Satphone

[El Pelon]

Looking at Iridium 9555 any thoughts or suggestions? Never had one before and we'll be needing one in the not too distant future.

[RYP]

Irridium sucks becauase of the low angle sats. Thuraya is your best bet followed by any sat provider who uses the upper satellite system.

[Mikethehack]

Is there a country left without GSM coverage? Probably two at most. GSM World used to be a good place to look.
http://www.gsmworld.com

[Chimborazo]

I'm guessing he wants this offshore communications. If so, I'd take a look at SSB too.

[El Pelon]

Thanks for the input. Chimborazo is right, this will be a backup phone for offshore use in the South Pacific. The boat will be fully outfitted but I believe in redundancy. Plus we have a tendency to end up in places where the cell phones (we always carry a phone or two wherever we are working) don't have service and communication of some sort would come in very handy.

[thewalrus]

I have a 9555. The little known feature of the phone is that you can use it as a PPP dialup device with Linux and an external antenna. The speed is 2400 baud with v42bis compression (so no compression on JPGs, but "up to" 9600 bps on text and html).

The Iridium 9555 is greatly improved over the 9505 and 9505A. The phone has an entirely different design philosophy from the newer Thuraya phones. You do not get:

color screen
camera
games
bluetooth
cute programs like calculator, calendar, etc.

The 9555 is what you want if you actually have a need for global coverage. Thuraya is fine for EMEA area only (see the coverage on their map). Iridium phones have much better resale value, check out how much used 9505A and 9555 phones are selling for on eBay. If you get a 9555 you should also buy a 20W size folding/rolling thin film charger (see www.powerfilmsolar.com for one example).

The other nice thing about the standard 9555 kit which you can get for about $1500 is that it comes with a cradle and external antenna. If you're going to be working from inside a building or tent you can put the antenna on the top and keep the phone on your desk.

[Alessandro]

I had a Ericsson R290, which was a combo GSM and Globalstar (anyone remember them?). Only used it as GSM, asked globalstar for a scratch card system with prepaid card which Thuraya got. Don´t want to risk to lose the phone and
end up with a hefty phonebill. Thuraya have something about you must use your card within 18 months.
Any news on combo phones for Iridium and Thuraya?
BTW if you want a SG2520 Thuraya these Swedes sells some used "special price only for you":>)
http://www.nordicsat.se/default.asp?ID= ... u_item=112

[thewalrus]

It's highly unlikely you will ever see a Iridium+Thuraya combo phone, as the two systems are very different. It would essentially need to be two phone motherboards, two radios and two antennas in one plastic case. Iridium uses LEO satellites and a satellite-to-satellite routing system while Thuraya is based on a couple of fixed geostationary satellites in a bent-pipe spot beam system with their UAE teleport. Technical issues aside it's unlikely because the two companies are direct competitors in the EMEA market.