Use of satellite phone in remote Scottish anchorages

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John_Clarke

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We now need to be always contactable by our family when cruising on the West Coast. Many important or beautiful anchorages have no mobile phone reception which now causes us a problem.

Does anyone have any experience or advice on the use of satellite phones in Scotland? I think we would need to rent a phone for about 4 weeks.
 
More correctly, not all service providers cover all areas.
Vodaphone seems to have generally better coverage than Orange in my experience. Others will differ again. Sods Law seems to dictate that you can be anchored alongside someone who is chatting away whilst we have jack squat. Have you tried a range of providers before you go to the expense of a Satphone?

Are there specific anchorages that you know you will be using and know that you cannot get a signal?
 
We were up there round Crinan this summer and had a mix of Vodafone, Orange and O2 on board. No one had a signal all the time, so I agree you cannot rely on it.

On the other hand we used a sat phone all the way from the Solent to Majorca with no problems at all.

Not cheap, but if you have to be contactable, it's the best way.
 
claymore said:
More correctly, not all service providers cover all areas.
Vodaphone seems to have generally better coverage than Orange in my experience. Others will differ again. Sods Law seems to dictate that you can be anchored alongside someone who is chatting away whilst we have jack squat. Have you tried a range of providers before you go to the expense of a Satphone?

Are there specific anchorages that you know you will be using and know that you cannot get a signal?
Click to expand...

We use Vodafone which as you say is the best for the area but also have O2. Some of the anchorages we have problems with, or think will not have reception (based on the Vodafone coverage maps), are Gometra, Canna, Loch Scarvaig, Isle Ornsay, Loch Hourne, West Loch Tarbert on Jura near the narrows, etc.
 
One way is to have four mobile phones all on different providers. (really different, not just timesharing ones like Asda etc).
2 summers back we ended up by default with 4 systems like that and never lacked a connection, but hardly ever more than one at a time.
Might be cheaper than satphone? (4 x PAYG)
 
Last summer we found that the coverage was Ok once you were offshore a bit from the anchorages and were in line of sight with the hills in the background, which generally had an aerial on them.
Also going ashore and climbing up the hills around the anchorage generally gave a signal. We had Orange and O2 aboard.
We survived with using text messages. Once offfshore the phones would start beeping to indicate when a text had been received. We could then 'phone home' if required.
 
I used one of these: http://www.wilsonamplifierstore.com/wilson-811701-900mhz-1800mhz-direct-connect-mobile-amplifier

in conjunction with vodafone (and orange) a couple of years back. Once North of Oban found very little signal apart from vodafone - apart from Castle bay on Barra which seems to have a large orange mast.

Above bit of kit with sensibly paced aerial normally adds a couple of bars and gets the signal back that you lost entering the anchorage.

Still wouldn't give you absolutely 100% coverage - but with text / email you wouldn't miss much.

Or assuming that what you need is to be contacted - not necessarily immediate voice - what about: http://www.outdoorsafetyinstitute.com/news/single/affordable_satellite_texts_sos
(No personal experience)
 
PembrokeshirePromise said:
I used one of these: http://www.wilsonamplifierstore.com/wilson-811701-900mhz-1800mhz-direct-connect-mobile-amplifier

in conjunction with vodafone (and orange) a couple of years back. Once North of Oban found very little signal apart from vodafone - apart from Castle bay on Barra which seems to have a large orange mast.

Above bit of kit with sensibly paced aerial normally adds a couple of bars and gets the signal back that you lost entering the anchorage.

Still wouldn't give you absolutely 100% coverage - but with text / email you wouldn't miss much.

Or assuming that what you need is to be contacted - not necessarily immediate voice - what about: http://www.outdoorsafetyinstitute.com/news/single/affordable_satellite_texts_sos
(No personal experience)
Click to expand...

Thank you. Those look like very useful bits of kit. I will look into them more.

We have resorted to hoisting a mobile up the mast and using a Bluetooth handsfree device in the cabin to make calls which helps greatly in anchorages with marginal reception but an amplifier with an antenna up the mast looks like a great idea.
 
Sat phone calls are hugely expensive and up until 2 years ago (when I was no longer in volved) the air time had to be bought in advance and was volatile i.e any unused minutes were lost at the end of the month. This may have changed now. The other disadvantage in North Britain was that the satellites orbital path was very low on the UK southern horizon and sometimes did not rise above that horizon. Oh the comms exercises we used to run for blue lights when no one could ever get a satphone signal, what fun.

