HF and satphones..one point of view

Hmm - interesting post footloose.

My bro in law works for Codan so I know what the NGT can do, and how easy to use it is, but the cost and size of the whole set up is a right royal PIA.

On the other hand Global * sat phone that I use ... about 20-30 calls per month has only let me down:

1. occasionally it will break up with clear sky visibility. Usually hanging up and calling back works fine. HF isn't always reliable too (sun spots,..)

2. occasionally I will want to use it when i am in a shadow of the potential satellites - eg., a big hill or building that it is not always easy to get away from sufficiently - but that is rare.

On the other hand, it cost me zip - nada - nothing - with the Gov't rebate, and I pay just $70 per month plus a few bucks when my calls go over the $50 mark.

That is still a long way from paying for an NGT - even at mates rates.

Connected within 20 or 30s always. Get put through to anyone with a telephone who can answer it ... works pretty well for me - I carry a list of ph numbers for potential help where ever I go (even the 737 guys - as I know they can surely help even though my budget doesn't stretch to joining them). My sat phone works in my vehicle, or if I am out walking or trekking or hiking, I can call from there too. The NGT is bolted in the vehicle as good as it is.

What sort of sat phone problems did you have? do you have a provider who can check out your kit? were you using a car kit (wish I had one, but not if they don't work)?

I note that lots of the NT government folks have the sat phones with car kits, and more recently I have seen them in a bunch of SA Gov vehicles in Ceduna - although a lot still have HF.

Ciao for now
Andrew.

Gee I betcha Albert Canning would have luved one of those

ps whats NGT mean these days? (in my day it obviously meant otherwise!!)
Cheers
Mike

G'day Footloose, Yeah! it's all the way you want to hear it, as for us we have a Satellite Phone on a GlobalStar plan. We have travelled extensively in the north,west and east no problem with my phone.
The phone is the better of the communicators and I don't have to listen to anybody I don't want to, cheaper too!
andy
ps even when there were drop outs I contacted GlobalStar they refunded my calls and paid for an extra months rent plan, yes obviously you need to talk to the service provider

What has a CODAN NGT got over a Barret 950 Series ? ....which one would be the easiest unit to operate for a non techo couple ????????..(read ones who have not mastered how to use a VCR !!)

and i don't want to know which one is more expensive than the other..

Nice to have both. But I'm still a HF fan, and also subcribe to a HF telephone network, so I can phone home thru the radio.

I have a Motorola 9500(one of the older type) on Telstra Iridium service. It cost $995 for the phone and I'm on the $28/month plan. I have had it for 4 year now and never had any problem using it. Ocasionally it will drop out but I just ring straight back and it is ok. It has got me out of trouble on the main Hwy between Karratha and Carnarvon on the way to Perth a couple of times. I even rang LandRover Assist and go towed 400kms back home and only had to wait 5 hours for the tow truck to arrive.
On the other hand at work the Locomotives have at Sat phones on some other Telstra network which picks up satelites in either the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean. These sat phones have an antenna the size of a dinner plate and about 75mm thick. These sat phone are one of the worst I have used, makes the Iridium sound like a land line! Also at work we have Globalstar and I've never actually got one of these to work. They always seem to be off getting repaired. Maybe it is just battery problems are somthing.
On my recent desert trip I bumped into a few people that had HF radio's but didn't actually know how to use them.

Glen.

Hi Jim,

I had an Eriksson R290 with GlobalStar before my current Qualcomm 1600. Huge difference, the GSM/SAT R290 had all sorts of problems finding and keeping a signal. On the Anne Beadell it took 2 calls and $21 to eatablish a support call for shocks.

The CDMA/SAT Qualcomm acquires a signal in about 20 secs whereas I would be standing on roof racks like an idiot trying to get a signal with the R290. Worked well on the Qld coast though, Canning and Western Deserts a diferent thing.

Dave at Mt Dare hires out satphones all the time and we show hirers how to use them before they leave. Only once has it taken more than a minute to acquire a signal. On this occasion it probably to 10.
I haver used it from all over Australia but particularly the Simpson with only one drop out.
A satisfied user except for their non-existent fast data connection. Available from Telstra but not GlobalStar.

