Sat phone

No reason why the sat phone should not work well up the cape. As with all sat phones, you need uninterrupted line "of sight" to the satellite for it to work. Your "location" in the high country may well have contributed to the drop outs.
regards

Check this page out Neil . . .
Which sat phone network

According to this info, you might not have good coverage in the far north ??
Doesn't mention probs in the Vic High Country, but I have read reports that Thuraya can fall off a bit in Tassie ?

The Globalstar northern issues are backed up by this ExplorOz Sat Phone info page as well.

I've had an Iridium 9505 for for 15 years on the telstra/Iridium network and have never had a problem, I think you will find its the network your using not the phone itself, Iridium are renown for good coverage whereas some of the others work better in the southern states and vice a versa, see if you can switch to the iridium network.

The satellite phone should be okay for the Cape.

My son's (from his work) worked a treat all over the place up on the Cape. We have an Isatphone and it get good coverage all through the "ono" high country like the Simpson and CSR etc etc. I only used it once in the high country and that was from down in a valley at O'hagens.

Phil

Chippie,

Globalstar recently launched new sats which fixed their dropout problem.

If you have the right phone then you should get reliable coverage.

What phone do you have.

We've only used our Globalstar Qualcomm handset a few times, but it has been good (bought it as the cheapest phone to setup - only wanted it for emergencies and the odd call). Keep in mind that Globalstar uses Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites (as opposed to fixed) - in flat to undulating country, when one satellite disappears over the horizon the next one is already in your view and has taken the call. In the hills and valleys, from a low spot you might lose a satellite before the next one comes to your view - depends on how much of the sky you can see. The advantages with Globalstar are said to be the call clarity and the lower costs....that suits me fine. Disadvantages ? Needing to get an elevated spot for calls in the hills and valleys - and the phone is a bit 'clunky', compared to some of the slimlines (at way more $).