Our trick was to obtain a Manx telecom sim card and carry a second mobile phone. The manx sim thinks its in a foreign country when on the mainland and therefore will roam between the main providers, just like your Orange or Vodaphone will do if you go abroad.

If you need it for 4 weeks it might be worth buying a Manx PAYG sim for your phone, that way if there is a signal it will lock on to it regardless of who the service provider is.

Used in conjunction with the other suggestions above, if there is a signal, you should have comms.

HF
 
claymore said:
More correctly, not all service providers cover all areas.
Vodaphone seems to have generally better coverage than Orange in my experience. Others will differ again. Sods Law seems to dictate that you can be anchored alongside someone who is chatting away whilst we have jack squat. Have you tried a range of providers before you go to the expense of a Satphone?

Are there specific anchorages that you know you will be using and know that you cannot get a signal?
Click to expand...
Whilst this is of course true-places like Inveray on Loch Nevis or anywhere on Loch Horn to name but two have no wireless coverage of any sort phone or radio and sat reception can also be problematic.
There are parts of the Glen where I live where there is nothing.
Always amuses me no end when the urban phone owner can be seen balancing on the wall at Urquhart Castle trying to get reception-actually a total blind spot for any mobile.
Always read the small print carefully when buying into a service provider-usually says something like 90% of the population forgetting the other 10% are spread across the more remote part of the UK-although I believe my daughters reception just up the Thames from Kew Bridge can be problematic!
 
No help for you, but...

John_Clarke said:
We now need to be always contactable by our family when cruising on the West Coast. Many important or beautiful anchorages have no mobile phone reception which now causes us a problem.

Does anyone have any experience or advice on the use of satellite phones in Scotland? I think we would need to rent a phone for about 4 weeks.
Click to expand...

This is of no use to you, but may help someone on the distaff side: For outbound messaging only, the SPOT trackers and satellite messengers are fairly cheap to run - about £160 p.a. with I think 200 inclusive text messages and unlimited tracking messages.

www.findmespot.com

We use them in the Himalaya and they work far better than the coverage maps would suggest.
 
In 2010 our boat returned to the west coast of Scotland after being away for a couple of years.

We didn't bother taking our Iridium phone with us on a cruise to the remoter parts of the mainland and the outer Hebrides. I wish we had, if only to get the occasional weather forecast or grib file. In many sea lochs, surrounded by high ground, our VHF reception was unusable or non-existent. Our dedicated weather/navtex receiver (WIBE) fared no better.
 
Hugh Foulis said:
Sat phone calls are hugely expensive and up until 2 years ago (when I was no longer in volved) the air time had to be bought in advance and was volatile i.e any unused minutes were lost at the end of the month. This may have changed now. The other disadvantage in North Britain was that the satellites orbital path was very low on the UK southern horizon and sometimes did not rise above that horizon. Oh the comms exercises we used to run for blue lights when no one could ever get a satphone signal, what fun.

Our trick was to obtain a Manx telecom sim card and carry a second mobile phone. The manx sim thinks its in a foreign country when on the mainland and therefore will roam between the main providers, just like your Orange or Vodaphone will do if you go abroad.

If you need it for 4 weeks it might be worth buying a Manx PAYG sim for your phone, that way if there is a signal it will lock on to it regardless of who the service provider is.

Used in conjunction with the other suggestions above, if there is a signal, you should have comms.

HF
Click to expand...

Thank you for your Manx PAYG sim idea which is ingenious. I will give it a go in an old phone.

For remote anchorages (out of line of sight of any mobile masts) I am thinking that an Inmarsat IsatPhone Pro phone may be a good solution. The hire charge is £125 per month with a £15 set up fee. Calls to mobiles are 95p per min and texts 40p. These are all billed so no advanced airtime needs to be bought.

I had not realised that mountains could be a problem with satellite phones so I checked it out. With Inmarsat the coverage for Scotland looks quite good with the Inmarsat-4 EMEA satellite being 19 degrees above the SE horizon in the Skye area. This is a gradient of 1 in 3 which means one only needs to be 3 km away from a 1,000 m mountain. Having checked the maps of the area even Loch Nevis and Loch Hourn look as if reception may be possible. Most other anchorages look as if reception will be no problem.

