On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:59:15 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:51:31 -0400, wrote:

I don't know much about these new fangled digital phones but with a
good marine antenna you could get out on an AMPS66 phone all the way
from Marathon to Naples and not lose service. If I went very far
offshore I would be looking into a digital phone with provisions for
an external antenna. The last time I tried it my old analog phone was
still working anyway. They just wanted some ridiculous amount per
minute to use it.

Yeah, but they work and work well.

Wayne has used APRS - an amateur radio tracking system to great
success - combined with Google Maps and Earth (the only thing Google
is good for in my opinion). If you did run into trouble, folks
tracking you using the service would have a recent position report to
work off of. I plan on using it on the Grady when we move south.

Then again, I also have sat phone backup. It may be expensive to use
per minute, but what's expense when you're in trouble.

Another choice has become available in the last year or so, the SPOT
device. The SPOT is a handheld unit that combines a GPS with a
satellite uplink transmitter. You can use it to send "help" messages
or to send position reports every 10 minutes which can be displayed on
a web site. Priced at $150 or so, it's not really a replacement for
an EPIRB but can be used that way in an emergency.

http://www.findmespot.com/en/

We used one to track our trip to the Bahamas last June and it worked
well. There are a few operational tricks that need to be learned but
by and large it is easy to use and does what it is supposed to.