Globalstar Sat Phone

I'm in the market for a sat phone, does any have any recent experience of globalstar in the last 12 months?

Thanks, John
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Reply By: Baz - The Landy - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 05:57

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 05:57
Yes, I found the drop out rate, or the inability to connect at a time I wanted to, far too high. If you are patient you will get through, but this will depend on where you are in Australia.

There are better alternatives; I replaced mine with Iridium

Cheers, Baz - The Landy
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 20:03

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 20:03
.
Baz, I guess that it would be hard to "be patient' if you had just been bitten by a snake!
I use an Iridium too. Price is not a big factor if my life depends on it.

Cheers
Allan

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Follow Up By: Baz - The Landy - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 20:27

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 20:27
Hi Allan

I trust the Sunshine State is just that...

In reality, price can be managed quite easily, if some thought is put into it.

The type selected will always be subjective, and relative to the user's needs. Mind you, I find that Iridium fits our bill perfectly!

I expanded on my thoughts in an EO blog I penned today, as it is a topc I have given thought to previously.

Sat phones - Don't get Hung-up on costs.

But I see see my Sat phone as more than something that is part of my "emergency kit" and if managed correctly can form part of the communication kit that allows relatively cost free access to the rest of the world when travelling...

Cheers, Baz
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 20:56

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 20:56
.
Hi Baz, Yes, sunny here today. As most days. lol

I do see my satphone as only mainly for emergency or urgent communication.
When we 'go bush' I really do not want communication "to the rest of the world".
But I am open to ideas and suggestions and will read your blog soon, when I have time available.
Cheers
Allan

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Follow Up By: Baz - The Landy - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 21:42

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 21:42
Yeah, rest assured we are with you 100% in not always wanting contact with the rest of the world...

Isn't that one of the fantastic things about travelling this great country of ours, you can just immerse yourself in it and disappear!

But it is about giving yourself the option, just in case.

Of course, when it is time to become a recluse and slide away into the horizon, like a setting sun, we simply do something quite novel and just turn all our devices off!

Kinda like getting the best of both worlds, ours to choose.

Cheers, Baz - The Landy...!



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Reply By: Member - Alan H (QLD) - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 09:31

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 09:31
I have one and went that way primarily for cost. I got a reconditioned one for about $300 and it is like a mobile to call from outside and costs $1 min for outgoing calls $0 for incoming with $20 month.

Yes there are times when the satellites do not line up but it just means a little patience and wait until the signal comes in then call. It is very clear to listen to. Have used mine up north and down south.

We keep it as an emergency backup and to allow contact with older relatives. We are happy with ours.

It is just a phone without data links etc

Alan
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Reply By: P-Mont - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 09:49

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 09:49
They still drop out and are unavailable way too often. Much better off with an Iridium.

If you only want it for emergencies or very occasional use, buy a 2nd hand iridium and you can put a Telstra SIM card in it if you turn global roaming on. Calls are very expensive (incoming and outgoing), but there is no monthly cost.

Emergency calls are free and you don't need to put the SIM card in, just call 112.

A word of warning, if you're going to put the Telstra SIM card in, be careful with call diversion "if not reachable/busy/no answer". If someone calls you and it diverts to voicemail under one of these three cases, you pay double rates for the call so it could cost you $10/minute for each diversion. If you have it set to "divert all calls", then there's no charge.
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Follow Up By: Baz - The Landy - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 10:07

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 10:07
As a matter of interest, I have my normal mobile service via Optus which allows diversion to other mobile phone numbers at no cost.

My sat-phone service is via Pivotel/Irdium network, which is designated simply as a mobile number, and you do not pay for incoming calls, although I do pay a monthly fee of AU$40.

When we are “Out and About” we can divert all our mobile phones (Mine, Mrs Landy & The Crown Prince’s) to the sat-phone service and any normal incoming calls to our “normal mobiles” will be received to the Iridium sat-phone.

Mind you, that is the theory…

The point, which is diverging from the original question posed in this thread, is that potentially it is a cost effective way of staying in touch with people trying to call us without needing to give all and sundry our sat-phone number.

If I want to make contact with the outside world on the Irdium Sat-phone, I simply text the person and ask them to call me. It still costs me $40 per month, plus nominal fees for a text, but it is a solution that works well for us.

Cheers, Baz – The Landy
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Reply By: PeterInSa - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 10:45

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 10:45
I have had a Globalstar phone, and at the time children could call my phone on there Telstra My Hour for Free, at the time did not like the drop outs or the monthly charges and they had a setup charge if only used once a year so I sold it.