I think it may be worth renting an IsatPhone Pro this summer for the freedom to go to the remote anchorages we love and to have peace of mind.
 
I've never used one so this may be a silly thing to say but don't sat phones need the aerial to be pointed at a satelite to make a call? If that's the case, would they be able to receive a call without doing the same?
 
The answer is yes and kind of no.
Like any aerial based system if you can get directional aerials pointing at each other it increases the efficiency of the signal transfer. Fixed and semi-portable systems (think sat TV on a boat) have a directional aerial which needs to be pointed at the satellite, hand helds are a compromise and have an omnidirectional aerial. This is obviously not as good as a directional aerial pointing at the satellite, but it gives a greater element of portability.
Don't know what the current state of play is vis a vis satellite availability, but if the reason for the phone is life critical I would want a get out of jail free card up my sleeve if I was so far north with a hand held.

HF
 
Just to reinforce the Manx/foreign simcard theory. When I cruise the West coast with my Icelandic mobile, set on best signal, coverage is pretty good, while natives´ mobiles flounder!

Best to have all the possibilities.

Thrall
 
Update

An IsatPhone Pro costs £400 including delivery in the UK and VAT; 100 pre-paid units cost £64. See http://www.satellitephones.co.uk/satellite-phones-shop-online/inmarsat/inmarsat-isatphone-pro-on-pre-paid-with-100-minutes/ Calls to landlines use 1 unit/minute, mobiles 1.2 units/minute (77p/min) and texts are half a unit (32p each). There is no monthly charge with a pre-paid SIM. If more units are purchased within 24 months any remaining units are carried over into a new 24 month expiry window.

For keeping in touch in remote places this seems to be a great phone at a reasonable price.

If the SIM is allowed to expire after 24 months a new one can be purchased with 100 units on it for £64 plus delivery.
Free texts can be sent to the phone at http://www.iSatPhoneLive.com – click on the link at the top of the page.

O2 do not charge their pay monthly mobiles to receive calls from satellite phones when the mobile is in the UK.

The aerial does need to be extended to receive calls and texts and the phone must be outside (it has Bluetooth so a handsfree unit can be used to make calls in the cabin). In Scotland, which is getting towards the edge of the coverage, it seems likely that the aerial will have to be generally pointing towards the satellite (19° above the SE horizon) and needs to have a clear view of the satellite with no obstructions.

I have just about convinced myself to buy one!
 
A far better option is the Delorme Inreach....

Its rather like the SPOT device... but paired with a Android phone it allows you to send and recieve text messages of up to 160 characters.....


So... have a standard voda /orange phone for normal use when there is a signal.... and the Delorme Inreach for getting and sending messages when out of range....

http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10820&minisite=10020/

Another suggestion I would make would be to have a few PAYG mini-sim cards... one Voda, one Orange... etc... and then just plug them into a Ipad or other tablet and be able to get email etc that way... using whichever sim actually works at the time..


The Delorme thing looks to be a big improvement over the spot..
 
photodog said:
A far better option is the Delorme Inreach....

Its rather like the SPOT device... but paired with a Android phone it allows you to send and recieve text messages of up to 160 characters.....


So... have a standard voda /orange phone for normal use when there is a signal.... and the Delorme Inreach for getting and sending messages when out of range....

http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10820&minisite=10020/

Another suggestion I would make would be to have a few PAYG mini-sim cards... one Voda, one Orange... etc... and then just plug them into a Ipad or other tablet and be able to get email etc that way... using whichever sim actually works at the time..


The Delorme thing looks to be a big improvement over the spot..
Click to expand...

The Delorme has the advantage of a low initial cost of £160 in USA. A disadvantage is the annual fee of £76 which over 6 years brings is up to the cost of the IsatPhone Pro including pre-paid units.

The basic subscription for the Delorme includes 10 texts per month; additional texts cost 95p each. The IsatPhone Pro pre-payment includes 200 texts which can be used any time during the 2 year period before the SIM needs to be reactivated. The IsatPhone Pro is also a phone.

The Delorme's ability to allow remote tracking of the device looks very attractive for many sports. Is also very small and light.
 
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