satelite phones

[deano12345]

why are they so utterly st?

they never get signal, the battery is piss weak and the credit lasts seconds, thurayas are utter cack

Edited by deano12345 on Wednesday 28th July 06:46

[fatboy b]

Have you tried O2?

[GTIR]

fk carrying a satellite dish around.

No normal signal in the Amazon then?

[andy_s]

They're not as good as normal mobiles but considering what they do then they're not that bad - they do work albeit needing a bit more patience. The cost is high which is probably due to sat investment/time, low demand and high necessity and lack of alternatives.

[The Moose]

The ones I've used have required a bit of patience, but work quite well.

What part of the world are you in when you need to use them and which type of sat phone are you using??

Price wise - it's hardly surprising they're dear!!

Cheers

The Moose

[speed8]

I've been using thurayas for about the last 8 years and not really had too many issues. The older ones are certainly more sturdy than the newer ones but you just need to have some patience with them till they get their signal. If it keeps losing signal then check your surroundings. They'll struggle if you're surrounded by tall trees or structures obviously.

Can't comment on the cost as I don't pay for mine but yeah, i'd expect them to be expensive.

[Neil H]

deano12345 said:

why are they so utterly st?

they never get signal, the battery is piss weak and the credit lasts seconds, thurayas are utter cack

Because they use satellites hundreds of miles in the air, because they need more power than normal phones and because satellites are hideously expensive?

[C997]

deano12345 said:

why are they so utterly st?

they never get signal, the battery is piss weak and the credit lasts seconds, thurayas are utter cack

Edited by deano12345 on Wednesday 28th July 06:46

Been using Thuraya's and Inmarsat's in West Africa and the Middle East for a few years now and not had any problems either. The Thuraya base stations can be a bit sensitive but that's about it. The mobile Thuraya reception is better than the normal mobile network.

[K50 DEL]

Used to use Thuraya (in fact I still have a couple of Thuraya handsets) but have now switched to Inmarsat BGAN stuff, both semi-permanent installations in the office and also transportables.

They are expensive and they can be a little flaky on the call quality but as long as the antenna's pointing somewhere in roughly the right direction then they will work just fine.

[deano12345]

Neil H said:

deano12345 said:

why are they so utterly st?

they never get signal, the battery is piss weak and the credit lasts seconds, thurayas are utter cack

Because they use satellites hundreds of miles in the air, because they need more power than normal phones and because satellites are hideously expensive?

thanks for that captain tt obvious, i mainly posted to vent my anger at them being generally st. we're still waiting on radio's so its rather annoying taking 5 mins to make a phone call instead of a 10 sec radio one

got a load of the new small silver thurayas to replace the big brick type ones. obviously the company pays for the credit but trying to get refill cards in the middle of the desert isnt easy.

used iridiums in the past and they are a much better phone

[Neil H]

deano12345 said:

Neil H said:

deano12345 said:

why are they so utterly st?

they never get signal, the battery is piss weak and the credit lasts seconds, thurayas are utter cack

Because they use satellites hundreds of miles in the air, because they need more power than normal phones and because satellites are hideously expensive?

thanks for that captain tt obvious

You're welcome, glad to help!

[speed8]

deano12345 said:

Neil H said:

deano12345 said:

why are they so utterly st?

they never get signal, the battery is piss weak and the credit lasts seconds, thurayas are utter cack

Because they use satellites hundreds of miles in the air, because they need more power than normal phones and because satellites are hideously expensive?

thanks for that captain tt obvious, i mainly posted to vent my anger at them being generally st. we're still waiting on radio's so its rather annoying taking 5 mins to make a phone call instead of a 10 sec radio one

got a load of the new small silver thurayas to replace the big brick type ones. obviously the company pays for the credit but trying to get refill cards in the middle of the desert isnt easy.

used iridiums in the past and they are a much better phone

Well, tell your company to open an account then so you don't need refill cards.

If you don't like the big brick ones then you'll hate the small silver ones. We changed them over a couple of years ago and the big ones were way more reliable, much better signals and better docking stations (remember and take off the rubber bit on the back or you'll break the docking station pin at the first attempt).
Which brings me to the next point. If you want to make faster calls then tell your boss to get you a docking station and antenna. Leave the phone plugged in and it always has signal.
Sounds like the company is working on the cheap rather than the equipment being bad.

[deano12345]

speed8 said:

deano12345 said:

Neil H said:

deano12345 said:

why are they so utterly st?

they never get signal, the battery is piss weak and the credit lasts seconds, thurayas are utter cack

Because they use satellites hundreds of miles in the air, because they need more power than normal phones and because satellites are hideously expensive?

thanks for that captain tt obvious, i mainly posted to vent my anger at them being generally st. we're still waiting on radio's so its rather annoying taking 5 mins to make a phone call instead of a 10 sec radio one

got a load of the new small silver thurayas to replace the big brick type ones. obviously the company pays for the credit but trying to get refill cards in the middle of the desert isnt easy.

used iridiums in the past and they are a much better phone

Well, tell your company to open an account then so you don't need refill cards.

If you don't like the big brick ones then you'll hate the small silver ones. We changed them over a couple of years ago and the big ones were way more reliable, much better signals and better docking stations (remember and take off the rubber bit on the back or you'll break the docking station pin at the first attempt).
Which brings me to the next point. If you want to make faster calls then tell your boss to get you a docking station and antenna. Leave the phone plugged in and it always has signal.
Sounds like the company is working on the cheap rather than the equipment being bad.

its the new silver ones we have, drop them once and they're destroyed. the old brick type ones were way better like you say.

i have a dock in the office but when out in the field its a pain in the arse fannying about trying to get signal or it just suddenly dropping out.