Sat Phone Iridium 9555

Hi Folks

I seem to recall seeing a thread a little while ago that a standard prepaid SIM card would work in the Iridium 9555 sat phone - provided that global roaming was turned on. If anyone could provide the link - or perhaps enlighten me, that would be great.

Cheers

Chris
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Reply By: DiscoTourer - Thursday, Jul 04, 2013 at 22:02

Thursday, Jul 04, 2013 at 22:02
Telstra sim, with global roaming activated.

Brett...
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Follow Up By: Sandman - Thursday, Jul 04, 2013 at 22:36

Thursday, Jul 04, 2013 at 22:36
I quizzed an e-bay seller 2 weeks ago, thats exactly what he said...
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 00:08

Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 00:08
..but must be post-paid (on some sort of plan) ..not pre-paid. (As pointed out below and in about 20 previous threads on same subject :)

Cheers
Greg
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Follow Up By: Villatranquilla - Sunday, Jul 07, 2013 at 11:24

Sunday, Jul 07, 2013 at 11:24
have just put my sim card (on a Telstra plan not pre-paid) into the iridum sat phone but comes up with Sim error - previous posts suggest it should work - any suggestions please
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Sunday, Jul 07, 2013 at 11:45

Sunday, Jul 07, 2013 at 11:45
Hi

Should work. Have you got global roaming activated? I am not sure if you can do this online (via your Telstra account) but if not just ring Telstra and tell them to turn it on for you.

I am not sure if this is your problem but its the only thing I can think of.

Cheers
Greg
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Reply By: craigandej - Thursday, Jul 04, 2013 at 22:41

Thursday, Jul 04, 2013 at 22:41
Hi,
A prepaid SIM will not work. It has to be on a plan. I have a $10 per month casual plan from Telstra.

Regards
Craig
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Thursday, Jul 04, 2013 at 23:07

Thursday, Jul 04, 2013 at 23:07
That is as I understand and have tested.... a pre-paid SIM, even a Telstra one, will not work.
Only a post-pay Telstra will work, either a Satellite Plan or a Next G plan with roaming. Even then a Next G SIM has limitations.
The Telstra $10/month Casual plan can be best for most.
Cheers
Allan

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Reply By: Chris_K - Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 08:27

Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 08:27
Hi Everyone

Many thanks for the replies...very helpful.

Cheers

Chris
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Follow Up By: Sandman - Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 12:07

Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 12:07
If anyone has used it, what were the call charges...was it a flat $4.xx per minute ?

Pete
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 17:33

Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 17:33
Hi Pete

If you mean has any one used a sat phone using $10 Telstra casual plan ?...Yes...

The call rates are something around (based on my last bill - not published rates) $1:27 to $1.60 per minute "peak" and $1.10 per minute "off peak" (depends if you ring a mobile or normal phone I think). Not too bad...

Killer is the SMS/message bank. If someone rings, you miss the call and they leave a message you get slugged about $2 per any part of 30 seconds i.e. 10 seconds = $2, 59 seconds = $4.....so be careful who you give your number to (e.g. not your ex girlfriend/wife who would like to send you broke:) . Same if you leave a message also.

If you plan on using the phone for anything but emergency calls then a "proper" sat plan e.g. $30/month or similar should be considered.

Cheers
Greg
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Follow Up By: Sandman - Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 18:51

Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 18:51
Thanks Greg, had a quick look on Telstra page today, think the SMSs were $1.50...

I jsut bought an CODAN NGT to play on HFradioclub as they offer the SMS but of course its only one way. I am tempted to get an Iridium phone and just stick in the car for the hell of it. I have a work funded Telstra SIM which I'm sure they wont get upset if it saves my life, cheaper than having to pay out life insurance :-)

If I had a girlfriend it would cost me a lot more trying to explain it to my wife :-)

Thanks for the insightful info...

