"Mike @ www.sivros.net" <mike@sivros.net> wrote in
news:mcc9gv493072jqa5doed02aavvk5ifjk2j@4ax.com:

> tyuk02@yahoo.co.uk (Riz) wrote:
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>Does anybody know of a good (as in reasonably priced) place to pick up
>>a satellite phone in the UK. I am also not sure what is out there in
>>terms of products so a website that explains this would be useful. If
>>this is the wrong group to be asking this, can anybody direct me to a
>>more appropriate group to post this question on.
>>
>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>>Riz
>
> You can occasionally find brand new Ericsson
> R290's (for Globalstar) on Ebay for about £200.
>
> I use a UK Vodafone sim card in mine. Works
> very well across Europe but calls work out at
> £1.80/min for both incoming and outgoing calls.
>

Globalstar & Thuraya have limited coverage about the same as GSM mobiles,
Iridium & Inmarsat work worldwide. So it depends where you are going. All
the phone system have their websites. www.iridium.com, www.thuraya.com,
www.globalstar.com www.inmarsat.com.
All satellite phones calls are expensive, at least US$1.50 per minute you
have to have a clear view of the sky to use the phone that means no trees
overhead and not indoors unless you carry an external antenna!
You will find that buying a local GSM Sim is going to be cheaper and easier
to use!

Regards

Martin

Martin Ktech <wahalla88@hotmail.com> wrote:

>You will find that buying a local GSM Sim is going to be cheaper and easier
>to use!
>

As long as you are in range of a GSM cell site !

For example, have you tried finding reliable GSM
coverage in some of the remote valleys of the Lake
District or Yorkshire Dales? I have used Globalstar
in both places and in similar locations in Greece.

--

Mike @ www.sivros.net

Martin Ktech <wahalla88@hotmail.com> wrote:

>All satellite phones calls are expensive, at least US$1.50 per minute

No more than using a UK PAYG phone in Calais. And you can get prepay
Iridum, I think.

Iain
--

The Hairydog Guide to UK mobile phones
http://www.hairydog.co.uk/cell1.html

"Mike @ www.sivros.net" <mike@sivros.net> wrote in message
news:1slagv80a7jiu78e6i92ei8200s9id9ole@4ax.com...
> Martin Ktech <wahalla88@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >You will find that buying a local GSM Sim is going to be cheaper and easier
> >to use!
>
> As long as you are in range of a GSM cell site !
> For example, have you tried finding reliable GSM
> coverage in some of the remote valleys of the Lake
> District or Yorkshire Dales? I have used Globalstar
> in both places and in similar locations in Greece.
>
I toured the Derby Dales last year, and took my 3330 with triple Sim back
fitted with Voda, O2, and T Mobile PAYT Sims just in case.
95% of the time my Orange ED50 6310i worked fine.

Steve Terry

"Steve Terry" <g4wwk-remove-to-reply-@tesco.net> wrote:

>I toured the Derby Dales last year, and took my 3330 with triple Sim back
>fitted with Voda, O2, and T Mobile PAYT Sims just in case.
>95% of the time my Orange ED50 6310i worked fine.
>

One of the worst routes I frequently use is
the A684 from Sedbergh in Cumbria to
Hawes in North Yorks. I carry both Orange
and Voda phones and get no coverage on
either - even using a Nokia a car kit.

--

Mike @ www.sivros.net

"Steve Terry" <g4wwk-remove-to-reply-@tesco.net> wrote in message news:<4BoNa.2798$ju6.42123@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net>...
> "Mike @ www.sivros.net" <mike@sivros.net> wrote in message
> news:1slagv80a7jiu78e6i92ei8200s9id9ole@4ax.com...
> > Martin Ktech <wahalla88@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > >You will find that buying a local GSM Sim is going to be cheaper and easier
> > >to use!
> >
> > As long as you are in range of a GSM cell site !
> > For example, have you tried finding reliable GSM
> > coverage in some of the remote valleys of the Lake
> > District or Yorkshire Dales? I have used Globalstar
> > in both places and in similar locations in Greece.
> >
> I toured the Derby Dales last year, and took my 3330 with triple Sim back
> fitted with Voda, O2, and T Mobile PAYT Sims just in case.
> 95% of the time my Orange ED50 6310i worked fine.
>
> Steve Terry

When I go to wild places such as these, I carry four SIMs: Orange, O2,
Vodafone and Virgin. I looked at T Mobile but their PAYT rates seemed
dreadful. The Virgin SIM gives me access to that network at much
better rates. The Virgin is on DD and has roaming enabled. So it
gives me a back up when roaming. I probably could not access any more
networks with it but if something went wrong with my Orange account
then I could use the Virgin SIM. The O2 and Vodafone PAYG SIMs are
not good for roaming.

