Lowband SolutionsHandheld or low-bandwidth satellite phones continue to form the bedrock upon which satellite communications is built. Whether its Robert Downey Jr in Ironman or Alec Baldwin in the Hunt for Red October, when Hollywood wants to paint the picture of a call from the edge of the world, it’s the handheld satellite phone to which they turn. Rightfully so. From pole-to-pole, Iridium handhelds connect civilian and military, leisure and commercial, and land-mobile and marine users to home and country. Arguably, there has never been a point in history when more handheld satellite phone options have been available. We will review four of them here: the Iridium 9555, 9575 Extreme, 9575 PTT and the Inmarsat IsatPhone 2 as well as the not-really handheld but pertinent to the discussion, Iridium GO. This leaves out Thuraya handsets which are a regional player operating only in Asia and Africa and Globalstar, a one-time market leader, who has shifted away from voice and data services to concentrate solely on IOT and text-based data projects. Of course, the elephant in the room is data. That is email, weather, messaging and internet access. All of these handheld phones are low-bandwidth which means all of them can do data, at least with OCENS software and services involved, but none do it as fast as the mid-band and broadband options we have reviewed previously. However, none of the capital costs of these low-band options are as high as their faster siblings either. OCENSMail, OneMail and OneMessage
The OCENS communications platform provides solutions to help you save time, reduce costs, and maintain reliable, global contact, at sea and from the shore. With OCENSMail, you have access to efficient email over
your satellite phone. And with the integrated OneMail, you’ll have access to nearly any email platform so you can simplify your onboard communications. And, your OCENS communication solutions provides access to
OneMessage, the only tool of its kind that allows text messaging from anywhere, to anywhere, globally. Message from ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore and shore-to-ship, or participate in public or private messaging groups.
With near-instant send and receive, you’ll minimize your satellite phone air time for greater cost savings while staying in constant communication.
WeatherNet
WeatherNet delivers global coverage, award winning design, and the largest library of:
GRIB Explorer
GRIB Explorer
allows anyone, from day sailors to coastal cruisers and fishermen, to put to use the weather and ocean insights offered by GRIB data. Easily display data as contours lines, color filled contours, arrows or wind
barbs, and even data point values. Customize contour line intervals, number of contours, and ranges on the fly while viewing the data to pinpoint the information that is most important. GRIB Explorer supports almost
every conceivable weather and ocean data variable available and in many cases, spatial resolutions reach as low as 1/32 degree lat/lon. GRIB Explorer also includes tools that allow users to view GRIB data like 500mb
and sea surface heights the way they are meant to be viewed, in 3D.
SAGA Explorer for iPad
The
most powerful yet easy-to use iPad GRIB tool available for the everyday enthusiast. SAGA Explorer Plus for the iPad includes the engine to acquire GRIB files through your satellite connection. Once that data is
downloaded the data is melded into interactive images carrying unparalleled insights into the environment around you. SAGA Explorer Plus is designed specifically to work with Wi-Fi integrated or enabled satellite
phones as well as with your standard Wi-Fi connection.
SnapTrack
For when you “Simply
Need a Position”. SNAPTrack is OCENS response to the requests of many of our customers for a clean and simple solution to the tracking question. SNAP makes it easy to post your positions, and allows those back home
to follow your travels no matter how far you go! SNAPTrack is compatible with the Iridium 9575 and GO!, Spot, inReach and other devices.
