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Interesting New Device for Offshore Communications and Tracking
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Interesting New Device for Offshore Communications and Tracking
On 5/18/2012 9:18 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELi... ection=10047 Looks very interesting, and affordable too really at ten bucks a month after the initial hit of 249 which isn't out of line for such technology as far as I can tell, not much more than a entry level smart phone... It looks like it doesn't do phone calls, just messaging, but for emergency or basic communication, looks great. |
Interesting New Device for Offshore Communications and Tracking
Wayne.B wrote:
http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELi... ection=10047 That's very cool and inexpensive. The 2-way messaging is a huge plus. Who needs a sat-phone anymore?! |
Interesting New Device for Offshore Communications and Tracking
On Sat, 19 May 2012 20:06:52 -0400, wrote:
On Sat, 19 May 2012 13:24:28 -0400, Wayne.B wrote: On Sat, 19 May 2012 12:20:00 -0400, wrote: On Fri, 18 May 2012 21:18:30 -0400, Wayne.B wrote: http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELi... ection=10047 Looks like a great deal for cruisers like you. Running around the Estero bay, I can usually hollar loud enough to reach someone on shore ;-) If not I could walk home. === It could also be relevant for people who hang out in the Everglades or some of the other back country with limited or no cell phone/VHF service. The low country coastal regions of the Carolinas are notorious for communications gaps. Some of the small boat fisherman who go 50 miles offshore in center consoles or small cuddy cabins could also benefit. We once had to rescue a 20 something center console with an entire family aboard because they had lost power and were drifting towards the cliffs on the south end of Block Island, Rhode Island. The cliffs were blocking both their cell phone and VHF signals even though they were close to civilization. I am not sure the Everglades is really that remote these days with all the towers on Tamiami trail, Marco, Flamingo, Everglades City, East Dade etc I don't know about these new flip phones but my buddy ran around all over the 10,000 islands and his AMPS66 phone with a high dB gain marine antenna always got out. My car phone always worked too up and down Tamiami trail and Alligator Alley, even before we had a tower every 2 miles. Our old PTs (Motorola Portable Terminal) operated on the cell band and I got to the Island Park tower from the ranger tower in Chokoloskee one day. (45-50 miles) That may have been the record. That was data at 4800 BPS tho and a lot of retries to send a few SDLC packets. I doubt you could have talked. If I was in trouble I would try a text if the phone was shaky. A moment of connection would get your SOS out. === The 10,000 islands are is covered just fine. Going down south to the Little Shark River and Cape Sable area, not so much. We had to rescue a guy 5 or 6 years ago with a down engine on his flats boat. He couldn't get a call out to his buddy who was fishing a few miles away on another boat and he either didn't have a VHF or his buddy wasn't monitoring channel16. We stumbled upon this guy while we were exploring around in the dinghy and ended up towing him a couple of miles him back to his base camp. We were about 10 miles back in from the inlet. In another instance several years later we heard a mayday call while we were transiting north a few miles off of Cape Sable. A bunch of people in a Boston Whaler had parked themselves in the mangroves and couldn't get out. They were unable to get anyone by cell phone and we were the only ones to hear their distress call on the VHF. We relayed to USCG on VHF with our bigger antenna mounted high up. If that had failed we could have used the Single Side Band rig. |
Interesting New Device for Offshore Communications and Tracking
On Sat, 19 May 2012 20:33:49 -0400, Earl
wrote: Wayne.B wrote: http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELi... ection=10047 That's very cool and inexpensive. The 2-way messaging is a huge plus. Who needs a sat-phone anymore?! === I think a satphone is still useful if you need to talk with someone but satphones are considerably more expensive to buy and talk time is somewhere around a buck a minute. |
Interesting New Device for Offshore Communications and Tracking
Wayne.B wrote:
On Sat, 19 May 2012 20:33:49 -0400, wrote: Wayne.B wrote: http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELi... ection=10047 That's very cool and inexpensive. The 2-way messaging is a huge plus. Who needs a sat-phone anymore?! === I think a satphone is still useful if you need to talk with someone but satphones are considerably more expensive to buy and talk time is somewhere around a buck a minute. Sure, but who really wants to talk to someone while boating? This is great for emergencies or simple questions and answers from the office or home. The seasonal subscription rates are unclear but even at $9.95/month or $119.40/year + message fees it's cheap insurance. |
Interesting New Device for Offshore Communications and Tracking
On Mon, 21 May 2012 20:22:59 -0400, Earl
wrote: I think a satphone is still useful if you need to talk with someone but satphones are considerably more expensive to buy and talk time is somewhere around a buck a minute. Sure, but who really wants to talk to someone while boating? This is great for emergencies or simple questions and answers from the office or home. === I've run into more than a few people who have a need to keep in touch with their office, investments or family while on an extended cruise or fishing trip. The other nice thing about a satphone is that you can get a true internet connection albeit at *very* slow speed. That can be useful for detailed weather information or travel arrangements among other things. |
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