Satphone vs HF radio

The reason people still buy HF's is because a HF is a radio first and foremost. It can also be used to make phone calls (although not as clear and not as private as a satphone).

I have a HF but can also use my $1 GSM mobile when in a major town without having to buy a satphone, so that's hardly an advantage.

The benefits of a radio over a phone is that you can be heard by more than one person at a time, and you can talk to other radio users for free. I'm not saying everyone needs those benefits, but you did ask why people would still use HF.

If I had bought a satphone I doubt I would have used it much because of the cost of calls, but I would still have to pay the monthly plan fee to be able to use it if I needed to.

On the other hand I regularly use my HF to talk to friends that are travelling around australia. So for me the HF represents better value for my money.

I agree. Having used both the GlobalStar and the Telstra Iridium extensively on our recent trip on the CSR I can say that the Telstra Unit is significantly better than the GlobalStar. The latter would not have a signal about thirty percent of the time and even when a signal was present was prone to frequent and very annoying dropouts. The Telstra Unit basically just powered on and was about half the price factoring in both sent and received calls. Vodaphone may sponsor the Wallabies and Telstra may be squandering money on Stadium sponsorships but when it comes to Satphones go Telstra!!

Thanks for the useful information. Do you know what the minimum contract period is with Telstra's Iridium. And if you do cancel, then want to reconnect, is there a minimum period for reconnection.

Nigel, my contract is for 12 months continuous. If you cancel short of the 12 months you are still liable for the remainder of the contract. After the 12 month period is up you have 2, possibly 3, choices. 1. Remain connected and continue to pay $28.00 per month. 2. Have your number put on hold (for a small fee, but there is a maximum time period involved) and finally 3, By the time my contract expires, prepaid may be available and this will suit me right down to the ground, being a casual user. I hope this helps. Cheers!

P.G. Does the telstra/iridium handset have 2 modes (ie sat @ GSM)? That was one reason I always liked the Vodaphone setup, as I could have just 1 phone and 1 plan. Being a country boy, a sat/cdma 2 mode phone would be the greatest! thanks. Tim

Tim, my sat-phone is capable of dual band operation, either sat/gsm or sat/cdma, however at this stage Telstra is not offering these combinations to my knowledge. The phone uses plug in modules in the back to select the operating modes. Hope this helps!

Steve, I have used the phone extensively in remote Tasmania where no other existing services work with absolutely no problems or dropouts (where GlobalStar can have problems locking onto a Sat on the far south west coast). My mate has used GlobalStar for some time and after seeing and using my Iridium phone he is going to switch, he says it is superior by far. I am leaving Thursday to do the Oodnadatta track and beyond and I'll let you know when I get back how the Iridium system performs. Cheers!

I echo Jim's sentiments entirely. Regardless of whether you're on the track or in the garage, a bottle of wine is a good sked-companion.
Either a satphone or HF will do the job, depending on how involved you wish to get. I use both, for different purposes. A point worth thinking about if you only have a satphone and need to call for help: as long as you have even one Police or RFDS phone number, you can ring them. If it is serious, they should be able to relay your problem and location via the RFDS or VKS-737 networks. There are plenty of people with HF and UHF who may be within reasonable distance but outside UHF range. So even though you can't contact them on HF, as long as they know where you are, someone will be able to help. So whether you choose satphone or HF, you should still carry a UHF radio to talk to people close by.

Steve, you are making a lot of assumptions here. Firstly a question was asked and I gave my first hand response. Secondly, I have travelled over 30,000k's on holidays over the past 2 years (and I am about to go again in a few days) through QLD, NT and South Australia, and survived with "only" a UHF set and a couple of mobile phones (GSM & CDMA) and never had need for anything else. Thirdly, I have brokendown out there but was smart enough to carry enough spares to fix things with the help of a passing truckie. The point is, take what you are comfortable with. Without being anti social, not everyone wants to broadcast their whereabouts or what they are doing, I go into the outback to get lost, not be contactable, and the last thing I want to do is turn on an HF Radio, Mobile Phones or anything else where I can be found. I am very happy to stop to help or assist anyone in trouble that I happen to wander across, but I'm not wandering around out there looking to be a mobile mechanic or workshop supply! I'm sorry if this doesn't meet your code of the outback, but my sole reason for succumbing to buying a sat-phone is purely a recently diagnosed medical one. PS, 3 days walk out of Tasmania's South West is just as isolated as anywhere in the outback (HF definately isn't practicle to carry in a backpack down there!):-)

Steve - those people around the corner who will come to your help are contactable on UHF for one tenth the cost of HF. A quality UHF set using repeaters will cover well over 100km. Nearly all off roaders run UHF. HF is nowhere near as common.

It's rarely likely that you will get 50km or more coverage on a UHF, and in hilly or forested areas it can be less than 5km. I would hate someone to get into difficulty because they believe that their UHF will work for 100km.

Quoting unrealistic distances like that for UHF is simply irresponsible.

OK, sorry Steve, I've calmed down now (work related stress!). I'm off on my adventure today, thanks for your good thoughts. Cheers.

Good news Steve! I have just returned from the N.T. and my Telstra Motorola 9500 Iridium phone worked flawlessly! I made calls from Oodnadatta, Lamberts Centre, Finke, Chambers Pillar, Arltunga, Hermansburg and the Devils Marbles, all loud, all clear and with full signal strength. The phones come with an external antenna but this was not needed. The system now has SMS activated as well. I am pleased with my choice rather than going with HF. Cheers!