Sat Phone adapter & Oversea's use

Thanks for the tip Smudger, I think i might even have one of the full size cards at work somewhere. I don't have the 9505a as yet but thought I read somewhere that it still took the full size card.
Cheers

I'm new to this....do you get cheaper calls using a GSM Sim card?

Calls are usually more expensive, but you don't have to sign up on a plan at all. Call rates are international rates, and you pay for incomming as well as outgoing. On a sat phone plan, you normally only pay for outgoing calls.

If the sat phone is mainly for emergency use (which is what I use it for), and not daily chat-fests, it turns out cheaper. ie: No calls made, no $20, $30 or whatever plan to pay each month.

For regular coms back home, I just send/receive SMS messages via the satphone. Pretty cheap that way, its time talking that tends to cost. Of course if I need it for an emergency, who cares what it costs, I'll gladly pay.

John.

OK I get it now. Thanks. Shame this thread wasn't up 2 weeks ago as I just got a satphone on a plan!!!! Oh well. I'll know what to do when the plan runs out now.

Tez

Thanks for the link, I will check out the prices. I did see prepaid cards going on EBAY but they were only valid for one month.

Thanks for confirming the 9505a takes the smaller SIM. Are you on a plan with Telstra for the GSM SIM?

Hi Mark,

My GSM SIM is not under any contract but I do have it on a $20 plan with Telstra. This seems to work out just about riht with $20 worth of free calls each month. It does not get a lot of use as I use CDMA for work and my wife has the GSM phone for keeping in touch with the kids.

Brett

Thanks Brett,
I will call Telstra & see what the cheapest plan is. I might take a short term contract with Iridium for the trip though as I believe the Telstra sim will be very expensive when used overseas. TR Telecom Melbourne had a $30 plan for min 4 months & the call cost were not to bad at $3 a minute with sms under $1. The Telstra GSM sim would be best for when I'm back in Oz as I can also use it in my GSM handset when its not in the Sat phone I guess.

Hi Mark,

I recently had a look at the satelite plans onthe telstra website and found the cheapest to be $30/month. From memory the calls on this plan were $1.17 per 30 seconds and about $1 per sms. I think this plan though was if you had purchased the phone through them and included the repayment of the phone itself.
The website indicated that if I already owned the phone I would need to phone them for specifics which I have not done.
If you do make contact with Telstra I would be interested to know what you end up going with and the costs involved.

Regards,
Brett

Thanks again Brett, I understood that the Telstra Sat plans are longer term (12 months min) whereby the TR telecom $30 plan is only 4 months & you can then terminate or put the plan on hold for $15 a month in order to retain the number. I am thinking of doing the 4 month contract for the Africa trip & then switching to the normal Telstra GSM plan when returning to Oz. I can then use the Telstra GSM SIM in my normal GSM phone as well & just occasionally in the Sat phone when required.
BTW. The Sat phone arrived yesterday & I have just put it on charge so will need to get the SIM to try it out.

Cheers
Mark