Satellite Communicator

[Java]

Anyone have this or something like it? I do a lot of solo wheeling and am considering adding this to my gear:

https://www.amazon.com/ZOLEO-Satelli..._t1_B07CR8D2DW

[speedkills]

I have a garmin version of that. $25/month but it buys my wife a lot of peace of mind. I’ve only used it on the trail a few times but it was pretty convenient when I did. It gives her a link when I go solo wheeling and she can see my progress on a map. She knows if I stop moving for a few hours to ping and see if I am ok and if she can’t reach me always has coordinates to send help which luckily has never been needed.

[Steve-O]

Paul I'm actually in the market for something like this. Was about to jump on the SpotX, but I'm actually leaning more towards the thing you posted now. Let me know what you end up buying!

[Jim]

.

[Java]

Interesting. New phone, satellite capability and I'm sure the camera is excellent too. A few upgrades all in one...

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/30/ipho...nectivity.html

[jayson44]

that is intriguing! I already pay a bunch ever month for cell phone bills, might as well not have to pay more for an extra sat communicator.

J.

[Steve-O]

That's what I'm wondering though, would you have to pay your cell phone bill AND a monthly subscription to Globalstar if you want that extra service? I would think so, but who knows

[Jim]

I'd be in for monthly cell/data (typical) service billing with a pay-per-satellite-text of up to several dollars per text. It'd be using satellite text for emergency use or RARE check-in use.

But then, it's Apple and with their new "we're going to look through the pictures on your device (and, of course, iCloud)", I'm moving away from IOS devices.

[speedkills]

Everyone compare your photos to the government database on their cloud storage services, no way around it really. Thanks to Apple I think everyone will locally soon too. Have a hard time not seeing Android follow suit there.

[Jim]

speedkills previously posted:

[Mad Maxx]

I know I'm way late to the party here, but for what it's worth, when I did my research I found anecdotes of 2-way satellite communicators being less reliable for rescue compared to PLBs (personal locator beacons) like one instance of SAR ending up a mile away from where a lady activated hers and not finding her and another case of rescue just not coming at all. The benefit that they do have over PLBs is that you can communicate both ways instead of just an SOS, so which one to get partially depends on your use case.

In the case of the Garmin Inreach, which just happens to be a 2-way satellite communcator I was originally considering, a message with your location is sent at 0.5watts UHF via satellite to Garmin whose staff then contacts local SAR, whereas a PLB sends 406MHz distress signals every few minutes to satellites until it's turned off at 4 watts that's first received by the air force and they contact local SAR. Additionally, a PLB also sends a continuous signal at 121.5MHz - not for satellite, but that SAR can use to locate you directly once they're closer.

[Java]

I never ended up getting anything, still relying on hope and dumb luck.

[JRF]

Paul previously posted: