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Iridium
Paul wrote:
Last year I set up my sailboat with an Iridium phone for a San Francisco -
Hawaii (and back) trip. There is a "data kit" adaptor that clips onto the
bottom of the phone, as does the 12V charger adaptor. Tha data adaptor has
a DB9 serial plug that I connected to my IBM laptop, running WinXT Pro. The
data kit includes interface software for the computer -- once installed you
can treat the Iridium connection as a regular internet connection and use
your browser, email, etc. The data kit cost me about $180. There is a
serial-to-USB adaptor they can sell you, but the software is Windows-only.
I got all this from "Outfitter Satellite" (
http://www.outfittersatellite.com/iridium.htm ), and they were pretty easy
to work with.
I ended up only using the Iridium data capability a few times. but I used
the phone for voice calls once or twice a day with very good results.
Internet through the Iridium was kind of slow (2400 BPS) but there is
compression available that speeds up some applications. It worked pretty
reliably.
For data, I mostly used SailMail through my SSB radio. It isn't any faster
that the Iridium, but it worked well for email, which was all I usually
wanted it for. I am considering more extensive digital weather chart
download, and Sailmail won't allow me to receive that much data, so I may
end up using the Iridium for data next time. I haven't had much luck making
reliable connections with the ham-radio Winlink system, but it seems to work
well for some folks, and there are fewer restrictions on the amount of data
you can pass.
I used the external "mushroom style" antenna for the Iridium, mounted on the
stern pushpit rail. At my navstation I put a coax connector for the antenna
cable, so I could use the phone there, or take it outside.
Hope this helps,
Paul
s/v VALIS
"Ayesha" wrote in message
k...
I don't suppose anyone here has done data transfer at sea with a
Motorola Iridium phone and a Mac computer, and can tel me how they did
it?
Failing that, what experience using a PC?
that's all very useful. Thanks
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