Thuraya Sat Phone Quick test

Submitted: Friday, Dec 24, 2021 at 09:42
ThreadID: 143012 Views:4144 Replies:3 FollowUps:2
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I will be testing this more, and more specifically over time. But here is a test of it mounted on the Windsceen. This was done on the easter edge of the WA wheatbelt. the Sat it was communicating with in the the north west, around 43 tom45 degrees..

I actually had to use it for real while conducting the test as there was an incident, and the RFDS were called in, and I had to get to Perth. I wouldn't have known if I hadn't had the sat phone.

So far I am quite impressed with it.





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Reply By: pmk03 - Friday, Dec 24, 2021 at 10:16

Friday, Dec 24, 2021 at 10:16
Have the same phone on Pivotel
So far pretty impressed. Once you point it in the correct direction.
Did find you will have to be in a clearing as it struggled with tree cover.
We used ours on our recent Cape & Gulf trip to keep in touch with home & it worked well. As good any Iridium/Motorola I have hired in the past
Cheers
Paul
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Follow Up By: JJAdv - Friday, Dec 24, 2021 at 10:29

Friday, Dec 24, 2021 at 10:29
Here the sat is at 45 degrees, I only had one time when standing under a huge Salmon Gum where I had to move. The call come through, but was a bit choppy until I moved.

I could make calls with it on the window when driving at 100Kms. So far impresses. I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it is due to it using a geostationary Sat.
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Reply By: Member - Cuppa - Friday, Dec 24, 2021 at 18:55

Friday, Dec 24, 2021 at 18:55
Is it an XT Lite?
If so that is what we have. Never used in an emergency (the reason for having it), but tested from Cockle Creek at the bottom of Tassie to Kalumburu in the North Kimberley & across the top end. Only once unable to pick up the satellite, in heavy dense monsoonal cloud.
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Reply By: Member - Warren H - Monday, Dec 27, 2021 at 13:33

Monday, Dec 27, 2021 at 13:33
I've been happy with my XT Lite. It does have some acknowledged limitations, it's definitely not a walk around phone and works best if you establish the direction and orientation for the best signal and use an earpiece/headphones so it can be kept in the right orientation. I posted in mid 2021 about earpieces for v1, as v2 now uses the standard smartphone headphone jack, and v1 as it's no longer supported. You can substitute a cordless phone headset. Other posts on this forum have discussed options for omnidirectional antennas. We only activate ours for about 3 months a year, Pivotel have been very good with the phone being on the network within a few minutes of requesting activation.
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Follow Up By: pmk03 - Monday, Dec 27, 2021 at 16:38

Monday, Dec 27, 2021 at 16:38
Haven't thought of using an earpiece as you do need to stand & hold the phone to your ear with the antenna pointed in the satellite's direction. It is pretty forgiving though but not if you are walking around in my experience.
Better to get a good signal & stay put during the call.
All that said have never had a time when we couldn't make the call. We just change direction of the handset to get the strongest signal on the display & stick to it during the call.
On standby it's not as critical. We just have it turned on in the car, even driving & it will receive a call or worst case advise you of a missed call. Most of the time our's is in the dash top glove box.
For the price I think it's a great phone & network. It hasn't let us down. Which is what you need.
Cheers
Paul
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