do we REALLY need the listening stuff ???

G'day Jules,

The Motorola 9505A series satphone used on the Iridium (Telstra) network is capable of sending and receiving SMS messages.

HTH

.

Hi there Jules,

The importance of this other stuff would depend on how remote you planned to be travelling. A GPS tells you where you are, but a map tells you what is around you. So maps would be important.

If you're sticking to mainish highways and well travelled roads, then you can rely on the presence of other people as a backup. Even standard NextG services will work in many places so a NextG phone will give you texting ability in many populated places and surrounding areas.

If you're getting really remote, then you should probably get a sat phone that uses Iridium with texting and have a good knowledgable person who will take your texts and act on them.

In short, it is hard to say what you would need unless we know more about where you are going.

Cheers,
Andrew.

Jules
HF & UHF not much use to u. Mobiles do NOT work outside of the larger towns. As stated above, sat phones are ms capable but thats about it.
I would go for an EPIB before a SPOT. The EPIB will not have to go via a third party overseas, it will go direct to the Australian search & rescue system.
Hop[e this helps
Vince

Hi Jules
You say deaf but what about speech or gutteral noise?? You might not be able to hear the message but if you get into trouble then if you can radio out others might hear. My Uncle & Aunty were both deaf and speechless but had a phone so that they could ring their kids in an emergency and while they could not convey the emergency the kids at least knew that there was a problem and could respond.
You will know where you are so, if there is a problem, as long as you keep transmitting then a knowing person will be able to hone in to a certain degree.
And the other more basic suggestion would be to get a 12 volt plug in magnetic base light (red/blue/orange??) so that in the (hopefully) unlikely event of a real problem, put the light on the roof of the vehicle and turn it on and all the nice EO'ers and others will pull up to se what is going on-- we are all inqusitive after all...
Rusty

I could be wrong, but I have an idea that the Codan NGT HF radio has the ability to transmit text of some sort..... Maybe somone more knowledgeable than me could clarify please?

Roachie

Hi Jules,

Something else you could consider is an external antenna for your phone (not all can do this) or even using a NextG modem with an external antenna. These increase the coverage considerably from the standard internal antenna, though will not ensure coverage everywhere.

Cheers, db..This is one of the antenna sites for the NextG modem I use.

Hi Jules,

Not sure if you have seen this new thread, but there is some knowledge that may be of interest, especially HF email.

Thread 60622

Cheers, db.