Iridium Go! Anyone?

[SaltyMonkey]

So a voice call is 2x the cost usage minute

"For example, if you are making a voice call to a landline or cell, every minute you are on the call equates to 2 GO! Data Minutes. If you are calling another Iridium device, each minute you are on the call equates to 1 GO! Data Minute."

Iridium GO Airtime

expensive of course

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

If you actually went to my LINK you would see TABS for each of the SERVICES. You will See a VOICE tab. THERE IS NO PACIFIC OCEAN COVERAGE. ALL THE HOT COVERAGE IS OVER LAND. Any YELLOW is only COASTAL. There is VERY little Grey Coverage in the Ocean!

ITS USELESS!

Get a grip and READ.

Get a grip on your bananas. I believe you are correct. .in spite of the Globalstar statements I am being convinced the Iridium is a better service. I would like to hear from sailors who have used either service though.

But you are correct. If most of the Pacific isn't covered then it's an inferior service and Iridium would be better.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

So a voice call is 2x the cost usage minute

"For example, if you are making a voice call to a landline or cell, every minute you are on the call equates to 2 GO! Data Minutes. If you are calling another Iridium device, each minute you are on the call equates to 1 GO! Data Minute."

Iridium GO Airtime

expensive of course

Iridium Go also has an unlimited data and sms plan. Data is very very slow

[nhschneider]

Before we left California, over 5 years ago, we bought an Iridium 9555 with a docking station and an external antenna. Unfortunately, due to an accident, we had to replace the 9555 a little over a year ago and we bought an Iridium Go! It worked fine, right out of the box, either with our existing external antenna or by placing the unit in clear view of the sky. It works fine with our iPads, iPhones and our desk-top PC. Since we primarily use it to send and receive emails and get weather information, we only purchase 1,000 minutes of time per year, at a cost of about US$800. The few times we have made voice calls it has worked flawlessly. It has always connected and the download times for GRIBs and emails are very quick. We make no attempt to surf the web with it. It has been a long time since we've even tried to use the SSB to connect with either Win Link or Sail Mail as the Iridium Go is much quicker and easier. Even though we'll often connect twice a day when we're not connected to a broadband service, we never come close to using the 800 minutes allotted to us in a one-year period.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by nhschneider

Before we left California, over 5 years ago, we bought an Iridium 9555 with a docking station and an external antenna. Unfortunately, due to an accident, we had to replace the 9555 a little over a year ago and we bought an Iridium Go! It worked fine, right out of the box, either with our existing external antenna or by placing the unit in clear view of the sky. It works fine with our iPads, iPhones and our desk-top PC. Since we primarily use it to send and receive emails and get weather information, we only purchase 1,000 minutes of time per year, at a cost of about US$800. The few times we have made voice calls it has worked flawlessly. It has always connected and the download times for GRIBs and emails are very quick. We make no attempt to surf the web with it. It has been a long time since we've even tried to use the SSB to connect with either Win Link or Sail Mail as the Iridium Go is much quicker and easier. Even though we'll often connect twice a day when we're not connected to a broadband service, we never come close to using the 800 minutes allotted to us in a one-year period.

Fair winds and calm seas.

Thank you for that. Very reassuring. For me word of mouth trumps all the promo stuff on the internet. Can I ask.the furtherest offshore you went? If you've had the experience, how does it work mid Pacific or Middle Atlantic? Thanks.

[Capn Bri]

Originally Posted by nhschneider

Before we left California, over 5 years ago, we bought an Iridium 9555 with a docking station and an external antenna. Unfortunately, due to an accident, we had to replace the 9555 a little over a year ago and we bought an Iridium Go! It worked fine, right out of the box, either with our existing external antenna or by placing the unit in clear view of the sky. It works fine with our iPads, iPhones and our desk-top PC. Since we primarily use it to send and receive emails and get weather information, we only purchase 1,000 minutes of time per year, at a cost of about US$800. The few times we have made voice calls it has worked flawlessly. It has always connected and the download times for GRIBs and emails are very quick. We make no attempt to surf the web with it. It has been a long time since we've even tried to use the SSB to connect with either Win Link or Sail Mail as the Iridium Go is much quicker and easier. Even though we'll often connect twice a day when we're not connected to a broadband service, we never come close to using the 800 minutes allotted to us in a one-year period.

