satellite phones

[fishtildark]

a very reputable source told me that this group , particularly Jay Thomas , would be a great place to get imput on the reliability and usefulness of a satellite phone. our hunting camp in Pennsylvania has no cell service unless you take a 15 minute drive to the top of the mountain. I enjoy being off the grid but we are all getting older and thinking it may be something we want to consider. Would appreciate any input. Thanks in advance . FTD

[Greg]

https://rangeglobal.net/

Check that out....   for $100 a month, you can rent one... not a bad solution really.

Greg

[Jay Thomas]

Hi FTD,

Our group has rented a satellite telephone for use during our fishing trips into north western Quebec for probably the last 10 years. Our primary reason for requiring a satellite telephone has always been being able to contact Air Medic, a helicopter medical evacuation service available in Quebec. Our group members range in age from 69 to 77 and we have simply felt a lot more comfortable in remote areas with the knowledge that if required, we could contact Air Medic to arrange for a medical evacuation. Fortunately for us, we have never had to arrange for a medical evacuation.

However, there have also been supplemental benefits. On numerous occasions, we have used our satellite telephone to contact our outfitter (hours away by boat) to report camp breakdowns (e.g. hot water tanks not working, propane tanks gone empty, propane fridges out of order, or outboard motors that have quit working).

As for rental costs, we paid approximately $125 Cdn for use of a satellite telephone every year except last year. Our normal satellite telephone provider went out of business in 2020 and we had to find a new provider. Our rental charges for 12 days in 2020 were $250. For us, it was still worth the expense.

The Iridium satellite telephones we have rented are light weight, easy to use and come in their own carrying case.

Jay

[Gary S]

 Our hunting camp in Perry Co PA is also in a valley with no cell service and I'm the younger brother turning 69 Dec 1st. My brother has a Garmin "In-Reach" Satellite device that I think is just good for texting. On one of the cheaper packages you need to pay per text after just a few but you are allowed a few pre-programed texts without charge such as "I'm OK" to send daily to keep your wife from selling your toys. Also nice for offshore fishing trips.

Edit: I just checked and it's about $15 month for cheapest plan. My brother said he had to tell his wife repeatedly to not answer his OK texts because hers did count against him. In a real emergency you wont care about a few extra charges.

[fishtildark]

thank you all for the input. I am convinced that it is a worthwhile investment. looked at my existing cell provider and they have a couple options but need to dig a little deeper on the rates. Thanks again.

[NortonJoe]

You know, this isn't a bad idea as we are all aging gracefully a bit ourselves.  I know when our camp owner is in camp they have a satellite phone but they are not always there.  Have to look into this.

[Gary S]

 If you want it mostly for emergencies look at the InReach I mentioned earlier, a few hundred to buy and then $15. a month. It has GPS built in to help rescue to find you. If you want to talk/text about what you had for dinner and who caught the most fish that day it's probably not the right choice.

[michelle]

i have a globalstar sat phone. Doesn't always connect properly and drops calls a lot. They are very expensive and every year i fight with them to lower the cost. I only use it if i have to and i want it in case of emergencies. I have voice mail and if anyone needs to contact us, they just leave a message. I don't like having conversations on it because it drops calls so much. Very frustrating...I wish I could find a booster that would work. Just found out this year that we get service at mileage 75 on the Bearn road...someone put a little sign there to advise ppl.

[Fort Wisers]

We have a similar experience to @michelle with reliability/connection issues that I can share.

Years ago, when we had the moose hunting camp down near snake creek, my family used to worry when we'd go in (particularly if one of us went in alone) since the trip in / out was quite rough and remote and had zero cell service.
So I bought a sat phone (Qualcomm phone with Globalstar service) and signed up for a monthly service.
The phone itself was nearly $1000 and I think the monthly service was $99 for 30 minutes of talk time (1 year contract).
We didn't care much about the limited talk time as the idea of the phone was for emergency use only.

Well, one weekend I was going in alone to do some work, one way we accessed the camp was to boat up the Ottawa river and this was the route I planned to take.
It was a windy, late fall day and my grandmother was quite worried about me travelling in alone in case the river was rough so she asked that I called when I got to camp to let her know all was well. As I travelled in a storm started but the trip in went fine and I arrived at camp with no issue.
However, when I went to call the phone could not connect (I'm assuming due to the weather).
I knew my grandmother would worry about NOT getting a call so I then travelled back down river and into town to make a call from a local business to let the family know all was OK and the sat phone was not working well lolol. That was the last time I ever carried the phone in and, needless to say, when the year contract came due I did not renew. The phone is still sitting in a cabinet here at home!

Now this was back in the early 2000s so perhaps the technology has come along way with these general use sat phones, I don't know....
We have since sold that camp and the camp my wife and I have has 3 bars of cell service LOL!

[michelle]

@Fort Wisers I am so jealous! I don't mind the lack of tv, internet....but we need that phone in case of emergencies. To be fair, I find the signal has gotten better over the years, but definitely not perfect. If it's windy, seems like it's even worse.  Some days I can step out on my deck and get a signal right away, other days, i have to walk down to my beach, and even then. Also, i only turn it on to check messages about 3 times a day. I would only rent one also if i wasn't out there so much. Where is your camp?

[Fort Wisers]

Hey @michelle we're just north of the town of Mattawa up in Mattawan Municipality.

[michelle]

@Fort Wisers OK! I've checked out the link you posted once....what a beautiful spot, and great job on the cottage, looks great

[Fort Wisers]

Hey @michelle thanks, you're too kind!

[Dog]

We took one on our 2019 trip to Lake O, worked great. we rented it and never an issue during the week. it was reliable and easy to use.

[johnny walleye]

  would look into a garmin in reach or a zoleo satellite communicator .