Satellite Phone on the Gibb River Road?

. .. . . which Satellite Network ?

Not sure who he was connected with.

Good morning Zebra 400

Where did you get your SPOT from, and how much is it to activate every year, in Aus dollars,

Cheers for now...William H...Bunbury...WA.

You might change your attitude after your first heart attack.

..couldn't agree more.

Site Linkmakes interesting reading, and Site Link.

You may well be surprised how quickly things can go pear shaped, as mentioned above it would be folly to rely on others to happen along to bail you out!

Bob, while it is hard to argue with your view in terms of being prepared for anything and self sufficient, it is somewhat over dramatic.

The question is about the GRR, not the Simpson Desert, CSR or a remote track to Lake Eyre.

The GRR even has a bus service these days.

Both of Time's site links are in areas entirely different to those being discussed here.

Using your logic, we should not even drive from Brisbane to Townsville without sat phone or HF as there are still a number of dead spots for Next G on that road.

It is essential that we all carry appropriate communications, safety, recovery, repair equipment, spare water, food etc, for the people involved and the area we will travel to.

In the end, it is a judgement issue, so of course there will be different views. I just think it is worth keeping some perspective in the discussion.

Norm C

Norm C,

I agree with you about keeping things in perspective and my view is that perspective should be medical emergencies.

It's fine to say most outback roads are well traveled these days BUT the fact of the matter is that a majority of the time there are not vehicles passing every 5 minutes, it can be hours.

In a medical emergency every minute counts.

A UHF radio would be virtually useless due to it's range. Mobile phone, useless in the outback even with an aerial. Next G is a joke I live at Pomona and can't talk on my mobile, texting is even a hassle I have to walk around my property until I get a good enough signal...I've been in to Telstra about this for quite some time now.

Whilst an EPIRB will eventually be picked up a satelite pass then the signal transferred to the relevant emergency authority for activation, it takes time for the police or SES to locate you. This could even be up to a day or longer depending where you are.

The EPIRB is not going to tell the authorities whether the emergency is an urgent medical problem or serious life threatening injury.

What someone said about a Sat phone is right there is no guarantee you will get a signal. I've seen geologists walking around Mt Augustus Station trying to get a signal and the country around there provides an unobstructed view of the sky!!

But a HF radio is another matter, you send a transmission on one of these and someone is guaranteed to pick it up somewhere in Australia and the process of activating a response to that emergency is instant.

So I swear by my HF radio and make sure it is always in sound working order. To me travelling the outback is akin to taking my boat offshore...wouldn't be without a radio!!

"Whilst an EPIRB will eventually be picked up a satelite pass"

- a GPS-equipped EPIRB will send your position via a satellite in geostationary orbit as soon as it gets a gps fix.



"What someone said about a Sat phone is right there is no guarantee you will get a signal. I've seen geologists walking around Mt Augustus Station trying to get a signal and the country around there provides an unobstructed view of the sky!! "

- using Iridium rather than Globalstar avoids that problem.



"But a HF radio is another matter, you send a transmission on one of these and someone is guaranteed to pick it up somewhere in Australia"

- not if there's an hf blackout from a solar flare or severe electrical storms.

Mike,

Understand what you're saying regarding the EPIRB but there is still a time delay and the point I was making is that there is a time factor involved in getting a response to the situation and, an EPIRB will not indicate the type of emergency and it is a life medical emergency I was using as the example.

I understand that there are issues with Iridium as well as Globalstar.

I have never had a problem with HF communications but you're right a solar flare can effect both VHF and HF propagation on earth.

However these effects are only temporary and the radio emissions from a flare can cause noise bursts, buzzing sounds, continuum noise and "occasionally" a temporary HF blackout of up to 30 minutes following the flare. After that noise levels and propagation return to normal.

Most of the time a flare causes noise interference and that can normally be overcome by using SSB function. Severe electical storm certainly cause problems but I've never experienced a blackout it's normally electrical static again overcome by using SSB.

My experiences have been that regardless of interference someone receives a readable signal and can relay.

I had Globalstar and Iridium sat-phones side by side near Alice last year before a trip (I was checking both phones before a group arrived). Both were sitting side by side on the roof of the car for 1/2 a day and the Iridium was getting sat coverage 99% of the time. The Globalstar had reception on average for less than 50% of the time (some hours it had reception in 15 mins for the hour!). This was 40ks south of Alice in very open country. IMHO Globalstar have lots of work to do getting more satellites up to match the excellent performance of Iridium (Telstra). I have no commercial links to Telstra :)
Luke2

The activation of an EPIRB/PLB is restricted to "DIRE EMERGENCY" situations only. ie life threatening situations.
Running out of fuel or a breakdown is not a dire emergency (unless you are EXTREMELY remote) and you would risk getting billed.
That said, I am not aware of it happening, so far.
Last year some friends tinny broke down in Napier Broome Bay. They drifted 20+k onto a remote island and waited several hours before activating their PLB at about 5pm.
A heavy chopper from Truscott arrived 90 minutes later, dropped water (could not land) and a note saying that a fishing boat would pick them up next morning.
No bill.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

Good morning, Kassysimon

Google this site.

www.radtelnetwork.com.au/wheretobuy.html

And have a look at the wa site.

Cheers for now.....William H...Bunbury....WA.

kassysimon,

If you're going to do a few trips over the years it could pay you to purchase a secondhand HF. I looked in to hiring one for each trip and decided to purchase a second hand one instead as it was going to cost me more by hiring each time.

The one I got had been rebuilt with new parts cost me just under a $1,000 and hasn't let me down. Had it for nearly 3 years.

Have a look at ebay they often have them there.

Anyway just a thought if you intend to do some regular outback travels in the next few years. When I'm not traveling I often turn it on and listen to the skeds and then get jealous because I wasn't out there with them!!