Karmutzen wrote:14 should work. You can send location through "Find My", or a text message through iMessage. As someone already posted, you cannot be receiving any wifi of cellular signal.

I haven't tried it flying, but on the ground your phone will ask if you want satellite and start directing you where to point in the sky in order to get two-way with a satellite.

So if WiFi service or cellular coverage isn't available just ensure "Find My" is enable and then text as usual ?

Are there any colorful lights or indictors to show that satellite coverage is "in use" ?

Mapleflt wrote:
Are there any colorful lights or indictors to show that satellite coverage is "in use" ?

Yes, this icon appears automatically if you have no cell service. The problem I see is that if you have even the weakest of cell signals it locks onto that and the satellite messaging does not become active. Meaning you can't test it until you have no other means to communicate. If your cell service is present but too weak to send a message, you have no ability to send a message. Or I might be wrong... I'm a luddite.

Anyone know if you can force it into satellite mode?

kg wrote:

Mapleflt wrote:
Are there any colorful lights or indictors to show that satellite coverage is "in use" ?

Yes, this icon appears. The problem I see is that if you have even the weakest of cell signals it locks onto that and the satellite messaging does not become active. Meaning you can't test it until you have no other means to communicate. If your cell service is present but too weak to send a message then you have no ability to send a message. Or I might be wrong... I'm a luddite.

Anyone know if you can force it into satellite mode?

That was the exact issue I had. See my post from 8/1 ish. From one Luddite to another, I couldn’t figure out how to do it.

Pete

Slightly sideways from the topic, but I added my wife to my location status on Google maps on my Android phone. When I flew from the Seattle area to Maryland and back this summer, she has constant access to my whereabouts. She could even tell when I was moving versus stationary. There was no gap in the coverage even though I flew over some pretty darned empty terrain (South Dakota). I have an In-Reach sat tracker, but inadvertently left in in the car when I started my trip. Now that I've seen how well shared tracking on Google Maps works, I will probably dump the In-Reach and its subscription costs. I also have T-Mobile and will migrate to it's use of the Starlink system for when I need to provide more than location info.

Just a couple thoughts in no special order:

1) I like redundancy, so I personally don't see this as an either/or question. (I also wear a vest containing an iridium extreme sat phone, and a McMurdo FastFind, in additional to the onboard 406 ELT.)
2) We've observed very satisfactory iPhone texting results just north of the Alaska Range, including in obstructed terrain where iridium calls sometimes drop out. FWIW, we had someone on the T-Mobile/ Starlink Beta test and it ceased working south of the Alaska Range (around Talkeetna).
3) The iPhone battery seems to always quit when you need it most, particularly in the cold. The inReach battery runs like the energizer bunny of all these type devices. And for an iridium phone, you have the option to carry backup batteries.

Cheers,

-DP

I can't get it to work on my brand new iPhone 16e while flying. At least not at King Air speeds and flight levels. I definitely do not have cell coverage. However, I do have wifi connection to a sentry. Maybe that's the problem. Can it not be used with a wifi connection to a sentry or stratus device?

Karmutzen wrote:I waited too long to buy an InReach, now with satcomms via iPhone it's off the list. I find it odd more of you don't do breadcrumb tracking for SAR considerations, I still use a SPOT at 2 min tracking for that alone. If I had an inReach I'd still use it for the tracking. Everything I fly for work or pleasure has tracking. Wish ADSB was more reliable down low in the mountains to replace an extra box for tracking.

Sat messaging on the iPhone works reliably enough, both in and out. Probably more reliable than my ELT. The auto "I've crashed" message via satellite sure seems to be doing the bulk of SAR notifications these days (instead of ELT).

I agree...I don't fly without satellite tracking in the plane. I have a spot that is dedicated to one plane, I use my inreach in all the planes, and at work we have satellite tracking on everything. I can see using the text feature of a phone is more convenient because it is already something we do all the time.

But the other thing that has happened is we have been getting spurious SOS signals from new phones. People in jets overhead, people on the ground in the woods, somehow they set off their SOS and then we get to figure out whether there is a real emergency. We went through this with the gen 1 spot devices, and the company figured out how to make a more robust protection against accidental activations. I am hoping the phone engineers also dig in and figure out how to make sure the device doesn't pocket dial an SOS.

Karmutzen wrote:Wish ADSB was more reliable down low in the mountains to replace an extra box for tracking.

I assume you’re referring to the Aireon satellite based ADS-B system, so I’m curious to know how you’re determining it isn’t reliable down low. Not questioning your assertion, just wanting to know what it’s based on.

I have a have a 1090ES transponder with bottom mounted antenna and have made several trips through northern BC, Yukon, NWT, and most recently Nunavut. Often down low in valleys and canyons. I’ve pulled Nav Canada PAPR report on each flight leg and gotten near flawless results. But I’m also often not showing up in FlightAware and not sure why. It doesn’t seem to correlate with being down low or in a valley.

In a real SAR situation I’m pretty sure that ADS-B data is available and would be used, but if there’s no reliable public visibility that doesn’t help keep friends and family informed.

I guess the solutions are as numerous as the pilots. My preference is a PLB and a sat phone. For medical emergencies and maintenance matters, I just feel voice is better than text. Iridium works anywhere in the world and their Extreme phone has held up well.
My cell phone’s too old to do satellite messaging and I’m not interested in joining the ADSB crowd with my bush plane.