Satelite phones

Dave

I've got a Motorola 9500 satphone. It's an older model than the 9505 and half the cost.
All you get for the extra money is a slightly smaller and lighter phone and a few more features. I've been unable to discover exactly what the extras are, so they're not major ones.
Basically the two phones work identically, the newer one does not work any better or faster. I've used both models and I can't fault the 9500.

As far as Telstra is concerned: Telstra is the best carrier/service provider for satphones. The Globalstar and Vodaphone networks are really unreliable. I've used my 9500 all over Australia and from many odd places in the world and neither the phone, nor telstra have let me down.

If you try to buy a handset from Telstra and want to connect with some other carrier, the cost of the handset doubles. Better to buy one from another source (I got mine 2nd hand) and connect with telstra on a month by month basis. I pay $28 per month (Basic Plan/User) and can bail out any time (no set length contract). Calls are $1.98 per minute. If you pay approx double per month the cost per call drops by half. You work out which plan suits your usage.

The Federal Gov has a subsidy scheme for satphones, there are 3 catches. First you got to submit the paperwork BEFORE you buy the phone (Telstra has this info available in their shops), secondly the scheme runs out at the end of 2003 and lastly, people residents of WA aren't eligible! (I'm told there's a state based subsidy for WA'ers).

I hope this has been of help.
Cheers
Mario

Dave,
Have you looked at what you get for your money? 9500 from telstra comes with magnetic roof top aerial, 240v plus 12v charger, second battery, leather pouch with belt clip and comprehensive instruction manual. Mario is correct, 9505 is smaller, lighter and a few extra features that i dont know what they are. If you buy it outright from Telstra it is an extra $500.00. Had no problems with reception last week in the Simpson Desert.
Cheers Peter

May not be the sort of unit you are looking for, but we have a Westinghouse 1000 series connected to Optus. The service is tops and because we own it outright we can suspend/reconnect at any time which saves considerably on the monthly access cost of $45 (which includes the first $25 of call cost) Call cost is $3.20/min. peak, $0.80c/min. off peak. However our main usage is for email using a laptop directly connected. We usually do our emails off peak, receive Sat. reply Sun. for an av. total cost of around $20/month ie. within the $25/m. allowed. Of course in emergency situation $3.20/m. is dirt cheap! Programmed for all RFDS numbers, it also operates fax, text, and has provision to connect GPS. On the negative side,it is fairly bulky, being 2 boxes approx. 250x200x50. which are fixed to the cabin wall behind the seats of the 75s. The antenna 900 long on the bullbar can be tuned to max signal strength, and from the vehicle battery draws 8amp. voice and 10amp. data transmit. On stand by approx.1.5a. We have had the unit about 5 years with no problems whatsoever.
Hope this is of some use, cheers, Haze

Thanks for the replys. It would be nice if telsra would offer the combined CDSM service as well, but I supose that would mean people would not subscribe to both and they may miss out on revenue.
Do others.

I have had 2 Globalstar/ telet phones and they were next to useless in both the reliability of the handsets and the quality of the satellite service. I now use Iridium/Motorola 9505 and it wins by a country mile. DONT TRY VODAPHONE if you want reliable comms.

These are plenty of other posts on this in the archive


Sean

Bob, I agree, they are good when they work. But I found that this not always the case. I have had 2 globalstar phones.

Try using one when the dispay fails - which happened to me 3 times and phone was useless until repaired.

Try using one with less than full battery charge - they just keep dropping out.

Try using one when one of the gateways is down for maintenance - they dont work at all if the nearest ground station is out and this does happen.

Try using the car kit that needs FULL 12 volts to function and has a antenna that is less than robust - all at an extensive extra price

Try hooking up in some locations - they have blackspots.

Then try iridium with 9505 and you will have none of the above problems. I have used both - extensively - over most of australia. I can state - first hand - that globalstar has let me down on many many ocassions. In one case I could not make any calls for 24 hours while the groundstation was down for maintenance - confirmed by Vodaphone after the event. So much for 100% coverage.

If you need reliable comms, dont go for globalstar. At any rate, teh iridium 9505 is a much better phone, better optioned and a better service at an overall much better price when you count the accessories that come standard.

Just trying to warn others of the problems that do exist.

Sean