SPOT has a Sat.phone

[pete_k]

Looks like SPOT came out with a real sat phone. $399 fair price IMO. (if you have an active account)
But the plans are pricey for recreational users. $300 per year for bare basic plan plus $50 activation.
Optional data plans so you can browse HBC posts at $2.50 per minute.


http://www.findmespot.ca/en/index.php?cid=301

[Ry151]

Spot has always had a sat phone, just it used to be called Globalstar. Same company. If you want the reliability of smoke signals get a Globalstar sat phone. They are extremely un reliable but are a lot cheaper than iridium.

[emerson]

Hmm, whose satellites are they using? Maybe trying to stop hemorrhaging (https://www.google.ca/search?client=firefox-a&hs=4nm&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=rcs&q=hemorrhaging&spell=1&sa=X&ei=32PDUb6CPcWoiQKN54HwCg&ved=0CCwQvwUoAA&biw=1025&bih=452)customers to the real sat phones. How does spot stack up in the sat phone game; or is this just a discount way in?

^info was posted while I spell checked.

[GoatGuy]

Globalstar, the last call you'll never make.

[Andrewh]

I just picked up an Iridium 9555 basically brand new off craigslist for $450, I don't want to take chances with Globalstar/Spot when you hear so many negative reviews.

Look for used iridiums, better than a new globalstar in my eyes...

[ryanb]

Okay, if you read my posts on these topics from the past you will know I was always the first to trash the global star phones. I have been using sat phones for a decade and got to see the decline and demise of the global star system and the recent dominance of Iridium. The fact of the matter is that Globalstar has finally launched the replacement satellites they've been promising they would for years and their phones now actually work. I had a chance to test one out, and it works now. I bought one after some research. The SPOT phone is just a rebranded globalstar 1600.

[ryanb]

If you need evidence that the system now works, consider last year they were selling unlimited minutes plans for $20 a month, and the same plan is now $150. Do you think they'd do that if it still didn't work?

[Singleshotneeded]

No way to buy the sat phone for $400, pay an activation fee of $50, and have it operational from June 1st to Nov 30,
and dormant the other 6 months?

[longstonec]

Spot has always had a sat phone, just it used to be called Globalstar. Same company. If you want the reliability of smoke signals get a Globalstar sat phone. They are extremely un reliable but are a lot cheaper than iridium.


X2


Smoke signals have far a far better history of reliability for hundreds of years.. Case and point... Today if you lit a pile of globalstar equipment on fire you would most likely receive more attention then you would walking around in circles holding a brick with a broom handle attached!

[bridger]

[QUOTE=ryanb;1345412]Okay, if you read my posts on these topics from the past you will know I was always the first to trash the global star phones. I have been using sat phones for a decade and got to see the decline and demise of the global star system and the recent dominance of Iridium. The fact of the matter is that Globalstar has finally launched the replacement satellites they've been promising they would for years and their phones now actually work. I had a chance to test one out, and it works now. I bought one after some research. The SPOT phone is just a rebranded globalstar

thanks for the update on the new global star satellite launch. I had a global star the year their satellite malfunctioned. I will never go back to them no matter what. That year we had a serious problem back in the mtns and needed help. Took three days to get through. What pissed me off was when i got out and phoned them and was told their satellite had been down for several months and they hadn't notified their subscribers because they were eventually goingto get it fixed and didn't want to lose subscribers.

[pete_k]

Hopefully SPOT has resolved any problems they had in the past. I'd like to see some competition between sat phone services.

[pete_k]

A little interesting from WIKI regarding Globstar and Iridium. Some good info about their satellites and how many. Breakdowns, replacements, future plans etc.

