Satphone experiences...

[artguys]

never used one. Any real issues you would need to be aware of?

[sleepy]

artguys wrote:
never used one. Any real issues you would need to be aware of?

I'm just bringing the OP's initial post where people on this page can see it...

Good subject for what might be a slowly dying technology like so many that we have all watched go away...

8 tracks, cassettes, cb radios for most people... MySpace... cash registers... vehicles that have to be chipped... even uplink sat dishes on RV's... the hold outs wanting to keep technologies that are out of date have to pay more and more.

Like so many things... when people own one it's the best idea in the world... how many people do you (all of you) actually know that have a sat phone and how many of them think their moneys worth

I might want one on the ocean

BTW... childish name calling doesn't impress me.

Sleepy

[Bonesquatch]

We needed our sat phone in 2010 on a work trip when one of my group's wives had a medical emergency back home in Houston as we were in southern Wyoming, northeast of Rawlins. He had to leave immediately to return home. None of our cell phones had coverage. None of us were wimps or scared of the dark. But we were very happy we had a way to communicate with the outside world when a life-threatening emergency arose back home and we were required to adjust our plans accordingly. It's not always just about the individual.

[artguys]

Thanks folks...2 old guys in their 70s, that would be me and a friend who owns a 36' Cape Dory will be doing a Gulf of Mexico crossing in a couple of months. My friend is old school. Doesn't use any of the modern navigation methods...just charts and sextant or communication aids other than a VHF radio. I'm good with it as we've done it a few times. This time I told him that having some form of satphone might be a good idea, to which he agreed.

[Mello_Mike]

Work, family, and medical conditions sometimes require a reliable comm link of some kind. Cell phones certainly provide that in more populated areas, but here out west coverage can be spotty, yes, even for Verizon customers. Some areas are just too vast and sparsely populated to justify building cell towers everywhere. Due to UHF line-of-sight limitations, the maximum cell tower range is 45 miles; satellite has zero LOS limitations because it has a clear shot to the earth. Until that time comes when cell towers are erected everywhere here out west, sat phones will continue to be a viable option for those who need to bridge those gaps.

As for me, I don't need or want a sat phone, but that's just me.

[skipbee]

Cell phones require that the antennas "see" each other. that is line of sight. In Alaska we were surprised at how much good coverage we found. The cell towers were high on the mountains, we were driving the valleys. But when you got one mountain to far from a major road, nutten!

All of the gadgets we use, phones, GPS, radios are all destined to fail. We just don't know when. It's good to have backup systems. A smoky fire, a bright colored blanket. a pocket knife, compass. dry matches, all that and more.

We had a medical emergency in the mountains in Northeastern California. My wife became unconscious in a remote NFS campground. I loaded up and started driving to find a a signal but came upon an emergency clinic. We have a CB radio, I was been able to get information on it when the cell phone was dead in remote hollow in West Virginia.

My son carries a Satphone when at sea, I'm not getting one for our use these days, too many obstructions in our travel spheres. But if I were able to get myself into some of the places Whazoo gets, I'd consider a satphone.

[2BLAZERS]

sleepy wrote:
Having fun...?

I've had truck campers for more than 40 years... most of them in the boonies. Never needed a cell phone or a sat phone...never been scared of the dark, that the boggie man was going to get me... nothing. Just always went with the idea of self rescue.

As you get older you'll find that some of the things you enjoyed make good memories... but aren't realistic... then if your still adventuresome you'll find alternative ways to continue using your campers.

Now as a lot of you get a lot older you'll still be mired in camper parking lots with creeps and kids, drunks and druggies piled on top of you... you won't leave... you have already paid for the space...

Some of you will take down your flag poles and seperator fences that you have in the campgrounds and make your campers into yard orniments.

There are some of our truck camper friends that do some rough country... and they post trip reports showing how remote... but there aren't many. I enjoy their reports. I don't know of any that carry sat phones... most are adept at self rescue

I think that California surprised me more than any other state... high tech expectations.. but the tinytouns in the mountains aren't big enough for a cell tower.

The interstate system has cell towers all across this land... most of our members will never be out of range.

Once again... how much does a sat phone cost ... how many days a year will you be using it...

Will you really need one for your blog about your flag pole in a campground?

For that matter... do you need PVSolar in a campground?

Sleep... but not afraid.

How about take a chill pill....
If you never need one why comment on a forum subject regarding it? Specially when you think anyone that disagrees with you is an idiot. Just don't comment and go back to FOX news watching.

And just cause I5 and I90 have cell coverage does not need we dont' need it where we are going.

The posters and myself want to learn about them.

[Bleugoat]

There are several new systems that provide two way satellite text messaging using a gps device plus your cell phone. Just google "two way satellite messaging". Not as good as a phone, but less expensive and still provides two way communication.

[sleepy]

Having fun...?

I've had truck campers for more than 40 years... most of them in the boonies. Never needed a cell phone or a sat phone...never been scared of the dark, that the boggie man was going to get me... nothing. Just always went with the idea of self rescue.

As you get older you'll find that some of the things you enjoyed make good memories... but aren't realistic... then if your still adventuresome you'll find alternative ways to continue using your campers.

Now as a lot of you get a lot older you'll still be mired in camper parking lots with creeps and kids, drunks and druggies piled on top of you... you won't leave... you have already paid for the space...

Some of you will take down your flag poles and seperator fences that you have in the campgrounds and make your campers into yard orniments.

There are some of our truck camper friends that do some rough country... and they post trip reports showing how remote... but there aren't many. I enjoy their reports. I don't know of any that carry sat phones... most are adept at self rescue

I think that California surprised me more than any other state... high tech expectations.. but the tinytouns in the mountains aren't big enough for a cell tower.

The interstate system has cell towers all across this land... most of our members will never be out of range.

Once again... how much does a sat phone cost ... how many days a year will you be using it...

Will you really need one for your blog about your flag pole in a campground?

For that matter... do you need PVSolar in a campground?

Sleep... but not afraid.

[Mello_Mike]

joeshmoe wrote:
Pfft...you know how many times I've been stuck, cut-off from any hope of rescue at a Cracker Barrel and needed a Satphone, Mike? I can't even count 'em. :B

😄

[joeshmoe]

Pfft...you know how many times I've been stuck, cut-off from any hope of rescue at a Cracker Barrel and needed a Satphone, Mike? I can't even count 'em. :B

[Mello_Mike]

Yep, sat phones are a good option for those who do real boondocking here in the West. I'm talking about out in the boonies not in places like Walmart and Cracker Barrel.

[Bonesquatch]

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

[2BLAZERS]

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.

[Trackrig]

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

[sleepy]

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.