Satellite phones

[wild one]

Anyone have or use a satellite phone? The good ,bad and the ugly. Spent most of the afternoon on some remote farmland with a blown tractor tire. No cell service and probably never will be, don't believe cb or fm radio would get out thru the hills and just looking for something to make that emergency call when things go bad. Seems like if something is going to break or quit this is where it happens. Its seems if we work in that area we check often to see if things are still going. Getting spoiled with all this modern stuff and too damn old to walk too far and I suppose smoke signals are frowned upon these days!

[sandhiller]

I have been thinking about T Mobile but haven't pulled the trigger yet

 

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/satellite-phone-service?gclsrc=aw.ds&&cmpid=MGPO_PG_P_25SATDLCH_1844802947952_179499437012_782441224754&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=16905361634&gclid=CjwKCAjwntHPBhAaEiwA_Xp6RmeZD-IkoCxIr9nEclvb4gcUqFPQRNCSztrxQaSWweNjwAjZFXBMwxoC8TMQAvD_BwE

[poor farmer/logger]

Satellite texting on my new iPhone works pretty good. A lot slower than traditional texting but works nonetheless the less.  Friend I snowmobile with almost always has a sat phone with him. It works ok. Don’t work inside buildings though usually.  Also hit and miss around buildings it seems.  He pays so much a month for it and keeps building minutes as he doesn’t use it unless he’s away in the bush somewhere. 

[New Englander]

Satellite text is the way to go, I suspect cheaper than and less cumbersome than carrying another phone. My daughter is an avid hiker and has the service.

We started carrying a portable sat phone on international trips back in the '90s. It was big and service spotty. You would have to wait until a satellite was in view and would have service until it passed. The constellation was incomplete. Passengers started taking one with them in some spots in Africa. They got much smaller and way more reliable.

Airborne service got progressively better as more sats were launched then even a completely separate system launched so there was competition. Sat internet became possible and the monthly sat bills were more than my salary. 

Wow things have changed. I well remember when Sputnik was the only thing up there. I was 5.

[wild one]

8 hours ago, sandhiller said:

I have been thinking about T Mobile but haven't pulled the trigger yet

 

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/satellite-phone-service?gclsrc=aw.ds&&cmpid=MGPO_PG_P_25SATDLCH_1844802947952_179499437012_782441224754&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=16905361634&gclid=CjwKCAjwntHPBhAaEiwA_Xp6RmeZD-IkoCxIr9nEclvb4gcUqFPQRNCSztrxQaSWweNjwAjZFXBMwxoC8TMQAvD_BwE

My luck. I looked at their coverage map and the area I need it probably has no coverage

[vtfireman85]

I realize you are talking about it for convenience, but newer IPhones, 14 and up have it for SOS emergency access. I fortunately have never needed to use it, but it’s nice to know it is there. 

[twostepn2001]

2 hours ago, New Englander said:

I well remember when Sputnik was the only thing up there. I was 5.

A few days ago, in one of the FB groups l'm in, someone asked what was the first major news story that you remember as a kid. Sputnik was my answer also!!   lol  

[mader656]

Friends wife git him this after a hunting trip, search and rescue was almost called, never got service to check in. https://www.findmespot.com/en-us/products-services/spot-x#service-plans

That being said the really powerful 2 way radios have a pretty good range.

[db1486]

I work out of cell service most days here. In fact I'm probably out of service more than in service. We had a couple sat phones to use and they did work whenever we needed them, just had to be in a nice open spot. I don't know what the cost was on them, but it must've on the pricey side because they dropped them. We now have the Spot or Inreach devices that work the same way but can only text out. They do work pretty well and I've never had a message not go through, sometimes just takes a few minutes. Now some co-workers have the satellite texting on their iPhone and it has worked pretty well so far. Roger's, which is a major cellular carrier here in Canada, now has satellite plans for cell phones, and I believe I saw they are working on plans with call, text, and data. 

[New Englander]

For the hikers or fishermen on remote lakes a personal beacon is a good idea. They work with GPS and a 406 mhz transmitter. I changed my plane's ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) to a 406 type for two reasons. The 121.5/243 MHZ is no longer monitored by satellite and it was rumored that Canada was going to require one for all operations. The ELT takes GPS position from my plane's navigation system, has a "G" switch that will activate it if I crash, and broadcasts it via SAT for search and rescue. It also broadcasts on 121.5 for close-in location plus an audio signal for real close in or if inadvertently (extremely bad landing) activated. It's registered and SAR will call the registered  # first to make sure it's real. The same system is available for outdoors folks for a lot less money: https://www.acrartex.com/resqlink-personal-locator-beacons/?srsltid=AfmBOorDZSWY-PUsAwbR2Tq_EIJVSRTPpOYlrD5d25M3enETnUe3UnH0

I know the call will happen as we had a minor bleed air leak on one of our Jets and the heat was setting the ELT off. Calls came into dispatch and verified we were OK. ELT located in the tail of the plane near hot air pipes and one clamp was a little loose, not enough to trip bleed leak detection system but enough to piss off the ELT.

GPS signal will bring SAR to 100 meters max, probably pin point.

[mjcolemn]

Just went on a snowmobile trip in Northern Canada and one of my friends brought a starlink mini and ran it off an M18 battery, made it easy to communicate and check weather. 

[Cattech]

7 hours ago, mjcolemn said:

Just went on a snowmobile trip in Northern Canada and one of my friends brought a starlink mini and ran it off an M18 battery, made it easy to communicate and check weather. 

I was just going to suggest the same... Starlink mini and basic service package. Not only would your phone link to it and work, but you'd have full internet capabilities. 

[mike newman]

On 5/3/2026 at 2:02 AM, vtfireman85 said:

I realize you are talking about it for convenience, but newer IPhones, 14 and up have it for SOS emergency access. I fortunately have never needed to use it, but it’s nice to know it is there. 

...exactly   what 'we' have whilst up in the boonies ,for the Rainbow Station /Hamner   back country road trip....

..For ""we''   read my Daughter..who is very adept with this technology...and we have used to call up the Rescue Helicopter service

...although I carry a six inch, American made Crescent...and it is a very useful tool....its internet capability seems lacking......

Mike

[Howard_P]

2 hours ago, mike newman said:

....although I carry a six inch, American made Crescent...and it is a very useful tool....its internet capability seems lacking......

Mike

Did you get the wireless model?

[mike newman]

4 minutes ago, Howard_P said:

Did you get the wireless model?

...the short answer, Howard, is no !!!...............possibly because when I first started this life time involvement   with predominantly Red  machinery, the "Wireless model  ''had yet to be conceived.....and due to my total lack of interest  in the maelstrom  of  technical advancements that we are bombarded with in ever increasing frequency....I have yet to purchase a ''cell phone''...in fact ,the 'Metric System '  was introduced into New Zealand in 1967...and I have yet to embrace that particular mechanism....Having learnt a trade with Caterpillar....welding using Imperial measurements..I had no interest  in learning some other foreign   nonsense.....

Old 'red'  tractors....particularly   "petrol over Diesel '..and with tracks...and old Marlin Rifles, plus a few good American four and a half pound axe's, will keep me totally absorbed  as my life winds down....

Possibly won't  even  chase the latest 'Wireless ''model Crescent.....not even if it had ""Made in USA'' inscribed thereon......

Mike

[Howard_P]

Thought Crescents were always wireless, your type of tool.

But you seem to do well with your kerosene powered computer!

[AKwelder]

I have used several of them, and in many different places. They can be a life savings.

 

I would find a satellite texting option, you will be happier and the price will be better