GLOBESTAR:
The Globalstar project was launched in 1991 as a joint venture of Loral Corporation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loral_Corporation) and Qualcomm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualcomm). On March 24, 1994, the two sponsors announced formation of Globalstar LP, a limited partnership (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_partnership)established in the U.S., with financial participation from eight other companies, including Alcatel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcatel), AirTouch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirTouch), Deutsche Aerospace (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Aerospace), Hyundai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai) and Vodafone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafone). At that time, the company predicted the system would launch in 1998, based on an investment of $1.8 billion.
Globalstar received its US spectrum allocation from the FCC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Communications_Commission) in January 1995, and continued to negotiate with other nations for rights to use the same radio frequencies in their countries.
The first satellites were launched in February 1998, but system deployment was delayed due to a launch failure in September 1998 that resulted in the loss of 12 satellites in a launch by the Russian Space Agency (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Space_Agency). In February 2000, it launched the last of 52 satellites — 48 satellites and four in-orbit spares. Another eight unlaunched satellites were maintained as ground spares.
The first call on the original Globalstar system was placed on November 1, 1998, from Qualcomm chairman Irwin Jacobs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_M._Jacobs) in San Diego (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego) to Loral Space & Communications (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loral_Space_%26_Communications) CEO and chairman Bernard Schwartz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_L._Schwartz)in New York (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York).
In October 1999, the system began "friendly user" trials with 44 of 48 planned satellites. In December 1999, the system began limited commercial service for 200 users with the full 48 satellites (no spares in orbit). In February 2000, it began full commercial service with its 48 satellites and 4 spares in North America, Europe and Brazil. Initial prices were $1.79/minute.
On February 15, 2002, the predecessor company Globalstar (old Globalstar) and three of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.
In 2004, restructuring of the old Globalstar was completed. The first stage of the restructuring was completed on December 5, 2003, when Thermo Capital Partners LLC was deemed to obtain operational control of the business, as well as certain ownership rights and risks. Thermo Capital Partners, became the principal owner.
Globalstar LLC was formed as a Delaware limited liability company in November 2003, and was converted into Globalstar, Inc., on March 17, 2006.
In 2007 Globalstar launched eight additional first-generation spare satellites into space to help compensate for the premature failure of their in-orbit satellites. Between 2010 and 2013, Globalstar launched 24 second-generation satellites in an effort to restore their system to full service.
In 2011, Globalstar began laying off employees of their Canadian office to reduce costs and restructure the company.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)] Between 2010 and 2011, Globalstar moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Covington, Louisiana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covington,_Louisiana) in part to take advantage of the state's tax breaks and low cost of living.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalstar#cite_note-1)

IRIDIUM:


The Iridium satellite constellation is a large group of satellites providing voice and data coverage to satellite phones (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_phone), pagers and integrated transceivers over Earth's entire surface. Iridium Communications Inc. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_Communications_Inc.) owns and operates the constellation and sells equipment and access to its services. It was originally developed in 1992, and subsequently implemented in October of 1999.
The constellation consists of 66 active satellites in orbit, and additional spare satellites to serve in case of failure.[1] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellation#cite_note-satellite-tracking-1) Satellites are in low Earth orbit (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Earth_orbit) at a height of approximately 485 mi (781 km) and inclination of 86.4°. Orbital velocity of the satellites is approximately 17,000 mph (27,000 km/h). Satellites communicate with neighboring satellites via Ka band (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka_band) inter-satellite links. Each satellite can have four inter-satellite links: two to neighbors fore and aft in the same orbital plane, and two to satellites in neighboring planes to either side. The satellites orbit from pole to pole with an orbit of roughly 100 minutes. This design means that there is excellent satellite visibility and service coverage at the North and South poles, where there are few customers. The over-the-pole orbital design produces "seams" where satellites in counter-rotating planes next to one another are traveling in opposite directions. Cross-seam inter-satellite link hand-offs would have to happen very rapidly and cope with large Doppler shifts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_effect); therefore, Iridium supports inter-satellite links only between satellites orbiting in the same direction. The constellation of 66 active satellites has 6 orbital planes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_plane_(astronomy))spaced 30 degrees apart, with 11 satellites in each plane (not counting spares). The original concept was to have 77 satellites, which is where the name Iridium came from, being the element (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium) with the atomic number 77 and the satellites evoking the Bohr model (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_model) image of electrons orbiting around the Earth as its nucleus. (The element with the atomic number 66 is dysprosium (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysprosium).) This reduced set of 6 planes is sufficient to cover the entire Earth's surface at every moment.

Because of the unique shape of the Iridium satellites' reflective antennas, the satellites focus sunlight on a small area of the Earth's surface. This results in an effect called "Iridium flares", where the satellite momentarily appears as one of the brightest objects in the night sky.[2] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellation#cite_note-SatObs-2)

[Skull Hunter]

I've heard all the horror stories about globalstar, but it sure seems like they're trying to turn things around. I'm wondering if this new spot phone is worth the investment or not?

[ryanb]

The system works now. The risk lies in the company's questionable financial stability.

[swampthing]

I used my old globalstar the other day and it worked!! It was a pleasant surprise