Pete
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Follow Up By: Al-one - Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 19:36

Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 19:36
Hello everyone,
Just a word of warning on the charges that can be "racked up" on your $10 plan sim plugged into the sat phone. I have recently had mine activated for a trip and received or made no calls on the sat phone but received a bill for $10/month plus $42/month for about two dozen calls that I was supposed to have received. They were from all different sat phone numbers that I had no idea who they came from. I rang the Telstra sat phone enquiry number 1800632995 and the young lady said was I aware of the call charges etc. I said I was for making actual or for taking calls but I said as I didn't make or receive calls and only gave the number our to one person who didn't call me how could I be charged for anything other than the $10/month. She switched me through to Telstra mobile billing who cancelled the call charges without question. I cancelled the plan making me very wary of taking out another plan. Just look at you bills carefully to avoid the same thing happening to you.
Cheers,
Al-one
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Follow Up By: craigandej - Saturday, Jul 06, 2013 at 21:27

Saturday, Jul 06, 2013 at 21:27
a good option is to cancel all call diverts on your phone, that way you never have to dial 101 to retrieve messages, they are sent to your phone as texts.

Cheers
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Follow Up By: Member - bungarra (WA) - Sunday, Jul 07, 2013 at 19:37

Sunday, Jul 07, 2013 at 19:37
As all have said.....post paid (on a plan) with Global Roaming activated

I used to pay the $10 a month for a casual plan...but calls were outrageous....so I cancelled...when away I simply put my SIM for my Post paid plan in the Sat phone and use it sparingly...that way I chew up my plan allowance that I wouldn't normally be using because out of range...and I save the $10 a month casual plan ...dont get an extra bill and to date have never had a bill over my normal monthly allowance....
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Follow Up By: Hunjy100 - Tuesday, Jul 09, 2013 at 09:04

Tuesday, Jul 09, 2013 at 09:04
I was under the impression that sat calls were not included in the monthly allowance of a plan and was treated the same as 1900 or 1300 numbers.
I have a Telstra $600/month usage plan so what your saying is that I would have my sat calls included in this usage.
Is that right?

Mal
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Follow Up By: Member - Boobook - Monday, Jul 29, 2013 at 07:27

Monday, Jul 29, 2013 at 07:27
The call rate on a telstra postpaid SIM is $4.00 per minute for calling or receiving. It is identical to being overseas in that respect.
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Reply By: Bazooka - Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 15:47

Friday, Jul 05, 2013 at 15:47
Iirc someone mentioned on here many many moons ago that 1900 numbers had to be activated also, ie Telstra postpaid (plan) sim with international roaming and 1900 numbers activated.
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Reply By: Egalitarian - Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 at 16:03

Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 at 16:03
Hello Chris
For the past two years I've successfully used my Iridium 9555 with a Telstra SIM card, post paid, activated for global roaming. Callers in Oz simply dial the relevant mobile phone number, their cost is the same as if they were calling anywhere in Oz. My return calls are bit more costly as I'm not on a Telstra satellite plan, which was when I last checked, $30 per month.

I use the Iridium only when travelling to remote areas. If you only go occasionally, you could simply shift the SIM card out of your regular cellphone (assuming it's Telstra), but you may get a lot of traffic that you don't want from your regular number. I chose to buy a separate post-paid SIM, costing $10 per month. This means that when I make a call, it is treated as an overseas call by Telstra, but I minimise costs by sending text messages.

When heading bush I tell family and friends to send a text to the $10 SIM card number. I turn the satphone on every morning while sipping a cup of tea, check for messages. No messages, no cost. If necessary, I respond to messages with a phone call, which is quicker and easier than fiddling around with a text message.

On one occasion I had some important business in the US and responded to text from that office by phoning. Conversation was about 8 minutes, total bill as I recall, about $25. Very cheap price for the value of the business involved.

When you go to buy the SIM card, Telstra will try to get you to buy a phone to go with it. I told them I needed a separate number - hence a separate SIM - for an old phone.
If they get a whiff of the word Satellite, they'll try hard to talk you out of it or suggest that it won't work or it won't be reliable. But I could see no sense in paying $30 a month for something I use very rarely. Besides, as Telstra reminds me when I do get a bill for Satphone calls - there is an extra charge for the relay via the Optus network.

I'm quite happy to pay that.

Hope this clarifies your decision making.

Cheers

Egalitarian
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