| Author | Message | ||
     Joshua (Joshua) Member Username: Joshua Post Number: 196 Registered: 10-2002 |
Anyone ever use one of these, rent one or own one? just looking for some info..traveling where there is no cell service, and I thought for emergency use, it would be an option. anyone have any experience with them? JOsh | ||
| Erik G. Burrows (Erik) Member Username: Erik Post Number: 207 Registered: 04-2002 |
I have a sat phone from Globalstar. (www.globalstar.com) It's a tri-mode phone, so it'll be your sat phone, digital and analog cell phone. I use mine as my daily-use phone, and it's a bit bulky for that, but out in BFE it's great. Satellite calls I think sound actually better than cell. Globalstar has pricing plans starting at $50/month, but the phone itself is about $900. Add to that the cell service (usually through Verizon) and it's up to about $80/month total. Best part?: Connecting it to the laptop for middle-of-nowhere internet access is very easy. | ||
| Eric Pena (Evalp) Senior Member Username: Evalp Post Number: 490 Registered: 06-2002 |
I rent a phone from a local place in Denver for about $50 a week. That includes the phone, charger, extra battery, a small solor panel for charging and a case for all of it, but no airtime. Airtime is about $1.20 a minute, I belive, but it is only for emergencies so it's not really used but a life saver if I need it. Thought about buying one but I don't have a constant use for it so it would not be economical for me. Price was right at about that Erik mentioned about through Verizon. Thay had a plan that was like $15 a month and no airtime included, good for occasional use, but the phone was $900 bucks. Out of my league. | ||
| Greg (Gparrish) Senior Member Username: Gparrish Post Number: 1242 Registered: 04-2002 |
But at $50/month, you are paying for that phone 4 fold during a year................. | ||
| Richard Dekkard (Richard_dekkard) New Member Username: Richard_dekkard Post Number: 34 Registered: 04-2003 |
I have a global star tri mode as well.. I have it for emergencies and wheeling, up in the mountains and desert it works great, and like was mentioned, with a simple serial cable you hook it to your laptop and can have internet access anywhere. I got the phone for $450 on ebay, and the service I have is $50 a month which includes two hours of talk time anywhere in the continental US. rates are higher in other countries, about $2.00 a min, but you still cant beat it... I highly recomend it just for the safety issues if you wheel in remote places and expedition alot. | ||
| Jaime (Blueboy) Senior Member Username: Blueboy Post Number: 646 Registered: 02-2002 |
rates have dropped drastically since Globalstar went into Chapter 11 and was recently bought out by a group lead by ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Limited Chairman Craig O. McCaw. check out http://www.outfittersatellite.com/ for a Globalstar phone GSP-1600 for $395 and $49.95 call plan providing 120 minutes of voice and/or data transmission. the airtime cost is less than my plan with my current cell phone. b.t.w. - not affiliated with this at all; just looking into for myself and am passing on the info. Jaime |
