Satelite phone systems IMPROVED??

Lund

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Hey guys, about 5 years ago i had a Globalstar sat. phone, it was a POS unreliable because the system was too small, lack of satelites.
At the time i should of gone with Iridium, they were a far better system but the sales dude sold me on Global. Plus it was much cheaper, that should of been the CLUE, you get what you pay for.

I am looking into purchasing one again but want to avoid doing the same mistake, so wondering the guys using these are the systems drasticaly improved.
Maybe i am better off paying and getting Iridium or is there more options available now? I was at a dealer on Thursday, but they just want to give you their spill. The last time i got spilled on it wasn't exactly what they said.
 

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A guy I know showed me his global star the other day. Sound was way clearer and smoother than my iridium. He seems to think the coverage is fine once again but I haven't tested it out yet
 

Lund

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A guy I know showed me his global star the other day. Sound was way clearer and smoother than my iridium. He seems to think the coverage is fine once again but I haven't tested it out yet
I'm very leery about getting another Globalstar, doubt i would.
 

teeroy

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Interesting, though i heard last season Spot has had issues with their system, hit and miss at times, is that true?
my spot worked every time I used it, but I only do the check in thing. upgraded to the delorme at christmas (thanks family!) and pretty impressed with it.

spot uses globalstar satellites, I sure hope the 2 way system has been improved with their phone. the spot always worked good because they use a different part of the satellite than the phones did because it was only one-way
 

+SLEDWRECKS+

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I beleive Globalstar just released some new sat's. Last week I received notice that my 'pay as you talk' agreement is no longer valid with them at the end of July. So I got the cheapest plan I could for the year. Our group has both G-star and iridium and both have been hit & miss at times too (from last sledding season)

Took my Globalstar west of Nordegg this past weekend and had full bars at camp - while all our cell phones had no service. Hopefully there service will stay as such, but time will tell. I've owned this old sat phone since 2005 and have barely used it cause of lack of service when needed.
 
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Lund

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I beleive Globalstar just released some new sat's. Last week I received notice that my 'pay as you talk' agreement is no longer valid with them at the end of July. So I got the cheapest plan I could for the year. Our group has both G-star and iridium and both have been hit & miss at times too (from last sledding season)

Took my Globalstar west of Nordegg this past weekend and had full bars at camp - while all our cell phones had no service. Hopefully there service will stay as such, but time will tell. I've owned this old sat phone since 2005 and have barely used it cause of lack of service when needed.

Thats when i bought my Globalstar in 05, had it for 2-3 seasons with little to no luck with service. So i sold it to a hunter, hope he had better luck with it, i did warn him about the service but i was selling it cheap. so he was ok with that.
 

Lowlife82

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I got a globalstar last year. Worked every time we needed it. Every sled trip we would use it 4 separate calls every night to let the lady friends know we were ok. Probably 70 or so calls and no issues. Takes some time to find sats is all. Never more than 15min though.
 

Lund

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I got a globalstar last year. Worked every time we needed it. Every sled trip we would use it 4 separate calls every night to let the lady friends know we were ok. Probably 70 or so calls and no issues. Takes some time to find sats is all. Never more than 15min though.

Sounds like they have improved their service, maybe because too many got out a few years ago. I am still shopping, i see they had their prices significantly lower then Iridium. Probably trying to regain confidence in their clientel.
 

ferniesnow

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Mike, here is a link to the SPOT phone. I have no experience with it as this is just what was sent to me as a SPOT customer. My SPOT II seems to be a hit and miss lately. I have been using one for going on 5 years and this last year was the worst for dependability.

Global Phone Rebate
 

Lund

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Mike, here is a link to the SPOT phone. I have no experience with it as this is just what was sent to me as a SPOT customer. My SPOT II seems to be a hit and miss lately. I have been using one for going on 5 years and this last year was the worst for dependability.

Global Phone Rebate

Well thats good to know about the dependability in your last year and they are the same satelite as the Global system. I guess they are still experiencing issues.
I guess they are trying to attrack cutomers with the rebate, i'll look at it. Thx Doug.
Make's me wonder why Iridium never seems to offer a deal but maybe they do i just haven't seen them. OR maybe their system works that much better that they don't need too.
 
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ferniesnow

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Well thats good to know about the dependability in your last year and they are the same satelite as the Global system. I guess they are still experiencing issues.
I guess they are trying to attrack cutomers with the rebate, i'll look at it. Thx Doug.
Make's me wonder why Iridium never seems to offer a deal but maybe they do i just haven't seen them. OR maybe their system works that much better that they don't need too.

I meant to contact SPOT tech support throughout the winter and ask them about the poor reception (a lot of dropped OK's and the most common ones were between noon and 2:00pm). I got all the lights indicating that the messages were sent but they were never received by the intended parties. The morning ones and the ones later in the day were sent regularly. I didn't have a lot of confidence if I had to use the 911 or HELP buttons during the early afternoon. I couldn't attribute the missing ones to tree cover, mountains in the way, or whatever as lots of them were in the open and many on blue bird days.
 

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I just purchased the new spot phone and took it with me to Silver Beach Provincial Park on the Shuswap. In the trees the phone had no service (not too surprising), on the beach approx fifty feet from the tree line it would work about 30% of the time. In the boat on the lake it would work about 75% of the time. I was over all disappointed with how the phone worked. That said I haven't contacted spot yet to see if I have a faulty phone or if I'm not using it properly.
 

catmando

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I've had a globalstar sat phone for a while and I use it on the mountains and in the patch at work and I will be renewing my contract as it works pretty good , never found a spot sledding last year that I couldn't get my call too go through. A
 

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Just had a globalstar hot shotted to our job yesterday and the pos wouldn't work much better then our cells with one bar .... Not sure if the cloud cover had much to do with it but my self after seeing that phone I will never get one ... And the dealer even said the globalstar is 80% as good as the the iridium
 

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received a phone call from a spot sat phone the other day. i couldnt beleive it. sounded like the person was talking on a regular phone. no delay and clear. the irridium works great but there is a slight delay which takes some getting used to. the phone call did come from a lake in the mountains. so not sure how it would work in the bush etc
 

catmando

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I give my sat phone to sledbunnyracing at the renshaw cabin so he could call and check in , ask him what he thought of it, I'm thinking the phone itself could be a issue cause you can't tell the difference between my cell and my sat phone. Mine works great.
 

catmando

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Just got off the phone with Globalstar to make sure everything is up to date with my sat phone, noticed my monthly charge went from 39 a month to 49 a month unlimited minutes and long distance. The lady informed me that they now have all the new satellites in the air which I think is around 60,should definatly improve what I already thought was pretty good service.i was thinking 50 bucks a month was a lot until she told me the same plan now for new customers is 149 a month. Guess 50 ain't so bad.And yes my phone works great or I wouldn't be paying that kind of money,if you see me on the mountain this weekend and want to test it out and check in with mamma let me know.
 
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