Satelite phone

[RobboPrado Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close RobboPrado]

Hello everyone

Nearly finished my Prado now and thinking about going outback places where no mobile reception.

I probably will go out isolated places a couple of times a year 1-2 weeks, and wondering about getting a satelite phone for emergency.

Are there any places in Melbourne that sell them and also can you get good second hand ones?

I contacted a few in Sydney, they also said you do have to have a SIM card in them to make a 000 call.

Thanks!

[Dreamer Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dreamer]

Hi RobboPrado,

I have an Inmarsat phone for sale on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Inmarsat-...item2a587f728b

I bought it for a 6 month trip to W.A. two years ago but didn't have to use it. Either the Inmarsat phone/network or the Iridium phone/network are, IMHO, the only two worth considering.

[Jon Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Jon]

I have an Iridium 9555 satellite phone for sale.
Please PM for details

[photoprado Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close photoprado]

Or rent one...

[peter_mcc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close peter_mcc]

I'm about to rent one but looked at buying one before. There didn't seem to be any cheap way to keep the service active if I wasn't using it - the cheapest seems to be $40/month for a postpaid plan. If I go with a prepaid plan it's $252 for 30 days validity.

Is there a better way of keeping an occasionally used Irridium handset active?

[ozimacca Member Find all posts View Profile Close ozimacca]

I'm about to rent one but looked at buying one before. There didn't seem to be any cheap way to keep the service active if I wasn't using it - the cheapest seems to be $40/month for a postpaid plan. If I go with a prepaid plan it's $252 for 30 days validity.

Is there a better way of keeping an occasionally used Irridium handset active?

On other websites they claim that if you have a post paid Telstra plan with international roaming enabled and the phones use the same size sim card once you are out of phone range the satellite kicks so you can move your sim over to the sat phone and it will work.

Apparently, the way Telstra provide phone coverage to rural Australia under the Government agreement is by using satellite. It is cheaper for them to do that than build towers all over the place.

Note : Telstra have an agreement with Irridium so only Telstra sim cards will work, if you have a prepaid plan or an unlocked phone you can go to Telstra and buy a casual plan post paid for $10 per month, calls etc are quite dear but as it is only emergency stuff it is worth it. It is best to go to the Telstra website, print out the details of the casual plan and take it into a Telstra shop and say I want one of these with a sim card the right size for your Irridium phone. If you don't have the details they will deny it exists !

I haven't actually done this but plenty of people have said that they have and it works, research required

I rented one from Epirbhire for my little jaunt down the Birdsville Track next week

[Scruffy Member Find all posts View Profile Close Scruffy]

I've just bought a Global star one for $425 ex demo (1 weeks use) 12 month guarantee and a casual plan $20 per month but a $25 connection fee which can be cancelled at any time - you get an Aussie number and don't pay to receive calls. However everytime you cancel you get a different number next time.

[sunchaser Member Find all posts View Profile Close sunchaser]

One day in the not too distant future all mobiles will work any where in Australia through satellites......One day
We have the technology, we can re-build him. The six million dollar mobile....

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

Global Star a good option . Calls can drop out a bit in the top end but mine worked whenever it was needed and calls and rent are cheap. Incoming calls are free to you unlike some of the others and only cost standard mobile rates to those calling you. When you get home get it switched off until next year!

[Dakkas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dakkas]

Hey all,

I've got an iridium sat - works well. While on topic at the moment it's not getting a great deal of use but I'm still paying the monthly bills... If anyone in the top end (NT) would like to informally rent it for a trip feel free to contact me. May as well be of use to others instead of sitting in the cupboard and wasting my money.

[Cuvier100 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cuvier100]

Global Star

Check their web site for the times you get comms at your location as you often have to wait hours until a satelite comes into view with the global Star system. The Irridium system in 24/7.

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

Not my experience. I certainly had to try and get a signal 2 or 3 times on occasions but I expected this and it never took longer than 2 or 3 mins to get connected. It is a good system for those few weeks a year when you may need a sat phone in remote areas because it is so cheap BUT it would not be the system for regular users, especially in the top end. They have more, newer satellites than a few years ago.

[Boneyone Member Find all posts View Profile Close Boneyone]

I recently purchased a Globalstar as I couldn't justify the cost of an Iridium or Satsleeve (turns your iPhone into a Satphone). As all others have said they are cheap, and the $20 month casual plan is the way to go, come home, cancel the service, then reactivate for your next trip. The phone itself and the antenna are a little bulky and you must be aware that they are not what is termed 100% coverage like an Iridium. My recent trip to Central and I had minimal trouble with coverage, if you don't have coverage simply wait 5 minutes and it is bound to be OK. The real advantage of the Globalstar over the Iridium is that there is effectively zero delay, so it's just like talking on a standard mobile. Try talking on an Iridium, it is very frustrating as there is a significant delay and you end up talking over the top of each other. Just like the good old days of international phone calls with delay... Globalstar have minimal delay because their satellites are only medium orbit, that's also why you sometimes have to wait for stable coverage, they are not geostationary like Iridium. I feel that the advantages greatly outweigh the disadvantages with Globalstar, once fully understood. They are great for keeping in touch, and as a safety net to call for assistance. I also carried a PLB in case of a life threatening emergency.