Hi there! does anyone have expierance with the best coverage in Alaska with a hand held sat phone? I have a Spot phone but wonder about how well it works way north. Just flew home yesterday with my new amphibs on the Husky. now the cargo pad and heading North. Thanks, Kent

Iridium.

It's a short list!

X2...no question. Iridium

The SPOT system uses the Globalstar satellite system. That system has proven itself over a number of years to be singularly unreliable very far north.....as in much of Alaska. Also, the further west you go, the worse the coverage.

I used both Globalstar and Iridium phones heavily for a number of years, working in northern AK (as in north of N60), and the Iridium phones were extremely reliable, whereas the Globalstar system was essentially useless. A SPOT locator MAY function sort of okay that far north, simply because it sends a repeated burst message. But, with the Globalstar phone system, dropped calls are the norm, due to poor satellite coverage. After a few seasons trying to use the Globalstar system, we gave up on them, and used nothing but Iridium phones.

Iridium works extremely well in Alaska. In fact, the further north you go, the less often you'll experience dropped calls (dropped calls are due to the orbiting satellite dropping below the horizon while you're on a call). Dropped calls happen rarely with Iridium, in any case, though.

The difference is in the number and orbits of the satellites in the two systems.

I wouldn't even consider a Globalstar type device in Alaska. Iridium will get it done. Costs a little more, but....

MTV

I use the Iridium and it is very reliable here in the south central part of the state. We also use the spot tracker and it is fairly reliable at this latitude, but occasional misses a 10 minute report due to terrain blocking. We do not use the spot sat phone and I don't know of any here that do.

mtv wrote:I used both Globalstar and Iridium phones heavily for a number of years, working in northern AK (as in north of N60), and the Iridium phones were extremely reliable, whereas the Globalstar system was essentially useless... with the Globalstar phone system, dropped calls are the norm, due to poor satellite coverage. After a few seasons trying to use the Globalstar system, we gave up on them, and used nothing but Iridium phones.MTV

I'll jump on this bandwagon too. I've owned four Iridiums and two Globalstars. Got the first Iridium back in 1999. Was so disappointed later on with the two Globalstars that I took the first chance to swap them for two more Iridiums. The Iridium connection isn't always clear as a bell, and calls do drop sometimes, but it's way more robust than Globalstar. I use them mainly between about 61 and 65 degrees north, as well as flying through Canada, and when I travel outside the US. They're also well-made. My original phone from 1999, that sees the most use, still works flawlessly.
You can rent one from Surveyors Exchange in Anchorage, and there is another outfit in Fairbanks that just recently began renting them. I can get that contact for you if it would be helpful.
-DP

You want it to work?

North Alaska, Iridium is really the only choice.


You want something cheap that might work for yakking with grandma from the cabin and not caring about expensive minutes? Ok, get a globalstar.

Really though, globalstar use is best kept to the South half of the state and down. Their only saving grace is $50 ebay phones and $20 service plans. But if it doesn't work when you need in most???

Globalstar is a piece of crap. I bought one last year even though my wife wanted me to get iridium, and was amazingly disappointed....... Her reasoning was that all of the commercial fishing guys use iridium (she was a NOAA observer on the fishing fleets). Erf....I really hate it when I don't listen to her, she is usually right.

Globalstar needs at least 10 minutes to pickup a signal and the drops it repeatedly. It would suck if you had to depend on it. And...I am not that far north, 60 degrees.

And...their customer service.....well it ain't. The funniest is that when I complained about their bullcrap coverage map on their facebook, they hired some hack out of the Philipines to try and defend their reputation.

Yeah they suck... but its cheap!

The real problem is globalstar is a "bent pipe" design. That means it hits the bird and bounces back to a ground station -- one generally must be within laser pointer range if you were reflecting off a mirror at 100 miles above. This is also how the get the no-delay cell phone quality.

This means as a practical manner, they must have a ground station within 600 miles of your location.

Why they don't get off their ass and build a couple in North Alaska? I don't know. Probably because the're broke and infrastructure is expensive. It really works better once you get south of alaska but still kind of sucks.

heat map: http://www.globalstar.com/en/images/cid ... r25_14.jpg

Iridian will bounce your signal around between their satellites "peer to peer" until it reaches the home station, of which there's only one or two. Likewise, it's much more expensive and bandwidhth limiting to backhaul your traffic across a bunch of birds than to hot potato it to the ground in globalstar's model. The quality suffers, and latency increases.

However, my guess is this was primarily done as their largest client was the DOD, and it wouldn't be acceptable to be in a war zone and have to hand off your call to a ground station within 600 miles. This way that voice signal can backhaul across the world in space and no nation-state can shut down (or tap) a ground station. Just my opinion, anyways.

idair wrote:Iridian will bounce your signal around between their satellites "peer to peer" until it reaches the home station, of which there's only one or two...

...my guess is this was primarily done as their largest client was the DOD, and it wouldn't be acceptable to be in a war zone and have to hand off your call to a ground station within 600 miles. This way that voice signal can backhaul across the world in space and no nation-state can shut down (or tap) a ground station...

Yes. Strategic considerations are why the primary Iridium ground station is located in Hawai'i.

