Satellite communicators/beacons - who has one? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Satellite communicators/beacons - who has one?

PrivatePilot

PrivatePilot

Ironus Butticus
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Splinter discussion from another thread:

www.gtamotorcycle.com

Switching mobile phone service carriers?

Current research on the telcos...my phone is dying a quick death (iPhone X) so we're considering going up to a 13 as I don't feel the need for a 14. Waiting on Koodo to call me, and I'll be calling Public Mobile today also as per @nhoj 's recommendation. EDIT: Updated following call with Koodo.
www.gtamotorcycle.com www.gtamotorcycle.com

If my trip up to James Bay goes off later this summer one of the topics amongst those on the trip is staying in touch with family, and emergency contact.
The JBR or course doesn't have cellphone service, and the idea of not only traveling on that entire ~700km length without any cellphone service (not to mention other legs of the trip through far northern quesbec which will likely also have no service), but also camping along it and exploring other areas has us thinking about any possible emergencies that might happen.
One friend has a SPOT communicator that we're thinking about activating short term, But it's one way only - we can send pre-determined messages to one person (who would then need to relay to everyone else's family), and it has one predetermined "SOS" button without any confirmation that the message has been acted on, and of course there's no chance to relay additional info or whatever. And the signup is pretty expensive for a short term contract even if you only want the basic 1-way plan. It just doesn't seem to add up anymore compared to the newer options.

The new iPhone has an emergency option that fulfils the emergency beacon thing, but I'm not upgrading before the trip so it's not in play. And still no two way communication or more detailed emergency communication.
I've been looking at a few options and am curious if anyone has any experience with them:

Somewear
somewearlabs.com

Global Hotspot - Somewear Labs

No matter where your adventures take you, the Global Hotspot serves as a line to safety in your pocket. Messaging, tracking, and weather at your fingertips!
somewearlabs.com somewearlabs.com
Info is vague, looks like it's out of stock.

Zoleo:
www.rei.com

ZOLEO Satellite Communicator | REI Co-op

The small, rugged and award-winning ZOLEO satellite communicator connects with your smartphone or tablet to offer seamless global 2-way messaging wherever your adventures may take you.
www.rei.com www.rei.com
Top of the list for "actually available right now" devices. 2 way device. $45/month gives you an actually good solid usable plan to work with. 3 Months minimum however, $25 activation fee, and $5/month fee if you only suspend vs cancel vs (presumably) paying another $25 when reactivated.

Garmin Inreach:
www.garmin.com

inReach® Consumer Subscription Plans | Garmin

www.garmin.com www.garmin.com
$49/month for kinda more or less unlimited (good deal) but $50 signup fee.

And this one is the one that REALLY has my attention right now:
arstechnica.com

Motorola brings $5-a-month satellite messaging to any phone with new hotspot

Have a look at Android's first comprehensive satellite texting solution.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com
It's just not clear if it's going to exist in time. I think at one point it was listed as release this April, but now I see it's been changed to second quarter, which means that it might not be around in time for our trip unless it comes out in the next month or two. But the plans (if these early releases hold) look really good- $149 (USD) option that includes the device AND a year of the 30 message a month service, which for most purposes on a 1-2 week trip allows for a reasonable 2 way communication flow back home. Or even a full month trip completely off grid (unlikely for most), that's still a full message a day "checking in".
 
Evoex said:
I would rent a standalone unit per/day that can be returned. Unless you're considering it a long term investment to be used yearly, etc.
Click to expand...

Hmm...I didn't even know that there was rental options out there. Will explore.

As for the investment, yeah, that was in the background. One of my friends and I both do enough far-flung trips a few times every summer (at least) that going 50/50 on the hardware and 50/50 on a plan for 3-5 months every summer wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities.
 
www.roadpost.ca

Iridium Satellite Phone Daily Rental

Affordable daily Iridium satellite phone rentals include voicemail service, a spare battery and all the accessories. Optional airtime bundles. 100% global coverage.
www.roadpost.ca www.roadpost.ca

Satellite Phone Rentals Canada | Sat Phone Rentals | satellite phone rentals | BGAN rentals | VSAT Leasing

Satellite phone rentals from $89/ wk or $249/ mo (airtime from $1.49 / minute are available at www.CanadaSatellite.ca. Our sat phone rental fleet includes the Iridium 9555, Iridium 9575 Extreme, Inmarsat Isatphone 2, Cobham BGAN 510 and the Inmarsat isavi WiFi satellite internet hotspots.
www.canadasatellite.ca www.canadasatellite.ca

no opinion, just 10 seconds on google.
 