Like you, my normal SIM is Orange on ED50. When Orange fails (not so
often these days), I go to O2 next if it is a weekend (2ppm) or Virgin
at other times. Surprisingly although, people criticise the T Mobile
network a lot, the Virgin SIM quite often works when Orange has let me
down. e.g. I was in the Center parcs near Nottingham recently.
Orange reception was very patchy but Virgin was fine. Of course this
does not mean that Virgin is better than Orange since I do not look at
Virgin when Orange is available. But it does manage to cover some
Orange holes. I use the Vodafone SIM last. Its rates are the worst
of all my SIMs.

But despite access to so many networks, it would be fun to have a
satellite phone. I try to justify it because I travel a lot.
Unfortunately, they are still too expensive. See the spin off thread:
"satellite phone query - available in UK" for some more chat about
satellite phones.

J

"Steve Terry" <g4wwk-remove-to-reply-@tesco.net> wrote in message
news:4BoNa.2798$ju6.42123@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net...
[...]
> I toured the Derby Dales last year, and took my 3330 with triple Sim back
> fitted with Voda, O2, and T Mobile PAYT Sims just in case.
> 95% of the time my Orange ED50 6310i worked fine.

What about the rest of them, Steve - how did they perform compared to
Orange?

"root" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:be7col$249tp$1@ID-193745.news.dfncis.de...
> "Steve Terry" <g4wwk-remove-to-reply-@tesco.net> wrote in message
> news:4BoNa.2798$ju6.42123@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net...
> [...]
> > I toured the Derby Dales last year, and took my 3330 with triple Sim back
> > fitted with Voda, O2, and T Mobile PAYT Sims just in case.
> > 95% of the time my Orange ED50 6310i worked fine.
>
> What about the rest of them, Steve - how did they perform
> compared to Orange?
>
As expected Orange and Voda were the best, surprisingly lost
Voda in part of Bakewell town centre. O2 adequate in most places,
T Mobile the worst often lost it outside towns.
No surprises at all.

Can confirm no coverage at all down Blue John gem mines ;-)

Steve Terry

"Steve Terry" <g4wwk-remove-to-reply-@tesco.net> wrote in message
news:GjINa.3441$ju6.55255@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net...
> "root" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:be7col$249tp$1@ID-193745.news.dfncis.de...
> > "Steve Terry" <g4wwk-remove-to-reply-@tesco.net> wrote in message
> > news:4BoNa.2798$ju6.42123@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net...
> > [...]
> > > I toured the Derby Dales last year, and took my 3330 with triple Sim
back
> > > fitted with Voda, O2, and T Mobile PAYT Sims just in case.
> > > 95% of the time my Orange ED50 6310i worked fine.
> >
> > What about the rest of them, Steve - how did they perform
> > compared to Orange?
> >
> As expected Orange and Voda were the best, surprisingly lost
> Voda in part of Bakewell town centre. O2 adequate in most places,
> T Mobile the worst often lost it outside towns.
> No surprises at all.

Sounds pretty much what I was expecting to hear too. Did you notice any
difference between Orange and Vodafone, Steve?

On Sat, 5 Jul 2003 23:30:06 +0100, "Steve Terry"
<g4wwk-remove-to-reply-@tesco.net> wrote:

>"root" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
>news:be7col$249tp$1@ID-193745.news.dfncis.de...
>> "Steve Terry" <g4wwk-remove-to-reply-@tesco.net> wrote in message
>> news:4BoNa.2798$ju6.42123@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net...
>> [...]
>> > I toured the Derby Dales last year, and took my 3330 with triple Sim back
>> > fitted with Voda, O2, and T Mobile PAYT Sims just in case.
>> > 95% of the time my Orange ED50 6310i worked fine.
>>
>> What about the rest of them, Steve - how did they perform
>> compared to Orange?
>>
>As expected Orange and Voda were the best, surprisingly lost
>Voda in part of Bakewell town centre. O2 adequate in most places,
>T Mobile the worst often lost it outside towns.
>No surprises at all.
>
>Can confirm no coverage at all down Blue John gem mines ;-)

I was up near Ullswater the other week, and my mate had no signal on
T-mob most of the time except....... when we found our way into a cave
and he got a couple of texts come in.
--
don't bother emailing me, it goes into the ether somewhere.
reply in group.