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packboardhunter
Guest
Thinking of getting one for use in the lower 48, any input or suggestions? Thanks--JM.
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Califelkslayer
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 4,078
Curious what you learn. I've had the same though. I'll be watching this post.
I read an article last year that said you could buy a phone for about $250.00 and it cost $1.50 a minute to call. $1.50 a minute beats lying under a horse, freezing while you pray someone comes by in a wilderness area.
I read an article last year that said you could buy a phone for about $250.00 and it cost $1.50 a minute to call. $1.50 a minute beats lying under a horse, freezing while you pray someone comes by in a wilderness area.
J
JohnnyLegend
Guest
PBH,
We just finished a wilderness elk hunt where we walked in, but had gotten a radio from a outfitter who would come in and pack our elk out should we make it happen. Well, we went 2 for 2 on couple real nice bulls and we had a heck of a time reaching our outfitter by radio. We were only 8 miles in, but spent all day trying to reach him before finally making good contact. We climbed up and up trying to get a better signal, but the elevation did not help much. We finally reached him and he came in and packed our elk out as planned. However, we were starting to worry as it took us about 12-hours of trying before making contact. Also, no cell phone coverage anywhere, we were as high aas 11,047 feet and no cell signal.
So, with all this being said, my brother said he will rent a satellite phone on our next trip for sure. He looked into it on this trip and I thought he said it was about $300 rental fee + air time. If we go back to same the wilderness unit and use the same outfitter/packer then I am OK with the radio, but if we go to a new wilderness unit and have a first time packer,then will get the sat phone for sure. I am sure my bro will get the phone no matter what. Plus 8 days is getting a bit long on no contact with the wife and kids. Also, I believe Cameron Hanes takes a satellite phone with him on his wilderness hunts. I will email him and get his feedback and I beliewe he talks about this in his book as well.
Hope this perspective helps and enjoy the rest of your hunting season.
JL
We just finished a wilderness elk hunt where we walked in, but had gotten a radio from a outfitter who would come in and pack our elk out should we make it happen. Well, we went 2 for 2 on couple real nice bulls and we had a heck of a time reaching our outfitter by radio. We were only 8 miles in, but spent all day trying to reach him before finally making good contact. We climbed up and up trying to get a better signal, but the elevation did not help much. We finally reached him and he came in and packed our elk out as planned. However, we were starting to worry as it took us about 12-hours of trying before making contact. Also, no cell phone coverage anywhere, we were as high aas 11,047 feet and no cell signal.
So, with all this being said, my brother said he will rent a satellite phone on our next trip for sure. He looked into it on this trip and I thought he said it was about $300 rental fee + air time. If we go back to same the wilderness unit and use the same outfitter/packer then I am OK with the radio, but if we go to a new wilderness unit and have a first time packer,then will get the sat phone for sure. I am sure my bro will get the phone no matter what. Plus 8 days is getting a bit long on no contact with the wife and kids. Also, I believe Cameron Hanes takes a satellite phone with him on his wilderness hunts. I will email him and get his feedback and I beliewe he talks about this in his book as well.
Hope this perspective helps and enjoy the rest of your hunting season.
JL
I have a GlobalStar Qualcomm Sat phone right now and have a 30 minute plan that I pay 39.95 a month. It's well worth it. There are a many of places where we couldn't get any cell coverage and this phone saved the day. It's a 'tri-mode' phone, meaning it is analog, digital and satellite. I had my Verizon and Globalstar plans on this phone, but got another to put the Verizon on. I keep the sat phone in the truck.
A couple of weeks ago, we were in NM and were way back in the boonies and no cell coverage at all. We used the sat phone and worked just fine.
Another thing I read, is that when there was a natural or man-made disaster, lot of the cell phones didn't work, due to the overburden on their systems, etc. So it's great in all emergencies.
Anyways, Motorola makes the Iridium sat phone and this phone, you can buy sat phone minute cards. This may be a better solution and seem to be a better technology than the Globalstar.
Hope this helps.
Also, when at Rocky Pt last year, we could call home, as none of the cell phones worked down there!
A couple of weeks ago, we were in NM and were way back in the boonies and no cell coverage at all. We used the sat phone and worked just fine.
Another thing I read, is that when there was a natural or man-made disaster, lot of the cell phones didn't work, due to the overburden on their systems, etc. So it's great in all emergencies.
Anyways, Motorola makes the Iridium sat phone and this phone, you can buy sat phone minute cards. This may be a better solution and seem to be a better technology than the Globalstar.
Hope this helps.
Also, when at Rocky Pt last year, we could call home, as none of the cell phones worked down there!
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packboardhunter
Guest
Thanks for the replies I was thinking of the globalstar, anyone else?--JM.
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Salmonfg
Guest
Like any tool, they can be useful, but have limitations. I've found that I must have little or no overhead cover. I've run into time periods or places with no/poor reception (seems like I average getting satellites 20% of the time) and lost connections are very common (60-80% of calls disconnect). The battery packs seem to last for about 10-15 minutes of actual use, so I find myself not using it just to check in or I won't have it when I need it for something important.
I rented a Globalstar for 2 weeks for use in Nevada hunting muleys this opener. Paid $120 which included shipping and 30 minutes of time. Extra minutes were $1.59/each. Rented it from www.cellphoneshop.net they were very good to work with and the phone reception was decent - not great. I wouldn't hesitate to use this company again or get the glabalstar. They ask where you want to use it and advise how good the reception should be. gl7mm
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Gamekiller
Guest
I have had a Motorola (Iridium) sat phone for several years now and it is great. I have used it around the world with no problems at all. If you plan on hunting outside the continental United States, including Alaska, definately go with Motorola (Iridium) over Globalstar, as Globalstar uses stationary satellites over the states, where as Iridiums satellites circle the globe. My experience with dropped calls is very minimal. Maybe once every 10 calls. If it happens, just call back with no problems. Not cheap, but a great piece of mind as I do most of my hunting alone...