Purchased the Issatphone or whatever and it costs approx. $90 for 3 months plus calls.( cannot get a cheaper rate my phone is locked in to the phone seller) If doing it again I would buy a 2nd Hand Irdium and just install a 3G sim card in it as discussed above. We have had our current phone for around 3 years with no emergency so only calls are to test out prior to a trip.

Peter
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Reply By: MEMBER - Darian, SA - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 11:00

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 11:00
As you can see form the above replies, your decision on satphone choice will probably be driven by your intended usage. I bought a new Qualcomm 1600 from Pivotel, on the Globalstar network. $500 for the phone, $20 a month (direct debit ), a mobile phone number and $1 \ min for outgoing calls. That was the cheapest option for me because it is an 'emergencies only' phone (and we can get messages from VKS-737 via our HF radio if there is drama at home). It seems the big plus for this Globalstar phone setup is that of crystal clear comms....the three negatives that may concern some users I guess might be; the potential for dropping out of calls (at times, depending on location, one of the low earth orbit satellites may disappear from view just before the next one comes into view) ....text messaging is not offered....and .....the Qualcomm is a bit old fashioned and 'clunky' in design. Mine has had very little use (no emergencies :-).....and I can ring Globalstar @ $0 to test it any time. That all suits me fine for now.....IF I was going to be satphoning regularly, I might well shift to another hardware plan.
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Reply By: Member - Boobook - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 12:22

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 12:22
John your post prompted me to do a little research as a review of my Iridium setup.

This is what I learned fwiw

1)Ignore any comments from experiences prior to 12 months ago they were either the old system or before many of the new sats were launched.

2)The new satellites were commissioned about 1 year ago. BUT they only put about 22 up instead of their planned 30 or so. There are no current plans to go past 22

3) I called Pivotel, they were very honest and helpful. They referred me to this page re the coverage. She said basically you can expect a drop out for a minute or two in most calls over a couple of minutes. Especially to the North. Pretty much much most calls will drop out.

4)However the prices are pretty good. $20per month with a normal mobile phone number and $0.99 per minute, incoming calls are free to you and normal mobile cost to the caller. No text.

Could be a good option if you are prepared to accept the drop outs.

Also refurbished phones for $350 and new from $500 though new phones have been out of stock for 4 months with no sign of new deliveries.......
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 13:31

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 13:31
Hello

Correct me if I am wrong but the way I read it is that the $20 Globalstar Casual Plan is only for 1 month and actually costs $45 as there is a $25 connection fee. When the month is up you have to start again ...i.e. another $45 - or is it $20 a month for as long as you like with an initial $25 connection fee? It doesn't seem that way to me.

The other higher plans ($35/$70) have the option for no connection fee but you must lock in for 24 months, but if you choose no minimum term you pay a $50 connection fee.

Cheers
Greg
I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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Follow Up By: Member - Boobook - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 14:01

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 14:01
Greg I think the casual plan is a minimum of 1 month, but has mo maximum. So 12 months would cost $265
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 14:21

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 14:21
mmm Ok - doesn't sound too bad in that case. Do you (or anyone else) know if it would be possible to keep an existing telstra mobile number if you swapped over to Globalstar?

Cheers
Greg
I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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Follow Up By: Member - Boobook - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 14:25

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 14:25
Bloody Good Question.
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Follow Up By: Baz - The Landy - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 16:40

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 16:40
Hi Greg & Boobook

I think the answer on porting your phone number is yes, you can keep the same number.

It is just an Australian mobile number. When I transferred from Globalstar to Iridium I retained the same number, all done through Pivotel.

Cheers, Baz – The Landy
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Follow Up By: Sat Phone Sales - Sunday, Jan 17, 2016 at 10:12

Sunday, Jan 17, 2016 at 10:12
Just a clarification on the connection fee - it is $25 each time you connect to the Globalstar network. So if you go "off plan" when you want to reconnect, it is $25 connection fee and $20 network fee in the first month. Every month after that is just $20.

As far as stock goes we have good stocks or refurb and demo units ( $375 / $425 ) It is unlikely that we'll be seeing new units again ($499 RRP)

http://www.satphonesales.com.au/Globalstar-GSP1600-Refurbished

Coverage in the lower 2/3s of Australia is great. In the far north, say north of Townsville and Broome service availability will taper off. It can be, at times, that even in Cape York, coverage seems fine. Other times you could be waiting quite a while for signal. That's why we don't recommend the Globalstar network fir the far north. However, some people say this level of coverage is fine for them and DO use them in the far north.

Voice quality on the Globalstar network is fantastic and puts all other networks to shame! For those interested the earth stations carrying voice traffic are in Dubbo, Mt. Isa and Meekatharra in WA.

