Hello all,
I am kinda new here, had posted previously but had my computer go boom and just got things back up and running and finding the many places that I was at in the beginning. Very interesting how that happens, you actually forget some very fun and cool places on the web when you have a drastic crash like that. Anyways, on to my question. I will be travelling out of country for an extended time period, one year and am looking at satelite phones. I was wondering if anyone has a recommendation as to a good robust model that will withstand some slight abuse but yet not break the bank so to speak. I don't want the least expensive but I also don't want the most expensive either, I am a believer in you get what you pay for. As far as the service goes, I believe after doing some research that whomever you buy the phone from has sevice contracts also. Maybe I'm wrong there too, it's my first experience so I don't really have any when it comes to these phones.
Thanks in advance,
ETGStore <img src="images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Hello ETGStore,

Welcome to the forum and welcome back again LOL <img src="images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />.

May I suggest trying the search function and looking through both forums? [Be sure to set the search features to include all posts for all dates...it normally defaults to a fairly short time for searches.]

IIRC it seems to me that around 6 months to a year ago, there were several threads on the sat phones. I personally do not have any experience with them, however your question will likely generate several replies from others with more experience in them.

I'll poke around and see if I can locate them for you, in the meantime...

Regards,
Comanche7

Yep, did that.
All I got was two threads that mentioned Sat Phones but nothing about which brand is best and why. Still looking.
Thanks,
ETGStore

Try "satellite phone" I came up with about 8 threads and a bunch of different posts. Hmmm...be sure to reset the default search settings to "all forums" and "all dates" via the little drop down boxes. Another thing to try is to use different terms in your search.

I'm not 100% positive, but I think that there was also a discussion on sat phones at www.candlepowerforums.com
May be worth a try on their search feature as well.

Perhaps some www.google.com and www.froogle.google.com searches will help. Froogle is price oriented, google just does plain searches. You may find cell and satellite phone discussion forums with google...

Comanche7

Thanks Comanche7,
Will be trying all those things within the next couple of days. My time limit is short so I need to hurry. Did I mention that I need to hurry.LOL.

Understood.

Did a netscape search using "satellite phone forum" and came up with

http://search.netscape.com/ns/search?
query=satellite+phone+forum&fromPage=NSCPIndex

[Note: I split the two lines immediatelly above this note to keep this page easy to view. To use the link, you'll need to do a copy & paste, and then remove the hard break.]

which provides a bunch of links.

For all that, it might be just as easy to simply go to your search engine of choice and enter the search words shown in the quotes above.

Good luck.

I have personally used a variety of Sat phones. Here's what I can tell you.

First of all, no sat phone works all the time, everywhere. Anyone who tells you they do is lying.

There's two broad classes of phone, the handheld (which is a BIG handheld) and the transportable phone (it can be in a a darn big case) and the fixed systems, which offer the most in terms of features and reliability.

All of them work fairly well, but sometimes you can't get a connection because of the line of sight to the sattelite not being right or the weather is funny. In some cases, for example, in a valley, you might only be able to use the phone for 30 minutes a day as the "bird" passes over.

There are workarounds, of course, it's a matter of money and size.

Your best best is to contact Robert B. Rosen rob@remotesatellite.com, he's an ethical guy with great support and a fantastic selection of products.

Again thanks Comanche7. I have found several items but still looking, I don't want to just jump on the first band wagon that I see. You've given me several good ideas on searching, some that I haven't tried before.
See ya,
ETGStore

Great,
Thanks for the info martinfocazio. I realized that it wouldn't be any much better than our cell phones. I am going to a region of the world where there is no cell service and I need some form of comms, as part of a survival kit as well as being able to contact the family while I'm away. I look up your contact and see what he can suggest for the part of the world where I'm going.
Thank you,
ETGStore

]ETGStore[

Try Iridium

Try Thuraya for middle east, parts of Africa & Asia. Thuraya

HTH