As a side note, be aware that all Iridium calls are treated as international calls. This means that 1-800-WX-BRIEF does not automatically connect you to a FSS in your area. This may or may not make a difference in the lower 48 with Lockheed Martin running everything, I don't know- but here in Alaska where we still enjoy local weather briefing and flight services, you really need to carry and use the local exchange numbers to call FSS on an Iridium phone. I learned this the hard way years ago when I got a FSS guy in Long Island who claimed he could close me out, but half an hour later my wife gets the dreaded middle-of-the night call about my flight plan not being closed. Fortunately my second call had been to close out my wife-plan.

-DP

Thanks a lot for the feedback. i will just take my Iridium and newly purchased Delorme. Looking forward to getting into Alaska again. Kent

denalipilot wrote:

idair wrote:Iridian will bounce your signal around between their satellites "peer to peer" until it reaches the home station, of which there's only one or two...

...my guess is this was primarily done as their largest client was the DOD, and it wouldn't be acceptable to be in a war zone and have to hand off your call to a ground station within 600 miles. This way that voice signal can backhaul across the world in space and no nation-state can shut down (or tap) a ground station...

Yes. Strategic considerations are why the primary Iridium ground station is located in Hawai'i.

As a side note, be aware that all Iridium calls are treated as international calls. This means that 1-800-WX-BRIEF does not automatically connect you to a FSS in your area. This may or may not make a difference in the lower 48 with Lockheed Martin running everything, I don't know- but here in Alaska where we still enjoy local weather briefing and flight services, you really need to carry and use the local exchange numbers to call FSS on an Iridium phone. I learned this the hard way years ago when I got a FSS guy in Long Island who claimed he could close me out, but half an hour later my wife gets the dreaded middle-of-the night call about my flight plan not being closed. Fortunately my second call had been to close out my wife-plan.

-DP

That's funny - it reminds me of the time I used my iridium to call Wx-Brief from the Wrangells for a flight back to Juneau. The briefer insisted on telling me what all the weather systems in the lower 48 were doing. As the $$ were flashing in my mind, listening to convective activity in Texas(!) I finally hung up and called the local FSS # in Juneau...
I feel like I can get a better briefing myself on the net in the lower 48, whereas in Alaska I still get some good insight from the FSS folks.

As another side note, Flying to Alaska you will have to deal with Canada's mandatory VFR flight plans. I like having an Iridium in Canada as it makes it a lot simpler to deviate to remote airstrips and still comply with that requirement.
-DP

p.s. Here is a blog about how to patch a Iridium phone to a aviation headset.

for whats its worth i use iridium with the best results way down here to

I have had poor results with Globalstar phone service and having learned the hard way Spot is not dependable, I finally broke down and bought a new Iridium phone. So far I have had good results, with service every time I have used it. This is in Canada.

Steve

GlobalStar=ok in Canada sometimes. Sucks in Alaska.
Iridium= works everyplace, some dropped calls when in deep valleys, not much.

Keep AK FSS direct phone numbers ( and others ) handy like the other guys were saying.
Here are the ones I keep in my phone:

Kamloops BC FSS from a cell phone 1-866-541-4101
Edmonton AB FSS from a cell phone 1-866-541-4102
Winnipeg SK FSS from a cell phone 1-866-541-4103

PAKT Ketchikan AK FSS direct line 1-907-225-9481
PAJN Juneau AK FSS direct line 1-866-297-2236

KBLI Bellingham WA Customs 1-360-734-5463
KCLM Port Angles WA Customs 1-360-457-4311
PAKT Ketchikan AK Customs 1-907-225-2254
PAWG Wrangell AK Customs 1-907-874-3415
PAJN Juneau AK Customs 1-907-586-7211
PASI Sitka AK Customs 1-907-747-3374
Canada CANPASS Customs office ( Hamilton ) 1-888-CAN-PASS

Have a safe trip up North, take lots of pics.

Just curious, what are the rates/plans/minutes and whatever other considerations there are with an Iridium. I see that rentals are available, are they that expensive to buy? Are there some models of the Iridium that are better than others?

Thanks in advance.

My phone and service came through GTC. The phone is a 9575 and cost around $1300, (cheaper phones are available), this model allows texts and internet access. The package I am using is called "Northern lights", it is $190.00 every 6 months for 200 minutes. I use the phone sparingly, it is mostly for emergencies, but know I have something reliable when it is needed.

Steve

o4abushmaster wrote:Just curious, what are the rates/plans/minutes and whatever other considerations there are with an Iridium. I see that rentals are available, are they that expensive to buy? Are there some models of the Iridium that are better than others?

Thanks in advance.

There are many, many plans out there. The reason there's an active rental market out there is that a lot of folks are only going where a sat phone is really needed for either a short trip, or a one time trip. Wouldn't make much sense to purchase a $1000 phone ans service for a three week trip, if this is a one time deal.

With a rental, you can buy minutes, rather than a monthly service plan.

Do a quick google search for Iridium service, and you'll find a bunch of plans.

MTV

When we first got our phone it was $6.75 per minute. That was back in about 2003. I think we pay .75 cents now. Not sure if that is a good rate today or not.