sat phone post
Submitted: Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 12:48
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nowimnumberone
last night there was a post about what sat phone to use.
just wondering why that post disapeared.
reason im asking is there was a little bit of bagging on the globalstar network
and just wanted to know if they got better or worse responces before i go and bye a phone.
cheers
Reply By: Penguin (NSW) - Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 13:14
Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 13:14
If it was post #36364 it's still there.
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Follow Up By: nowimnumberone - Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 18:12
Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 18:12
ooops i should have loooked back further.
i didnt think it was that far back and i noticed a cpl of recent posts had been removed.
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Reply By: Leroy - Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 13:16
Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 13:16
I use a Motorola 9500 on the Iridium network for work. Not sure on the technicalities but it's the better one of the 2. Something to do with the amount of satelites that are needed or not needed to make a call? Someone with a bit more technical info maybe able to elaborate?
Leroy
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Reply By: Member - Mike DID - Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 13:22
Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 13:22
On Globlstar and Iridium you only need one satellite visible to make a call.
The difference is that Globlstar has 46 satellites at an altitude of 1400km and Iridium has 66 satellites at an altitude of 700km.
Considering you are transmitting less than one watt ( a headlight puts out 50 watts) from a tiny aerial, it really helps to have the satellite half as far away.
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Follow Up By: Leroy - Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 15:28
Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 15:28
I thought also that Globalstar had to lock onto more than 1 satelite hence if you were down a narrow canyou it's difficult to see 2 satelites?
Leroy
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Follow Up By: Member - Mike DID - Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 15:47
Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 15:47
The other difference is that for Globlstar the satellite needs to simultaneously be in view of the Mobile AND an Australian groundstation.
For Iridium, the satellites are interlinked, so once you are in to any satellite, the signal is relayed back to the only civilian groundstation in Tempe USA. There is NO satellite phone delay because these satellites are much closer to earth than the geosynchronous satellites which were used for international phone calls before undersea fibre.
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Follow Up By: Dean (SA) - Thursday, Aug 03, 2006 at 11:01
Thursday, Aug 03, 2006 at 11:01
Mike, who is your iridium reseller. With iridium direct you definately have a delay,
well I do anyway.
Dean
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Follow Up By: Member - Mike DID - Thursday, Aug 03, 2006 at 11:13
Thursday, Aug 03, 2006 at 11:13
Dean - are you talking about a delay in starting up the call (which is quite slow using a Telstra GSM card) or the voice delay.
No-one has ever complained about voice-delay problems when I talk with them using the Telstra GSM card on Iridium.
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Follow Up By: Leroy - Thursday, Aug 03, 2006 at 11:20
Thursday, Aug 03, 2006 at 11:20
i have a voice delay also. Maybe it's the phone? It's getting on a bit Motorola 9500.
Leroy
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Follow Up By: Member - Mike DID - Thursday, Aug 03, 2006 at 11:48
Thursday, Aug 03, 2006 at 11:48
Yes, voice codecs do introduce delay. I have a 9505.
The half-second delay we used to get on International Satellite calls really used to confuse people as to who should speak.
There is some delay with Iridium ( 1/10th sec ???) but I wanted to make it clear that just because all Iridium calls go via a groundstation that the USA, the delay is NOT 1/2 second.
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Reply By: Member - Clay G (WA) - Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 14:30
Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 14:30
Said it before and will say it again. Iridium in our experience outperforms Globalstar and this was reinforced by our recent trip along the Gunbarrel. The two Motorola 9505A phones (Iridium) performed faultlessly, were durable and held their charge very
well. The Telit phone (Globalstar) suffered multiple drop outs, completely died and then resuscitated itself two days later for no apparent reason and discharged quickly. In my mind there is a clear advantge with Iridium.
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Reply By: Member - Ian S (NT) - Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 15:43
Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 at 15:43
Hi There,
I didn't contribute to the last post but will do so here.
There is a big difference between the GSM/SAT Telit or Ericsson R290 and the newer CDMA/SAT Qualcomm. Both use Globalstar but having owned both a R290 and a current Qualcomm there is no comparison between them. When I used the R290 I was predominantly on the east coast and the GSM was handy and the SAt acquired a signal, sometimes with difficulty. I t didn't like trees, canyons or dunes in the way. When I used it through the western deserts it deteriorated badly the further west I went, and was a real pain on the Anne and the Canning.
Now I have a Qualcomm CDMA/SAT and it acquires a signal inside 20-30 secs and is a delight to use. I also have a car kit but the phone connection jumps out on corrugations and needs a velcro strap to keep it firm.
These type of phones that Mt Dare hires out to
Simpson Desert travellers and I have only experienced once an inability to engage the satellite in hundreds of demonstrations to hirers.
Hope this assists.
Regards
Ian@Mt Dare
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