I have aways hoped a more affordable plan for sat phone would become available. The only reason I want one if for if I get stuck somewhere, and could use a hand.
I'd pay $10/min. if I needed it, but I don't want a $50/mo.
I was at AT&T yesterdAY getting a new cellphone. They told me you can always call 911 from your cell phone, and it goes via satellite. So, I assume from this you coud get 911 from virtually anywhere, and if you were in a predicament, they could make a call for ya. ???
That would be cool.
Gary

ATT is blowing smoke up your ass. No cell service/tower to hit. No call. 911 or any other call.

Gump

They say it goes by Satellite, You callin bullshit.

Ha Ha! Yup.

Gump

Your cell phone has to hit a cell tower to work. It does not go direct to a satellite. Now the tower itself may relay via satellite, but that's a completely different can of worms.

Now to call 911 you don't need to be signed up to any cell provider, but your phone must be receiving a cell signal to work.

Gump

I think your ATT rep is full of shit. I'd ask for some kind of proof to that affect before I trusted my life on it. (sometimes a text will work when a call won't connect)

GumpAir wrote:
But to call 911 you don't need to be signed up to any cell provider, but your phone must be receiving a cell signal to work.

Gump

Very true, which is a good thing for the most part. However last year our county dispatch received a prank 911 call from a deactivated TRAC phone. A guy claimed he was trapped in his car & off the road in the water. They were only able to tell which tower the call was placed on. Our whole FD was out for hours & we searched every bridge, boat landing & road near water. Nothing.

shortfielder wrote:I have aways hoped a more affordable plan for sat phone would become available. Gary

Have you considered HF? Certified aircraft HF transceivers are very expensive, but you don't need code any more to operate on the Ham bands. There are lot's of very compact 10-80 meter Ham transceivers that pack 100 watt punch. If you've got a battery.

The ATT rep was referring to the combo cell/sat phone they sell.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/172944/t ... tandt.html

That's a 2009 article. Did the combo phone actually hit the market? Does it work? How much?

On edit... Looks like $800+ for the phone. 65 cents a minute sat talk. $5 per megabite of data. Couldn't find any reports from actual users.

So Gary maybe ATT wasn't blowing smoke, though it's not actually a true cell phone. And if their sat service is as shitty as their cell service in the boonies it's a boat anchor.

Gump

I was in the business of EW a short 10 years ago and this seems wholly unlikely. A regular cell phone transcieves in the range of 900Mhz-ish (I believe it is a little broader than that but 900 Mhz is the median) while a satphone transcieves in the 1620Mhz range. Granted, many bottles of whiskey has dumbed me up a little, but I do not believe that the majority of regular cell phones are capable of cell and sat communication.

Matt

GumpAir wrote:That's a 2009 article. Did the combo phone actually hit the market? Does it work? How much?

On edit... Looks like $800+ for the phone. 65 cents a minute sat talk. $5 per megabite of data. Couldn't find any reports from actual users.

So Gary maybe ATT wasn't blowing smoke, though it's not actually a true cell phone. And if their sat service is as shitty as their cell service in the boonies it's a boat anchor.

Gump

Absolutely!! Our carrier got bought by ATT and the service has gotten worse,not better, as they promised. I'll never sign another contract with them.

As to sat phones, look around at calling plans. There are a bunch of them, with monthly fees as low as $20, but the per minute charges will be higher then, and typically you'll have to buy at least a few minutes per month.

But a real satellite phone, and there are lots of refurbs on the market now, with the advent of newer, better, smaller units.

Just DO NOT buy a Globalstar phone. Service sucks as bad or worse than ATT.

MTV

Shortfielder
You might think about buying a Delorme Spot.I live in north central Idaho.I'm in the back country almost every day and this thing works great.The only bicth i have is the GPS battery life is not as long as i would like,about 6hrs.So i only turn on the gps when i want send a message or see where i'm at.The Spot will send a track message with the gps off.

The new Spot Connect will send a text message via satellite via your own iPod touch, iPhone, or Android based phone. The messages are short (41 char, not full SMS length), but the cost is right ($120-$150 for the device, and $100 a year) and useful.

http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=116

Well hopefully I can help everyone out here soon. Cell phones do not transmit via satellite and neither do the Towers. We are installing the LTE/4G upgrades for AT&T here in NorCal area. The cell tower industry up here is very busy so have hope Ye AT&T er's.

Um..., me. I need a satellite phone. Wasn't that what the OP wanted to know?

Me too, I need one.

Where I live, AT&T is the best coverage (significantly). At my beach house N of T-mook and every where else we seem to travel-NOT. For now I stand pat with AT&T, but when I retire to have more time to wander/travel/explore SAT is likely one of the 2 communication items to carry. In fact both items might be SAT-carry the phone for when you just have to 'talk', and mesge/txt the bulk of the time.
If At&t spent their advertising budget on more cell sites (instead), They'ed have the best coverage all over......

Retirement-just a fantasy away.....
lc

denalipilot wrote:Um..., me. I need a satellite phone. Wasn't that what the OP wanted to know?

Yeah, you do need a sat phone!

Maybe I read Gary's orig post wrong, but I took it as the ATT clerk telling him that a "cell" phone would work anywhere via satellite for 911 calls. That just isn't true.

Gump

You took it right Gump. That is what he said. Also went over to meet your buddies at Shebbles this weekend. Niether Joes or Valerie were there, but seemed cool, so I signed up for 2 weeks in January to finish my instrument rating.
gary

Gump is correct. Period. There are some aviation products (full disclosure here.... I help sell them) that can do both. Flightcell international is one that combines cell phone and irridium sat phone in one box. At $10K, it is not practical for most of us. Cops yes... backcountry guys, probably not.
The only little known bonus for cell phones is the ability to call 911 whether the phone has an active contract for service or not. That makes the old 3 watt bag phones somewhat useful for emergencies. No cost to connect and they get out better than the pocket phones. But, the bottom line is you gotta hit a cell tower. And it isn't going to be one in space.