AMA about Inmarsat and Iridium (and Thuraya too, but they don't have coverage in Americas).
 
Not looking for a phone though, just a PLB/text relay.

But yes, some Googling does turn up a few rental outfits. One is expensive. The other is basically $100 but includes shipping on a full Garmin Inreach Mini (pairs with your cellphone) and 7 days of truly unlimited service for incoming/outgoing messages. I think this may be the option when it's all said and done - being able to have free unlimited communication for all in our group on a daily basis is going to be a good selling point, and at basically $25/each for the trip, it's a no brainer.
 
Evoex said:
www.roadpost.ca

Iridium Satellite Phone Daily Rental

Affordable daily Iridium satellite phone rentals include voicemail service, a spare battery and all the accessories. Optional airtime bundles. 100% global coverage.
www.roadpost.ca www.roadpost.ca

Satellite Phone Rentals Canada | Sat Phone Rentals | satellite phone rentals | BGAN rentals | VSAT Leasing

Satellite phone rentals from $89/ wk or $249/ mo (airtime from $1.49 / minute are available at www.CanadaSatellite.ca. Our sat phone rental fleet includes the Iridium 9555, Iridium 9575 Extreme, Inmarsat Isatphone 2, Cobham BGAN 510 and the Inmarsat isavi WiFi satellite internet hotspots.
www.canadasatellite.ca www.canadasatellite.ca

no opinion, just 10 seconds on google.
Click to expand...
Radioworld used to rent sat phones. Worth a call to see if they have plb's. I appreciate a physical store for pickup/drop off.
 
GreyGhost said:
Radioworld used to rent sat phones. Worth a call to see if they have plb's. I appreciate a physical store for pickup/drop off.
Click to expand...

Perfect. About 20 minutes from my house so I'll definitely check.
 
As @GreyGhost suggested, I was also going to say RadioWorld or possibly gpscity.ca

If that fails, let me know.

I have a friend who goes hunting each year way north of Thunder Bay and I know he takes a satellite phone or similar.
I can ask where he gets it from.....
 
Sateliite phone would be neat and all, but from what I've seen, on top of the rental you're looking at around $2/minute for rental units, so it's not really practical as a daily check-in device unless it's literally a 60 second conversation with one person relaying the check-in to the other 3 spouses in the party.
 
I've been using the Garmin InReach Mini for over a year now.

IMG_20220207_185748-X2.jpg


It uses the Iridium network which has decent coverage around the world. Standalone, it has the SOS beacon feature, as well as the ability to send pre-recorded SMS texts to your contact list, like "I'm OK. Arrived for the night." and can send breadcrumbs to a map in the cloud. Also has the ability to receive texts as well. You get a fixed amount of texts per month depending on your plan, and then you pay per text above that.

Its usefulness is amplified when paired to your phone via Bluetooth. You can compose and send texts via the Garmin app, as well as view where you are on a map on your phone.

Having used the service for quite awhile, IMO, it's overpriced for what it is. There are lots of hidden fees. It's about $50 CDN/month for the 2nd tier service in addition to the ~$75 CDN/year for the yearly activation. This is far and above what the advertised rate is because of taxes+CDN conversion+hidden fees that they inconveniently tack on.

Also, any GPS SOS beacon has to be tested on the merits of the emergency response, which I have not used. If you're going to evaluate the usefulness of an SOS beacon, find a review from someone who's actually activated the beacon and review the response. Anyone who recommends an SOS beacon without having activated it is like someone giving a review of an insurance company without ever having made an insurance claim. It's meaningless.
 
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Lightcycle said:
I've been using the Garmin InReach Mini for over a year now.

IMG_20220207_185748-X2.jpg


It uses the Iridium network which has decent coverage around the world. Standalone, it has the SOS beacon feature, as well as the ability to send pre-recorded SMS texts to your contact list, like "I'm OK. Arrived for the night." and can send breadcrumbs to a map in the cloud.

Its usefulness is amplified when paired to your phone via Bluetooth. You can compose and send texts via the Garmin app, as well as view where you are on a map on your phone.

Having used the service for quite awhile, IMO, it's overpriced for what it is. There are lots of hidden fees. It's about $50 CDN/month for the 2nd tier subscription service and about $75 CDN/year for the subscription service. This is far and above what the advertised rate is because of taxes+CDN conversion+hidden fees that they inconveniently tack on.

