Guys,

Looking at the Iridium Extreme 9575. Is their a preferred provider or outlet for the phone and plan that anyone recommends? Will use phone in Africa 2-3 times a year and US when hunting and traveling. Need to get on the ball, as I leave for Cameroon in less than a month. Thanks.

I've used the Iridium Extreme throughout southern Africa and it is very convenient. However, today I use the Iridium GO in conjunction with my cell phone when I have no cell service.

For periodic use, the Extreme is most likely the better way to go. Watch your prepaid minutes as they expire in six months to a year depending on the plan. Also, the prepaid plans are cheaper if you purchase region specific - but that might not work if you want to use them here and Africa.

I have the Iridium 'GO' and leave the sat phone at home. With the 'GO' you can call, text and email from your devices.

Leave it at home and enjoy the hunt!

Some folks need to remain in contact and can still enjoy the hunt.

I have used a variety of sat phones in bush Africa over the past 20+ years. The GO is a much better option and works with your cell phone to make calls, send texts and pictures.

quote:

Originally posted by LionHunter:
Some folks need to remain in contact and can still enjoy the hunt.

I have used a variety of sat phones in bush Africa over the past 20+ years. The GO is a much better option and works with your cell phone to make calls, send texts and pictures.

+1 Mike, I have a 9500 I think it is. I have NEVER ONCE called the office but call home about every other or every third night.

I'm a worrisome father and call to check in on my son (and the Wifey )

I called home from the Bongo Machan in CAR after I killed and we had recovered my Bongo.

Mike Fell told me "Be sure you are OK with everything you say being listened to by the CIA." They were feverishly looking for Joseph Kony at the time and the CIA were all over in the bush.

A sat phone is one of those things you never think need until there is an emergency, then you wish like hell you had one.

I they weighed 100 pounds and took hours to set up, then leaving it behind would be understandable but they don't so...

Look at the globalstar spot as a backup small device for text emergency. I plan to get couple and always have it on me when I am hunting or fishing.

I have a globalstar phone - does not work in Africa but works great in Americas - I bought it for Brazil.

Immersat and iridium are the go names in Africa.

Mike

No way would I buy a phone based on that schedule.

Rent.

Get in touch with Andy Cool - website: www.explorersatellite.com.

I had global star for years,not any more.Sore spot was you have to give them 30 notice to cancel service on a contract.Miss it and they got their fine print.Coverage was non existence in asia.

quote:

Originally posted by hvrhunter:
I had global star for years,not any more.Sore spot was you have to give them 30 notice to cancel service on a contract.Miss it and they got their fine print.Coverage was non existence in asia.

Globalstar spot works in Africa.

Globalstar Regular sat phone service will work in Africa in 2018 after some updates to their ground stations.

If I was looking for Africa I would look at immersat.

I borrowed Larry shores immersat phone and it worked fine in burkina.

Mike

In Cameroon I use thuraya. We have two in camp and they work great. Thuraya doesnt work south of Zambia I think.

Nigel Theisen, my African company partner, had always used Iridium. He was having trouble with his handset and brought it to USA to be looked at by Andy Cool. It had issues and had to be replaced.

Andy talked us into Inmarsat. We bought 2 IsatPhone 2 Satellite Phones.

No real experience to report yet.

I am looking at Iridium 9575 Extreme...but if price was no consideration I would choose Inmarsat..

I can hire Iridium so currently I am undecided if buying or not...

For us...Inmarsat was the cheaper way to go.

We have used all three. Iridium, Inmarsat and Thuraya.

At one time or another, there has issues with all of them.

Sometimes we had all three in the same camp, and one of them refuses to connect or drops calls.

The next day it works perfectly, and another one might start playing up.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Leave it at home and enjoy the hunt!

+1

I have had connection issues in Tanzania and Asia, and last Thursday in Australia due to a storm, which was the main reason we had the sat phone (lightning protocols whilst drilling) as we were remote from UHF and mobile phone reception....

Seems the worst is cloud cover.

Depends where one wishes to make use of a satphone.
As far as TZ is concerned I have had better performance from Thuraya over Iridum and I agree with Rockdoc that cloud (and canopy)cover plays a negative role in connecting to the satellites.

Hi Dieseltrucker,

I will have a satellite phone in camp which you are more than welcome to use as often as you like.

See you soon
Cheers

The terrain also has to be taken into consideration, in mountainous areas you may lose sight of the geostationary satellites while Iridium still has intermittent signal at worst.

Had to organise an emergency egress whilst doing some wilderness rafting two weeks ago due to flooding. Iridium would give me signal every 15 minutes for a duration of 8 minutes because of the deep gorge I was in, but I had signal even if I had to wait for it.

I would prefer Inmarsat prices though.

quote:

Originally posted by Balule:
The terrain also has to be taken into consideration, in mountainous areas you may lose sight of the geostationary satellites while Iridium still has intermittent signal at worst.

Had to organise an emergency egress whilst doing some wilderness rafting two weeks ago due to flooding. Iridium would give me signal every 15 minutes for a duration of 8 minutes because of the deep gorge I was in, but I had signal even if I had to wait for it.

I would prefer Inmarsat prices though.

^^^This^^^ My Iridium I purchased after 911. I have used it all over the globe with very, very few service outages.

My biggest issue is in South America, on the rivers down there. There are times I need to get in a boat and float out into the river to get out from under the dense jungle canopy.

I believe there will come a time, very shortly that all cellular service will be satellite based and not tower based.

Good thread..I'm trying to decide between a 9575 and Iridium Go as well...I heard the quality of the Go when used as a phone is terrible. Any truth to that?

Not from my experience. I find I like my cell phone tied into the GO better than holding the Extreme for long periods. Plus I can drive and use my GO on the handsfree bluetooth in my vehicle as well.

And service is only going to improve as the first batch of the NEXT satellites were just launched.

http://gpsworld.com/spacex-lau...ium-next-satellites/

Thanks Opus..I'm the kind of guy that suffers from.."Paralysis by analysis"

I need all the help I can get...

The GO worked well for us in Zim.

Keep in mind that any device dependent upon a sat hook-up requires line of sight - think unobstructed view through your scope at a target. This includes sat phones, GO and any GPS device. Anything that blocks or limits the line of sight from your device to the sats overhead will effect performance. I know people who were surprised their GPS did not work in triple canopy jungle and that sat phones don't work inside buildings; no line-of-sight hook-up. There are still parts of the Earth that have limited sat overflights.

My old firm's administrator used to try to get me to carry one of the firm's sat phones on safari and I always refused. With our new firm, I've also failed to disclose that for the last couple of safaris in Tanzania, there was actually wifi in camp. If they knew that, I'd have to carry my computer and would get no peace whatsoever. During a single long weekend at DSC this month, I lost at least a day because I was reachable and my clients knew it.

Delorme Inreach. Can't make calls, but sends messages. Has SOS as well. Can be used on its own, or can pair with your phone. You can also pay month to month, only when you actually need it.

I have never had a problem with my Garmin Map 60 or 62's with extensive use in jungle canopy in Borneo, or in a vehicle for that matter.

Not so with sat phones.

The reasons I carry a Sat phone to Africa.