The reduced coverage in the north is due to the satellites being further apart and the orbital plane of the satellites which is optimised for use in the USA.
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Follow Up By: Idler Chris - Sunday, Jan 17, 2016 at 10:31

Sunday, Jan 17, 2016 at 10:31
I am one of those people who Kevin says has used the Globalstar network in the far north. It has always worked when I wanted it to, and one time I had an accident and really needed it I was only about 300 k's from the top of Aust in Arnham Land. I can vouch that the voice quality is really good. At $375 a unit no one should travel in remote areas without a satphone, and I would suggest, a PLB as well. I travel the Vic high country a lot and its performance there is really good. I got my satphone from SatPhoneSales and Kevin and Sue are great people to do business with.

I have just used the edit function to add to this post. This thread was started sometime ago and I had forgotten that I had posted a reply 11 days ago. I will leave this reply as it adds a bit more.
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Reply By: Idler Chris - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 12:32

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 12:32
I have a satphone on the Globalstar network and I highly recommend it.
Service on this network is supposed to be good except that it deteriorates as you go north.
Last year I rolled my vehicle at latitude 13.5 degrees south, about 400 kilometres from the top of Australia and the Arafura Sea. In the half hour after this accident I had used my Globalstar phone to make several calls to my family, arranged a tow truck from Katherine, and phoned my insurance broker and subsequently my insurance company and lodged my insurance claim. I would have been on the phone for 15 to 20 minutes of that half hour and I think there was only two dropouts but no real problem as was able just to redial and reconnect. I consider this outstanding as when the brown stuff hit the fan my phone did all I asked of it in an area that some told me it would not work at all. This is a real world fact, whether it is always like this I do not know. What I do know is that I will not be getting rid of my Globalstar phone anytime soon.
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Reply By: John W8 - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 12:47

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 12:47
Thanks all for the replies so far, keep em coming :-)

I'm still in two minds, seems to be some different experiences.

I did some reading on using the telstra sim card in the iridium handset some time ago and there was some concern that this was just a loophole in the tesltra billing system and the risk was it could get changed anytime. Anyone got anything more on this?
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Follow Up By: Baz - The Landy - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 13:15

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 13:15
In regard to the Telstra SIM, that was my concern also, hence why I went through the Pivotel set-up.

Good luck with your dilberations.

Cheers, Baz - The Landy
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 13:44

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 13:44
Hi

People have been using Telstra sims in their Iridium sat phones for years. I think Telstra would have picked up on it by now if they had some sort of issue with it. My conclusion - they obviously don't mind, and why would they? They make money out of it.

I do however believe that "proper" sat phone plans would suit people better in many circumstances so research is the key. I have $20 Telstra casual sim and it has become borderline best option since going up from $10 especially if you actually make a few calls (though apparently there are still other $10 telstra plans available though still borderline if you actually use the phone on a regular basis as calls/sms in and out are all billed to you).

Cheers
Greg
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Follow Up By: Member - Boobook - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 13:58

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 13:58
The ability to use a Telstra sim in a sat phone is not a loophole. It is a service and specifically mentioned in their sat phone terms and conditions. It is no different to any other Telstra ( or any other operator) service in that it could be stopped with notice but don't think it a loophole for 1 second. Section 7 of their T&C's cover the service in detail.
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Reply By: TomH - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 13:50

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 13:50
It is not a loophole at all as Telstra themselves provide Satellite plans.

If you want a cheap emergency only satfone you can do this. When out of mobile coverage and you have a Telstra Sim (Post paid ie ON A PLAN) that has international roaming enabled, you can put it in a Motorola IRIDIUM Satfone and it will work ANYWHERE in Australia except in places like Standley Chasm etc.

You can buy a 9505A which allows texting for well under $500 nowadays and even a newer 9555 is quite cheap.
The only cost in addition to your normal mobile plan is the fact that calls cost approx $4 a minute both to and from the Satfone. We had ours for two years and total call cost was $8 approx Our family knew not to ring us and kept in touch via emails when necessary.. Only in a dire emergency would they ring. The new Globalstar network is better than the old one but still doesnt match the Iridium network.
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Reply By: Sigmund - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 14:20

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 14:20
Here's a quick comparo from a crowd that sells them all:

http://www.satphonesales.com.au/Which-Satellite-Network-and-Plan?zenid=acb470f6b4ab4f0d7d61a5e03246be0a

When I looked into a purchase a few years ago the reported number of dropouts with Iridium put me off. I went for an Isatphone Pro - the new handset was about $750, but that's being superseded and the IsatPhone 2 is much more expensive.