Also, any GPS SOS beacon has to be tested on the merits of the emergency response, which I have not used. If you're going to evaluate the usefulness of an SOS beacon, find a review from someone who's actually activated the beacon and review the response. Anyone who recommends an SOS beacon without having activated it is like someone giving a review of an insurance company from someone who's never made an insurance claim. It's meaningless.
Click to expand...
Do they suffer from the same issues as sat phones where there are periods of time every day where the satellites aren't visible and they are basically paperweights? @Maniac may know the answer to that one. Hell, maybe that is solved on sat phones now, I haven't touched one in almost a decade.
 
GreyGhost said:
Do they suffer from the same issues as sat phones where there are periods of time every day where the satellites aren't visible and they are basically paperweights? @Maniac may know the answer to that one. Hell, maybe that is solved on sat phones now, I haven't touched one in almost a decade.
Click to expand...

Not that I have seen. The satellites seem to have good overlap, never missed a breadcrumb. At least in North America. Going to test it out in other parts of the world.
 
I have the Zoleo. Bought it for a trip up north a couple of years back.

The messaging was flawless and the breadcrumb map service was a nice touch for the people back home to keep track of where I was. I loan it out a few times per year to family/friends for their remote trips or hunt camps. It doesn't have all of the InReach's features, but the pricing reflects that.
It also switches seamlessly between Wifi, Cellular and Sattelite messaging. It always uses the least expensive option available, so you can carry on conversations through the Zoleo app without using up all of your sat messages if you're in an area with cell coverage or wifi. When I was researching the devices the InReach didn't do that, so if you started messaging someone using the InReach in a remote area you would continue to use up your sat messages even when you got back to cell coverage.

Having said all that, the JBR isn't all that remote and is fairly regularly traveled. Have you considered a CB radio?
 
Doesn't look like Radioworld does PLB/PLC rentals anymore.

Thanks for the real world insight @Lightcycle. Question if you know: Can multiple people pair to the InReach (specifically the Mini2) and send messages to different people if they have the app on their phone, or does it seem like it's really locked to one individual phone? The whole purpose behind this is that given we will be travelling in plus camping overnight in multiple very off-grid/far flung spots during this trip if it goes as planned, all 4 of us would like to be able to check in and perhaps have a bit of conversation back and forth (advantage of unlimited messaging options) on our own phones. If it's just a matter of each person downloading the app ahead of time and connecting to the device, that's cool. But if the device is really locked down to a single device then we can make it work (we'll just pass a single phone around to everyone), but everyone using their own would be ideal.

How is the ability for others to send YOU messages vs just replying? Is it all SMS based for the people on the other end or do they need an app as well or something? I found these very convoluted directions for how to message an Inreach online and it looks like a PITA.

Sending a Message to an inReach Device | Garmin Customer Support

Garmin Support Center is where you will find answers to frequently asked questions and resources to help with all of your Garmin products.
support.garmin.com support.garmin.com

Do you have an unlimited plan by chance? If so, interested in renting me your unit for 7-8 days? lol
 
KLR Junkie said:
Having said all that, the JBR isn't all that remote and is fairly regularly traveled
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight on the Zoleo as well, much appreciated. I've heard good things about it as well and a few Vloggers I follow on Youtube use them extensively.

It's not just the JBR that we're looking for communications on, it's other remote areas we're going to be on as well on this trip - we've extended the length and are now going out to Ottawa and then NE quite a ways into the backcountry of Quebec before heading up and around towards the base of the JBR for that part of the trip. And in the end it's also less about the emergency aspect, and more for the being able to check in with the wives back home so they're not worried sick every night we're camping in a remote area with no cell service aspect, which is probably going to be at least 4-5 nights during this trip based on the current plan.

At least a few of the spouses of the participants on this trip are the type who worry a lot about their SO when on a big trip like this on 2 wheels, so being able to watch a breadcrumb and send and receive real live messages back and forth to confirm all is well, stopped for the night, etc etc is more what it's about.
 
I have not looked into it myself but I am sure this topic is well covered on the advrider.com forum.

Maybe have a look there as well.
 
oioioi said:
I have not looked into it myself but I am sure this topic is well covered on the advrider.com forum.

Maybe have a look there as well.
Click to expand...

Not a member there - do you need to have an account and all that to just read content? I always dislike signing up to a forum for a single purpose type thing lol.
 
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