Satelite Internet On Board

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mr_brittass

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Hi

Setting off on a round the world trip in January on my Lagoon 560.

I wanted to try and get on my favourite wind web page while on the oceans. (stay out of trouble)
Not much else. Maybe the odd email home.

Whats the most cost effective way to do this ?
I have done a bit of a search but the answers seem to be directed at people who want to use much more data than me. Arctic explorers and Russian Oil Magnets etc. ;-)

I am going to buy a sat phone. Cold I just connect my laptop to this somehow ? The company who are preparing my boat want £9k to put some device on.

Any advice greatly recieved.
 
For phone and internet, this looks a good bet.... Its going to be expensive as you need a global service - so needs to look at lots of satelites as you journey.

http://www.globaltelesat.co.uk/satp...-Addvalue-Skipper-150-Satellite-Terminal.html

Havent used it so dont know. I use a 3g data dongle which is mobile phone range only near land! £10 a month and gets my emails ok.

You then have monthly fees for the service..... v. expensive!!!!
 
Satellite internet on-board.

Have a look at the Inmarsat mobile satphone (I-Sat Phone). They are being sold for about £500 and they can be fitted with an external antenna instead of the one fitted to the phone. The service providers offer a pay-as-you-go system; you top up your credit as you need/use it, however there is a limited time in which you need to use the credit or else it expires ( I don't remember but it may be as short as 6 months). Inmarsat have a global coverage excluding the poles (maybe 70N - 70S, or something like that).

These can be connected to a PC using a USB port and the kit costs about £30 + VAT.

Also you may want to consider an Inmarsat Began terminal; this is about the size of a laptop and you just point the opening lid (which is the antenna) towards a satellite; these antennas have a very wide beam so the pointing does not have to be too precise. Inmarsat have a global coverage, with satellites positioned over the atlantic, indian and pacific oceans; with gateway stations in a large number of countries. I can't remember the price of a Began terminal but I think they are nearer the £2000.

If you are unable to find detailed information then I can get it for you; I just need some time to search the web or I can ask some contacts that I have at Inmarsat. You could try JG Tech (www.jgtech.co.uk) for the phones/terminals; they had good prices the last time that I looked.

www.satphone.co.uk have I-Sat Phones available:
IsatPhone Pro Satellite Phone Website Special
Inmarsat IsatPhone Pro Website Special
Price: £355.00 (Excl. VAT)

Satphone also have the prices for the top-up which varies on the amount of data that you want to receive.

Alan.
 
mr_brittass said:
I am going to buy a sat phone. Cold I just connect my laptop to this somehow ? The company who are preparing my boat want £9k to put some device on.

Any advice greatly recieved.
Click to expand...

Be clear about exactly what you want to achieve. If you want to surf away merrily on websites then you need a big and expensive bit of kit beyond my experience.

But if you are looking for wind/weather forecasts, and to be able to do email, then a sat phone interfaced with a laptop will do fine. I have such a set up.

For good advice on sat phones go to www.mailasail.com

And for downloading weather GRIB files go to http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Home

Franks posts on here and knows his game inside out. Take good note of what he advises.
 
nigelmercier said:
Isn't this all possible with a marine SSB set?
Click to expand...

Not sure about the web browsing, although you could get forecasts emailed to you and picked up via one of the HF email systems. But the up-front investment necessary to do all that is fierce, not to mention the need for courses and qualifications (decidedly non-trivial if you opt for the Ham route). Last time I looked at sat-phone prices, the new Inmarsat unit was selling for about £400 and the airtime was cheaper than using a UK mobile in the US would be (I hear there has been a small price hike since).

If I was heading offshore I might well get the radio gear anyway, as the techy aspects of it all do appeal to me, but for practical communication the satphone seems like the more effective option these days.

Pete
 
I can't see why anyone would get individual letters when using these wonderful computers you can create your own name and send to a vinyl cutter as a .JPG.

I always do this. It's easier to stick on properly as well.

name3.jpg



name4.jpg
 
nigelmercier said:
Isn't this all possible with a marine SSB set?
Click to expand...

In a limited way, yes it is. Although I have no direct experience, I understand it is possible to download GRIBs although patience is required. It's quite slow. No chance of web browsing - but that is also true of a sat phone.
Also, an SSB requires a bit of 'know-how' and experience to get the best from it. With a sat phone all that is needed is a bit of button pushing.

The best use for SSB, in my experience on ocean passages, is the downloading of FAX charts which are widely available still, certainly for the north Atlantic.
 
Brilliant info guys. Thanks very much.

I recon the sat phone route is the way to go but I will definately research the other options to see if they will give me a bit extra speead and flexibility.

Cheers again !!! :D
 
Inmarsat / BGan

Hi, if you are only looking for occasional or emergency use and this is for a one off trip, you should look at renting the kit.

Most journalists etc who are need access to the web globally in order to file copy and access Skype etc use a system called BGAN, though Inmarsat is another supplier. They all tend to work in a similar way to your mobile phone through a monthly subscription that comes with a usage allowance which you can then exceed or top up as required.

There are a number of suppliers around if you Google - BGAN rental etc. Very good team in Hampshire, http://www.ast-systems.co.uk/Contact-Us.aspx (Not connected in anyway!)

They are all very robust systems and should work well when bobbing about in the Ogin as they have broader antennae and thus more of a chance of maintaining a data lock with the satellites - the small mobile type handsets can lose lock in rough seas.
 
Satellite Internet On-Board.

I try not to respond to posts such as that by NPF-1, but this time I feel it is necessary.
Whilst not being privvy to Inmarsats business decisions, I do not know of any decision to phase out the BGAN system in the near future. I suppose that eventually this (BGAN) will be replaced by some new system in the future; but as always this will be in a phased withdrawal and replacement of service program.

Also, in response to an earlier post BGAN is an Inmarsat service/system and not as intimated some other system.

As always, no commercial interests, no particular favourites, ...... just an interested user.

Alan.
 
Sat phone

Speak to Ed wild goose at Mailasail he is sure to point you in the right direction.

No connection with them
 
Sat phone is definately the way to go. You wont be able to browse the net, but you can pick up an old Irridium handset really cheaply these days, which will allow you to receive/send mail and get weather forecasts and grib files.

It's really worth getting a mailasail account, makes getting forecasts really easy, and their software is fantastic. It will remove attachments from emails and has a really neat firewall that stops windows updating itself etc.
 
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