Another plus for me is being able to buy a prepaid airtime voucher for varying numbers of units and activate it only when needed. Calls out to landlines are about $2.20 per minute. There is a sunset clause on the voucher though - both 'latent' and of course when activated.

That website says that calls in are expensive and that's true but are much cheaper via Skype. I just ask folk to send me a text from an Inmarsat website, which is free, and I call them back. Or they can send a short email.

The handset can be set up to send with a couple of keystrokes an SMS with my coords to a list of recipients. Kinda like a Spot messenger. 85 c per recipient.

Reception is very good. From Melb the satellite is in the northern sky at about 50 degrees. I've connected at lower angles with no probs too (south of Sth Island in NZ).

HTH.
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Follow Up By: John W8 - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 15:00

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 15:00
Any use in the high country? I'm worried that the stationary satellites could be blocked by hills.
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Follow Up By: Zippo - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 16:33

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 16:33
Dropouts with Iridium, or did you mean Globalstar?
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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 10:45

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 10:45
John, I haven't done that much testing with the Inmarsat in the high country. The last time was at the Diamantina horse yards on the W Kiewa valley. There's a fair amount of timber there but there's also a view northish, so no probs. Done more with the Spot Messenger and that uses the Globalstar network - sometimes in the high country that won't get a fix or if it does it's inaccurate.

If you're down the bottom of a gorge or a heavily treed valley you are likely to have trouble with any system. With Iridium the closer you are to the equator the more trouble you'll have.Swings and roundabouts - gotta pick the spot to get stuck in! Or be prepared to walk.
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Follow Up By: Member - Boobook - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 13:55

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 13:55
John, both Inmarsat and to a greater degree, Thuraya are patchy in the High country. Being quite south, the sats are quite low in the sky making them useless any valley running EW.

If you use Iridium ( and I Globalstar) and there is no visibility ( very very rare - I have never experienced it). Worst case you wait a few minutes and away you go. If you are with Inmarsat or Thuraya and get no signal then you have to climb up and over the mountain(s) that are between you and it.

I use Iridium but the new Globalstar looks interesting if you can tolerate ocassional cut outs.
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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 14:03

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 14:03
In the latitude of the Vic high country the Inmarsat satellite is around 45 degrees above the nominal horizon.

Also I'm told that heavy smoke interrupts signals; thankfully I've never had to try to connect with that around.
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Follow Up By: Member - Boobook - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 14:18

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 14:18
Yes I know recall wasn't as bad as Thuraya which I think is less than 25 degrees from memory in the SW. Either way Iridium will be more usable in the High Country.
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Follow Up By: Member - Boobook - Friday, Jan 08, 2016 at 09:31

Friday, Jan 08, 2016 at 09:31
Erghh no edit....

I should have said less than 25 degrees in the SE of Australia.

The inability to edit really detracts from the usability of EO and bleep s me.
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Reply By: GarryR - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 17:07

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 17:07
I have an Inmarsat phone which will do the job but, after talking to the RAAF security patrol on my last trip away, they advised me that Iridium was the way to go. The reason was Inmarsat was good for the northern half of Aust with one sat, but the Iridium has two satillites that cover both the northern and southern parts of Aust. This what we were told, the storymay differ from others. We bought 2 prepaid blocks which are only activated when we need to call, and are valid for 12months. The 2 25unit (12.5 mins each block) cost me $120- in total. We have been away and now back without using the sat phone which was for emergency only. My son in law that set it up for us has also been away without needing to use it. On my next trip, which will be with my sil, we intend to use the sat phone. This will be to use the credit on it before it expires. This way we will get used to activating the credit, and changing over to the next block. The 2 blocks can be activated at different times , but must be used in the 12month period. We found this better than mucking around with different sim cards and plans.. hope this helps a little, as there are many ways of doing things, pending your requirements, and period of time away in very remote areas with no normal phone coverage.
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Follow Up By: Zippo - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 22:28

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 22:28
Garry, Iridium has 66 satellites, all in continuous low earth orbit. The system's name comes from the element Iridium, atomic number 77. The original concept was for 77 satellites but financial constraints caused a rework of the scheme.

Whether your Iridium satphone plan works out better or worse than the Telstra SIM deal I guess depends on how often you go bush and how much use it may get. Certainly swapping a SIM back and forth between a cellphone and a satphone would get old really quickly for me. We have a separate T-SIM on the $10/mo and $4/min in/out deal and we're comfortable with that. Prepaid time blocks may be more suitable for others.
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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 10:50

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 10:50
When looking into user experiences with Iridium a few years ago complaints about drop-out were common enough to put me off. It seems then the issue was that calls longer than 5-7 minutes had to be handed over to the next satellite and that wasn't always successful.