A
archeryelk
Guest
I was on a BC trip this year in some of the most remote country in the world. He used the phone all the time and used it a couple of times. I think it would be a great investment to rent one if you are going to be WAY out alone!!!!!!!!
Archer
Archer
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TFinalshot
Guest
LAST EDITED ON Oct-23-06 AT 03:07PM (MST)[p]Only seen them in action one time, I never rented one, never even thought there was much use for one, until about a month ago when a friend of mines life was saved while he was oufitting an elk hunt. He got kicked by a mule and it tor-him-up real bad, had it not been for the satelite phone he's be dead right now, no if ands or buts about it. . . .
M
Muley62
Guest
I've had a Globalstar phone for a year now and if I were to do it all over again I would get the Iridium. Most of my calls get dropped withing 2-4 minutes and you have to have clear skies. They keep telling me that their service will get better in January when they launch a new satellite.
Globalstar does not work in Alaska or Africa.
Globalstar does not work in Alaska or Africa.
H
HighWidenHandsome
Guest
The "FOUNDER" of this site is a dealer of satelite phones!
He's hunting now, but I believe he'll be back in town by next Monday
then gone again about Thursday! He can probably help those interested!
He's hunting now, but I believe he'll be back in town by next Monday
then gone again about Thursday! He can probably help those interested!
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packboardhunter
Guest
Thanks for all the good replies!--JM.
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rost495
Guest
Had bad luck with globalstar in Sept in CO.
Will be looking towards Iridium for sure when renting or hopefully buying in the future.
Jeff
Will be looking towards Iridium for sure when renting or hopefully buying in the future.
Jeff
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BUGLELK
Guest
Just wanted to add my experiences with them. We rented a Globalstar for our drop hunt in Alaska in August and it worked perfectly. Used it 6-8 times, both to get meat hauled out and to make contact with our familes at home. Never had any troubles getting satellites, even on cloudy, rainy days, and the batteries lasted for over an hour of actual use and still had a 75% charge according to the indicator. They are definitely a convenience, and in some cases, a life saver.
Corey
Corey
Shot elk in backcountry... definitely worth everypenny. Just don't forget to put it in your day pack from your base camp. We fu-bared on that one... After walking back to our drop camp and searching everywhere for it... realized it was in the fanny pack afterall. DUH.
Wouldn't go remote without. Worked well... check regular voicemail while out of the office.
Midnight.
Wouldn't go remote without. Worked well... check regular voicemail while out of the office.
Midnight.
I'm not planning on going over any ocean or up north, so my Globalstar just works fine with me. I've been in many of places where the phone was needed and worked just fine.
Just that bit of assurance, knowing that you have comms is such a plus.
Whatever you decide, having that communication link to the outside world, is sure a plus.
Just that bit of assurance, knowing that you have comms is such a plus.
Whatever you decide, having that communication link to the outside world, is sure a plus.
R
rost495
Guest
Maybe we got a bad unit, but I even got almost as high as I could on a saddle, no trees for hundreds of feet, perfectly clear skies. First call globalstar was fine, then died right at the end and I sat there for 30 minutes waiting on another call and gave up.
We had no reception in camp ever, which in fairness was only about a 300 foot circle of no trees about 300 feet from the top of a ridge.
We would walk the phone out down a trail where we were again, nothing around us for almost 600 feet or so, clear sky and so on, total cr@pshoot on it working or not. So much so that we had bought 75 minutes of time and used only 20 minutes and gave up and never tried to use it again after about the 6th day.
Just our experiences for some 200 bucks of rental. Talking on a few other websites with lots of other hunters sure seems that iridium is by far the safer route to take.
Jeff
Jeff
We had no reception in camp ever, which in fairness was only about a 300 foot circle of no trees about 300 feet from the top of a ridge.
We would walk the phone out down a trail where we were again, nothing around us for almost 600 feet or so, clear sky and so on, total cr@pshoot on it working or not. So much so that we had bought 75 minutes of time and used only 20 minutes and gave up and never tried to use it again after about the 6th day.
Just our experiences for some 200 bucks of rental. Talking on a few other websites with lots of other hunters sure seems that iridium is by far the safer route to take.
Jeff
Jeff
I rented a satellite phone for a week during Colorado's first rifle elk season about a week ago. I paid about $55/week to rent the phone, $55 to round-trip ship the phone, and about $1.50/minute for air time. I was solo backpack hunting in the Weminuche Wilderness in SW Colorado's San Juan mountains. This was a Globalstar satellite phone. They are making some adjustments in their satellite locations and there are some temporary service outages that occur for durations of 5-15 minutes. Nevertheless, I was able to use the phone each of three days while up in the wilderness (before being driven out by heavy snowfall on opening day -- drat!). I rented from Spirit wireless. Look them up on the web. I'm sure others have similar deals. It gave my wife a lot of peace of mind.
On the other hand, if you are pinned under your horse and your satellite phone is out of reach you are in trouble. If you have toppled down an ice chute, broken your leg, and your satellite phone is back in your wall tent you are in trouble. You have to have the satellite phone near-to-hand for it to serve you in emergencies. Sometimes stating the obvious is worthwhile.
On the other hand, if you are pinned under your horse and your satellite phone is out of reach you are in trouble. If you have toppled down an ice chute, broken your leg, and your satellite phone is back in your wall tent you are in trouble. You have to have the satellite phone near-to-hand for it to serve you in emergencies. Sometimes stating the obvious is worthwhile.
