica: village-to-village radio relaying); the only way (back in the '90s and before) to get your "message" to civilization from "way out there"...

....I agree entirely with Sleepy:

-IF you intend to go beyond cell coverage in North America (whether you are aware of coverage zone or not, err on the side of safety) buy a very highly-rated PLB, not a sat phone....on edit:

but:

-also, be aware that sat phone and PLB aren't infallible (read: if you are out of sat vision, stormy weather, heavy canopy, canyon bottom, you may be SOL)

The only places I have ever carried sat phone(s) are in "exotic locales", like Central America, etc (some time ago when sat phones were ugly to deal with). One caveat: IMO, check very carefully if your PLB communicates directly with NOAA and the US Air Force (via COSPAS-SARSAT) or a private coordinator...and know what the difference is!

S-

dadwolf2...good stuff. good price on the unit and even better on the service plan, thanks.

I also use an Iridium 9505A, though if I could swing the newer 9555, I definitely would. Smaller, better build quality. I do not keep it activated, but I do keep a few spare new SIM cards in case I ever do (get yours on Amazon- good prep item!) along with activation instructions from both a US and international provider in case one of them is down.

I've used this model before with good results, and loaned one to my parents on their trip to Israel recently, but mine is for emergency use only due to the standing expense otherwise. I have the magnet mount vehicle antenna puck fixed to the driver-front corner of my hood, so I do not need to stand outside to use it.

Mello Mike wrote:
SVCJeff,
EPIRB, HF High Seas, 2182KHZ, CH16...Wow, I haven't heard some of those terms in years. Were you in the Navy or CG?

None of the above.. I'm a radio guy that grew up around boats. My step brother is a retired USCG guy who lost a friend to the antiquated DF gear in the coast guard aircraft and they didn't find him in time. He made it his personal quest to wake up the boys in the head office and Congress to fund Doppler gear. Tweaked a few noses along the way too, but the results are what you see today. So I kinda pay attention to stuff like this. And yes I can actually read charts and Topos, but GPS is way easier... :)

sleepy wrote:
Then Columbus makes two people that can walk on water. When I was a kid half way back to the cival war the teachers told us that Columbus came over on three ships...

A lot of the answers on this thread are for sat phone use on land...

some are for it, some think there are better solutions

some apparently seem to think that there are better technologies on sea and land

I personally think that everyone should have the necessary basic skills to explore, to travel, so that they can survive without gizmos...

then if they want gizmos fine... if the gizmo fails they can survive.

nobody is arguing that, and nobody cares how Columbus did it 500+ years ago. Whether or not he had the skills at the time he sure wouldn't do it that way again in 2014. The OP already said his partner was an old school guy, so this rant is redundant. He has the skills... Move on