Iridium has the lowest density of coverage at the equator since the orbits are polar.
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 12:32

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 12:32
Sigmund, I think you are getting Iridium confused with Globalstar.
Iridium has the best Sat coverage and very little drop out issues due to its extensive Sat network of 66 Sats as Zippo points out, they are not solely polar orbits either.

The systems bounces the signal across a number of its satellites to the Sat closest to the nearest ground station, meaning the hand off between Sats is constant and pretty well seamless, hence the lack of dropout issues.

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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 12:52

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 12:52
No John, I'm not confusing the two.

Iridium sats are further apart at the equator so dropping the angle of view.

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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 13:01

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 13:01
There is always at least one Iridium Satellite in view at anytime over 98% of the earths surface.
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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 13:20

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 13:20
If the globe was a smooth ball. I was talking about the problem of valleys.

One US test: https://www.wildsnow.com/10280/satphone-review-iridium-9555-9575-extreme-globalstar/

Go trawling through user posts in Aus and the US. Drop-outs are regularly reported.
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 13:34

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 13:34
I have been using the Iridium system for well over 10 years now.
My first phone was a 9500, then a 9505, I now have a 9555, all have been used extensively from one end of this country to the other, Vic High Country, Tassie, Coburg Peninsula, The Kimberly, The Gulf country, CSR, Simpson etc etc and Iridium has proven time and again as the best network coverage anywhere.

I have stood side by side with a Globalstar user on more than one occasion and whilst I turned on my phone, acquired a signal, made my call, he was waiting up to 20 minutes for a suitable signal.

It's a well know fact that the police, military, RFDS, aboriginal communities, stations etc only use Iridium as it's the most reliable service almost anywhere.

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Reply By: TomH - Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 23:28

Wednesday, Jan 06, 2016 at 23:28
A read of this may helphttp://www.satmagazine.com/story.php?number=242951891
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Follow Up By: Frank P (NSW) - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 08:42

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 08:42
I'm not sure about the other providers discussed in that article, but in regard to Globalstar the information is 5 years out of date and most of the Globalstar-specific cautions mentioned are not applicable to the Australian service.

I chose Globalstar years ago when the first generation satellites were working well. When Globalstar basically failed , with my pattern of useage I could not justify the expense of changing to another provider. Now that Globalstar has completed commissioning its gen 2 satellite constellation its coverage and services are ok, but not as good as when the gen 1 constellation was at its peak.

I still have Globalstar, but if I were to buy now it would be Iridium.
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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 13:04

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 13:04
Yes, it's not quite accurate re IsatPhone/Inmarsat either. Maybe firmware changes have had an effect since 2012; it normally doesn't take mine anything like 5 mins to get a fix.

This is the coverage and angle of view map for our part of the world ...

The phone also does close to 8 hours talk time.
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Reply By: John W8 - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 10:49

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 10:49
Thanks all, looks like Iridium in one format or another.
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Follow Up By: Baz - The Landy - Saturday, Jan 09, 2016 at 13:56

Saturday, Jan 09, 2016 at 13:56
John

Your thread prompted me to put pen to paper, so to speak and I've expanded my thoughts in the following article,

Satphones - Don't get Hung-up on costs

The key is don't get "hung up on cost" and that doesn't mean you shouldn't be budget conscious, there are ways you can keep cost to a minimum whilst ensuring you retain flexibility on the way you use it without it costing an arm and a leg.

And make sure any device you select gives you the features you want today, or might want in the future, they are a relatively expensive item...

I've used Satphone technology for over a decade, previously Globalstar and currently Iridium.

Good luck with your deliberations...

Cheers, Baz - The Landy


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Reply By: Sigmund - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 13:14

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 13:14
Here's a US comparo of GlobalStar and Iridium. The costs/plans are of course different from ours. These guys weren't aware of Inmarsat's offerings.
AnswerID: 594581

Follow Up By: Sigmund - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 14:06

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 14:06
Try again ...

https://www.wildsnow.com/10280/satphone-review-iridium-9555-9575-extreme-globalstar/
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FollowupID: 863059

Follow Up By: Sigmund - Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 14:07

Thursday, Jan 07, 2016 at 14:07
Once more with feeling!

Click me
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FollowupID: 863060

Reply By: Sigmund - Saturday, Jan 09, 2016 at 05:49

Saturday, Jan 09, 2016 at 05:49
Here's an Iridium satellite tracker.http://www.satflare.com/track.asp?q=iridium#MAP

If I read it right, from Melbourne for example there are times when the highest satellite is only 16 degrees angle of elevation.
AnswerID: 594654

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