Fair winds and calm seas.

Many thanks for that complete reply. May I ask ...where is your external antenna mounted? The ONLY place I could mount an antenna is either at the top of the mast (near my VHF antenna) or on a spreader (about 3-4 feet from my radome). From my research neither location is a good idea.

thanks again

-CB

.

[Rubikoop]

Using Iridium Go I sailed from the Virgin Islands to Bermuda, Azores and Portugal a couple of months ago. The remote antenna was mounted on the stern rail. At least daily we used Predictwind for weather info and had zero issues. We sent and received many emails without a problem. We didn't try to access the Internet. It worked well for us.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[SaltyMonkey]

I noticed this:

"Free Incoming Calls and SMS"

So, does that mean incoming voice calls are FREE while outgoing cost money?

[gjorgensen]

I'll post this again just so people are clear. Both Iridium and GlobalStar are low earth orbit satellite systems. Neither satellite constellation orbits at a height where the satellites can see land from mid-ocean.

Iridium satellites communicate directly with each other, relaying connections from satellite to satellite until one can relay it to a ground station. That way the coverage is literally global. Iridium coverage is best close to the poles and worst at the equator.

GlobalStar is a "bent pipe" where each connection is essentially a connection between a phone and a ground station, bent through exactly one satellite. The satellites cannot talk to each other. That means that you only have service when you're close enough to shore for a satellite to see a ground station. There is no coverage mid-ocean.

BGAN is based on geosynchronous satellites evenly placed around the earth (3 of them from that height) giving global coverage. This services offers the greatest data speeds but is also the most expensive. It also typically requires larger end user devices, because the transmit range is 30x further.

[SaltyMonkey]

Yes like Fleet BB

[nhschneider]

Originally Posted by GoingWalkabout

Thank you for that. Very reassuring. For me word of mouth trumps all the promo stuff on the internet. Can I ask.the furtherest offshore you went? If you've had the experience, how does it work mid Pacific or Middle Atlantic? Thanks.

We got our Iridium Go when we were in Thailand and used it daily across the Indian Ocean and then continued to use it daily as we sailed from South Africa to the Caribbean. We used our 9555 across the Pacific with equally good performance. Our external antenna is mounted on our pushpit, next to one of our GPS antennas.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by nhschneider

We got our Iridium Go when we were in Thailand and used it daily across the Indian Ocean and then continued to use it daily as we sailed from South Africa to the Caribbean. We used our 9555 across the Pacific with equally good performance. Our external antenna is mounted on our pushpit, next to one of our GPS antennas.

Fair winds and calm seas.

Thanks NHSchneider. Great information. I think the iridium Go sounds great along with a portable sat phone. I already use SMS a lot and I believe the unlimited plan gas free incoming calls. So I can SMS say my engineers etc, to call me. Bottom line is using these tools in a smart way.

Best regards and thanks,
Chaya

[lifgun]

I'm using Iridium go since two years now and it works (once you are used to the speed) very well. The external antenna is a must. I use it together with predict wind which gives you very good access to weather data, I use it also for emails which is quite okay as long as you downsize your emails, I use it also for twitter and for phone calls but it's not possible to access the web - just to slow. After testing several other stuff I'm really satisfied with this unit. Btw the predictwind package also includes a tracking function which is very cool for the ones which are not sailing :-). With the fixed price plan the whole thing is affordable and will not drive you into bankrupt.

[lifgun]

One more thing - mount the external antenna just on your rail - it will work perfect.....

[Pelagic]

I just got a promo from my Cellular provider about a Sat Service that links to your smart phone and charges only $250 / year for consumable subscription.

Have not studied it yet but this is new to me

Link below on world coverage and costs and FAQ's

http://smart.com.ph/Satellite/smart-sat/overview