Sounded a terrific trip and interesting pics.

Regards
Ian@Mt Dare

Jim

When you had the troubles at Coopers Creek, were you under trees ?

It's hard to compare with GPS, because with GPS you usually have several sats to choose from - with Satphone there is mostly only one. If there's a treetrunk or lots of leaves between the antenna and the sat, it will drop out.

You also need more signal strength to transmit to a satellite 1000km away (or 2000km away for Globalsat).

My Iridium Motorola 9505 doesn't usually get dropouts - but I wasn't surprised with the dropouts over the June long weekend. I was in a deep valley where the sun disappeared behind the horizon at 3pm. The satphone was 1 meter below a 10 watt solar panel which also would have shadowed the sat signal.

Mike

Hi Footloose,
I had an R290 to keep working a couple of years ago, getting batteries for it was always a problem and expensive as well. The users were always complaining about the frustrations of getting it to lock on and then the dropouts, finally when the agents in Perth said that they didn't service or support that model any longer it was a good reason to put it in the bin. Since then we have been using 5 of the Globestar CDMA/SAT model mounted in car kits in aircraft, with reasonably good results considering the number of users that press the buttons.
I can only agree with your comments about the HF.

Cheers, Jerry

On our recent trip out through Qld and then down the Hay to Poeppels, Birdsville, Walkers crossing, White Cliffs and back to Sydney we had both HF and Telstra/Iridium satphone.
The HF was used daily to call in to VKS skeds, we also received messages via VKS to call another group on the phone as they were unable to call us as they had lost our phone number!
Their hired phone was never on when we tried to call!
Our Motorola 9500 was on all day and often all night (forgot to turn it off!) with an external antenna always had coverage, biggest problem was anwsering incoming calls when sitting around the fire and the truck was 20 yards away, it always stopped ringing after 3 rings usually before we could get to it.
Must follow that up to see if it can be made to ring for a longer time ;-))
No I didn't have any diversions turned on either.
As a group we all came to the conclusion that there is still plenty of life in the HF for remote travel with the phone purely for that call home to elderly parents or similar.

Morning Footy,

Interesting observations and comments.

I totally agree that HF would have to be one of the best forms of insurance when travelling far and wide, especially in remote areas and when on your own. EPIRB of course for life or death situation.

In another life I used HF every day and whilst it can be a PIA due fade-outs etc there is no doubt that someone, somewhere, can be reached in an emergency.

Years ago I worked an aircraft in Alaskas airspace from sunny Australia, the pilot had been out of comms with anyone for a considerable time, –and the rad-phone was very handy one sunny afternoon sitting in a boat fishing for barra when a mate had to call work to say he was ‘sick’….lol

Apart from a lot of people seeing it as a ‘dark art’ and difficult to comprehend, probably the main reason it is not used more is cost….yep I know they can be hired but a lot of travellers making one or two trips per year would find it hard to justify the kind of money needed to set up a good HF unit. Most are about travelling not communicating. Until the chit hits the proverbial….

Have every intention of getting a sat phone before serious travelling, HF???? Would have to be the icing on the cake I guess.

Cheers
Michael

Footloose, that was a most interesting thread.
As a bloke who works some of the year in remote areas reliable communication is an essential.
For the past 7 years have used a Westingouse unit which accesses the Optus geostationary satellite above the Pacific. Whilst there is that initially annoying slight time delay (which one quickly gets used to) the service is a genuine 100% reliable in all weather and at all times. Also by cable connection to the laptop for email communication.
As you so correctly point out, communications are next to useless without 100% availability.
kesh

We have just bought the NGT after many months looking for second hand and between sat phones, at $3190 we thought was a good price and it has the latest 5.3 software which makes it very simple to use. We have also joined radtel and takes no longer making a call than it does the mobile. After listening to the skeds this week with a guy snapping is tow bar off on the canning the vks were there helping out its great to have the choice of listening to where everyone is in the outback.

People will always want to make contact with other travellers. In the outback there's a good chance that there will be NO-ONE in UHF range.

HF radio is the only way to do it. Even the army and emergency services recognise this.

There is no technology that can conceivable replace it.

In fact there are no plans to replace the ageing satellites used for satphones - it's just too damn expensive.