 | Home > Off Topic > Recommendations for UK satellite phones? |
 
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| davew Member Since: 02 Jan 2012 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 888   
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I don't have any experience beyond the one we bought for our venture around Australia, it was a cheap option but extremely good quality with quick lock on for location and comms. We bought a second hand Inmarsat Isatphone Pro off eBay which came with 2 batteries, a selection of chargers/plugs and about 6 months of time. It even came in a Pelle case. We tested it on a few trips in the UK including sending texts with location etc... and never had a problem, always locked on quickly for both comms and location. We used it twice in the outback, just to make sure it still worked
Once you have the phone you buy a card which lasts for up to a year, depending on which card you get. We've never actually used up the data, always run out of time but then it's only been there for emergency use and, fortunately we've never used it in anger. One thing you need to watch out for with the Isatphone Pro is that it must have been upgraded to v5.3.0 or higher or it may not work in the UK. Most of them (second hand) are sold with cards though so you can simply ask if it works in the UK or not. http://www.yorkshireoffroadclub.net/ |
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16th Nov 2016 10:37pm |
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| xcentric Member Since: 17 Jan 2016 Location: Midlands Posts: 247 |
The issue is how much you want to pay for airtime. Thuraya offer good phones with airtime that doesn't expire as long as you use a few seconds every 6 months or so - all the others expire. Works ok in the UK and should be fine in Ireland, but check the service coverage maps. I got mine off eBay, quite a few at ok prices when I looked. I paid less for the phone and airtime than the airtime cost.....
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17th Nov 2016 12:04pm |
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971  
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I've had a phone from these guys before:
https://www.globaltelesat.co.uk/ One thing to note though, you can't really use them as a mobile as such. To make a call you unfold the antenna, point it in the right direction and then hold the phone keeping it pointing the right way. Or at least that was our experience with it. That meant that we could use it for outgoing calls only unless we'd pre-arranged a time (via text) to be pointing the phone at the sky. If it's just for emergencies, would something like the DeLorme Inreach work? |
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17th Nov 2016 8:11pm |
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| deep down Member Since: 02 May 2012 Location: France Posts: 204  
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I've used GTC also, very helpful..
Do you really need a Sat phone, have you considered: http://www.findmespot.eu/en/ We use these as well, tracking, easy to check in and if it all goes pair-shaped you can send out a text or call out Search and Rescue. |
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18th Nov 2016 6:41pm |
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971
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I see the InReach as the evolution of the Spot - they both do the breadcrumbs but the Spot can only send out pre-programmed messages. The InReach, whilst being a little more expensive, you can actually have two way text messages.
No reason you couldn't just leave either in your defender the whole time and use them as a backup tracker too... |
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18th Nov 2016 10:39pm |
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