Choose Your Satellite Broadband SolutionIridium 9555If there is a quintessential satellite phone, it’s the 9555. A no-frills but reliable satellite phone that works anywhere in the world to send and receive voice calls and text messages and relay data at about 18000 bytes per minute. The full kit sold by OCENS comes with a 12 v charger, AC charger with international plug kit, rechargeable battery, portable auxiliary antenna and leather holster. External antennas connect with an included external adapter clip that inserts into the back side of the 9555 (the first thing people usually lose who are switching between included and external antenna is the rubber plug that fills this cleft and prevents water intrusion!). When you use the 9555 or any of the other Iridium’s you are existing in the ‘country’ of Iridium during the duration of that call. What this really means is that calls to the phone are treated as international calls and when you call from it, you must use international dialing rules to call your number, even if it is your next door neighbor’s. Whether its voice calling or messaging, this also requires that those trying to reach you have international service enabled on their landline or cellular phones. That is, unless they are using our OneMessage messaging app. In terms of data, the phone is not Wi-Fi or Bluetooth enabled. Upper end docks that are available for the 9555 do enable a Bluetooth connection. Furthermore, plugging the OCENS Sidekick into the 9555 or one of its docks provides the Wi-Fi-connectivity necessary for smartphone or tablet access. Perhaps even more important, it blocks access to the device by malware, adware or update scripts of a myriad of elements on your computer and thereby preserves every byte of the limited 2400 baud bandwidth offered by the 9555 for the email and weather transactions you really want to accomplish Iridium 9575When Iridium first launched the 9575, many questioned whether a second, more expensive handheld phone was needed when the 9555 was already on the market. The Extreme has addressed those questions as a rugged yet feature-rich piece of hardware that just happens to be able to connect anywhere on earth to your home or office. Arguably, it’s a better option for the mariner than the 9555 just for its higher water ingress rating (IP65) and better shock and impact resistance (and better grip ergonomics in our opinion) in its standard sturdy case. But the Extreme takes it still further with it’s built-in GPS and Quick QPS function enabling single-finger position tracking and site-specific weather retrieval (with OCENS Spot/Wave/FlyCast services!) as well as one-touch SOS. The connection to both an external antenna has moved from the back of the phone on the 9555 to an adapter that clips on to the base of the phone. The charging plug also attaches to the clip. Both decisions were made to enhance the aforementioned water ingress rating and generally work well. Battery life is sufficiently long (up to 30 hours in standby) that re-charge is seldom urgent and most users who are using the phone for data do so from a docking station implementation. Furthermore, that battery doesn’t just sit in the phone. You insert, twist and push-to-seal to further promote the water tight reputation of the unit. The same rules for calling and data usage we set for the Iridium 9555 apply here for the 9575. While it is an extremely useful addition, aside from the new built-in GPS, the 9575’s internals, call quality, texting capabilities, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi-limitations and data speeds are identical to the earlier phone. The Sidekick and OCENS apps and services are again an excellent pairing to the phone if indeed you want to serve up reliable, albeit low-bandwidth, data connections. Iridium 9575 Extreme PTTDelivering Push-To-Talk (PTT) service over satellite was a daunting task. Though there were challenges and hiccups to start, the walkie talkie service has proven highly popular among construction and emergency preparedness and response groups, not to mention the military. PTT owners assemble phone groups and with the keying of a single button on the 9575 PTT can speak with the entire group at once. It doesn’t matter if the group is the size of a single state, country or continent, the global Iridium constellation places everyone in the group on the call. In effect, the 9575 PTT is two phones in one. Users pay a single annual or monthly fee for unlimited PTT calling within the one or more groups of which the phone is a member. Meanwhile, ‘normal’ satellite phone calls to landline or cellular numbers can still be made just like the 9575 Extreme. Those calls are charged separately on a per minute basis. Of course, the PTT technology within the 9575 PTT is unique. However, everything else about the phone, including accessories, call quality and data speed, is identical to what we have described above for the 9575 Extreme. If group coordination and decision-making in extreme, remote and/or emergency conditions is a high priority, the 9575 PTT delivers unprecedented communication capabilities. All the information you need. Download the data sheet to see:
Inmarsat IsatPhone 2 Equipment and Airtime from OCENSInmarsat participates in the handheld satellite phone marketplace with the IsatPhone 2. In short, it is a terrific option if you live anywhere within about 40 degrees of the equator AND if your interest is only in voice communications. Go much farther north or try to use it to check email or retrieve weather and it can become a frustrating alternative. Unlike Iridium who has a constellation of satellites that cover the globe, Inmarsat is a geostationary system with three satellites positioned at the equator. What this means to the handset user is that the farther you move away from the equator, the more attention you have to pay to keeping the antenna on your iSatPhone 2 pointed toward the southern horizon. Point it very far off of south and your call will drop. Those same satellites are positioned roughly 22,000 miles above the earth. That’s a long ways away from the small antenna on your iSatPhone 2, particularly given the relatively little amount of power your handheld can apply to building a signal bridge to the satellite. Consequently, Inmarsat has to reduce the size of that pipe to a very slow 1200 baud or about 9,000 bytes per minute. 9,000 bytes per minute is half of the already slow speed of the Iridium handhelds and the Iridium GO. Add to this the fact that it can take almost a minute of airtime just to build that bridge and you have a phone that’s not well made for data applications. In fact, about the only way to pull it off is to add an OCENS Sidekick to the path so you can preserve every ounce of speed you do have for the data applications you want to use with the phone. Having reviewed iSatPhone 2 coverage and data downsides, the phone is a terrific voice option if you are operating in the low to lower-mid latitudes. Capital costs and the cost per minute for voice calls are lower than any of the Iridium handhelds or the Iridium GO and monthly service plans are very affordable. Add to those advantages the fact that because you are working with a stationary satellite, once you do establish a voice call that call is highly stable. Yes, there is a little lag in the conversation because of the distance between you and the satellite but the conversation quickly compensates for that. All in all, the iSatPhone 2 is a terrific option for users who live between 40 N and 40 S and want a reliable and affordable satellite phone for voice calls. In fact, if I’m travelling or vacationing in this region, this is the phone that accompanies me. Iridium GO!Increasingly, the Iridium GO is becoming the bellwether of the low-bandwidth marketplace. Though admittedly not a handheld phone, the GO provides those customers for whom data and messaging is a priority over voice with a friendlier substitute at a lower capital cost and with a much more cost-effective airtime option. This is because the GO is Wi-Fi-enabled permitting out-of-the-box access to the Iridium network by smartphones, tablets and computers running GO compatible software and apps. It is much easier to message with OCENS OneMessage on your smartphone through the Go than to use multi-tap on the keypad of a 9555 or 9575 phone. Because Iridium took the bold step to offer an Unlimited data and texting plan when they launched the GO, its operating costs are potentially less expensive than any of the handheld phones. Handheld phones to this day do not offer Unlimited data plans. The GO’s provides unlimited data and texting for under $150 per month. Even if the data speeds are glacially slow, there is simply nothing else that approaches this in the satellite marketplace. The appearance of the GO is classically understated. Basically, a black brick roughly 4” x 3” x 1” in size. Pop-up its peg-like antenna to turn the unit on and it will power up and, if given access to the sky, connect to the Iridium network. In the process it begins to broadcast a local Wi-Fi signal that you connect to with your mobile devices just like you do when you walk in and connect to the Wi-Fi at your local coffee shop. Up to five devices can be connected to the GO at any one time but only one of those devices at a time can actually be using bandwidth. It bears repeating since it was an all too common misunderstanding when the GO was first launched…although you are connecting to the GO via Wi-Fi, the rest of the connection, from the GO up to and down from the satellite, is at a slow 2400 baud (about 15000 bytes per minute). You are not cruising the Internet with your GO. To make use of the GO on your smartphones, tablets or computers you must install GO-aware software and apps. This starts with the Iridium GO app which is required to manage the device and to place and accept voice calls. Many people also use the Iridium GO app for messaging but be aware that messages are not private. Just the opposite. Any and all messages sent to your GO will be accessed by whomever is the first person to connect to the device with the Iridium GO app. If you want privacy, consider OCENS OneMessage. If texting, sending or receiving lots of smallish emails or obtaining weather information are important reasons for why you need a satellite phone, then the GO should be something to which you give careful consideration. That’s all the more the case with the Unlimited data plan it offers. |