Satellite Phone

[elkdiesel]

This fall we are headed to AK for an OYO Moose hunt and was wondering if anybody has experience renting a sat phone? Any suggestions would be great.

 

[wyoming556]

This is an article from huntin fool that should help. By the way stay away from the SPOT locator. It is junk and will not save your life IMO. I wasted several hundred dollars on the unit and the subscription and found out it doesn't work half the time.

http://www.huntinfool.com/resources/articles/200909_IG_Explorer_Satellite.pdf

 

[bow hunter]

i have a spot and i used it in northeastern nevada in the ruby mountains, and in the deep south woods of mississippi and i didnt experience a single problem with it. it performed great for me

 

[wyoming556]

It works great if you are on flat ground but any trees, mountains, hills, etc can stop it from working.

Big-O did some research as well. here it is.
I know nothing about these yet, but have started looking. A sales guy at Cabelas seemed very sharp about these and told me the signal strength is an issue, then rattled off a bunch of #' and frequencies......Said there is a better version out now, the old ones were on a table for $79.00 But, if you wanted a true 911, need help right now and here are my coordinates he would not rely on it. He recommended an ACR link somethin somethin...

If I am going to carry a lifesaving device it needs to be as close to 100% reliable as possible and the spot is simply not.

 

[bow hunter]

that may be why mine worked. i bought the new version in november of 10

 

[mdhunter61]

Surveyors Exchange

This fall we are headed to AK for an OYO Moose hunt and was wondering if anybody has experience renting a sat phone? Any suggestions would be great.

Are you flying into Anchorage or Fairbanks? If you're flying into Anchorage, talk to Greg at Surveyors Exchange - they rent sat phones to hunters/campers/surveyors all the time, have the process down, and the case comes with an extra battery and instructions for how to best use the phone. They also have a drop box if you get back into town after hours.

ONE IMPORTANT NOTE - fall is a busy time for anyone in Alaska who rents sat phones, so reserve yours early. I usually reserve mine in the April/May timeframe for a September hunt, just to make sure that detail is taken care of.

 

[mconway951]

I used my spot last fall in the boundry waters of MN on my moose hunt and it worked great for us plenty of trees and rocks and hills and worked great all day every day never had to change batteries for the seven days we were there.

 

[ashersdad]

On my Alaska hunt last fall my buddy brought a sat phone that he had rented. He was nice enough to let me use it and it worked great. 14 days is a long time to be out of contact with the wife and kiddos. When I go again, I will definitely rent one.

He rented his on the internet and they sent it to him and he pre-purchased the minutes.

 

[2rocky]

I have used Mobal.com for the sat phone rental. It arrived on time, Seemed to have a signal in the mountains and I never used it. Good insurance. Had I per paid for minutes I might have burned some up with a call home, but didn't see the need.

 

[lilbiggun]

Are you flying into Anchorage or Fairbanks? If you're flying into Anchorage, talk to Greg at Surveyors Exchange - they rent sat phones to hunters/campers/surveyors all the time, have the process down, and the case comes with an extra battery and instructions for how to best use the phone. They also have a drop box if you get back into town after hours.

ONE IMPORTANT NOTE - fall is a busy time for anyone in Alaska who rents sat phones, so reserve yours early. I usually reserve mine in the April/May timeframe for a September hunt, just to make sure that detail is taken care of.

+1 I rented one from them this past fall. It was the more expensive model but it worked great (wife was 7 months pregnant, had to check in with her all the time). We came out early and when you fill out the return sheet and drop it in the box, your rental time stops when it drops in the box.

If your gonna be in anchorage, surveyors is the place to rent it. good folks and good equipment.

 

[MNHunter]

This is who I use: http://www.explorersatellite.com/

Used them twice and will continue to use them.

 

[Goldtip]

I know of one sat phone not to use, Globalstar, nothing but junk.

 

[wyoming556]

Globalstar is the same company that owns SPOT. Avoid both. They failed at providing reliable phone service so now they are trying to market the SPOT using the same undependable satelites. I understand that some people had good luck and the newer models supposedly work better than the older ones. If you read reviews on Cabelas and other online forums will find they are not even close to 100% dependable. For me a somewhat dependable life saving device is not worth carrying. There are other models that work better and will actually save your life. The ACR and the Fast Find are seious life saving devices that are much more dependable/reliable and cost a few hundred $ more. I would feel pretty stupid if I ended up dead becasue I tried to save a couple of hundred dollars, but that's just me.

On the phones sick with the providers Iridium and Inmarsat.

 

[Bambistew]

Rent a sat phone for the most reliability, but even they fail. I say that because I had issues with one last fall due to a rouge satellite that was causing interference with all communications and the sat phone wouldn’t work for a few hours a day for about a week. Pretty rare situation, but it did.

I also have a SPOT and have only had one issue with it, that was due to being in a steep canyon with the southern sky being blocked. I didn’t have the sat phone with me, but it probably wouldn’t have worked either. Otherwise as far as I know the SPOT has worked every single time I’ve used it. From the Arctic Circle to the Kenai and places in between. I have the new version however. I have a friend with the older version and he has issues with tree cover.

I'm still skeptical to rely on it 100% even though I did on my last moose hunt. I wasn’t too worried, I knew of an outfitter camp about 5-6 miles away, and the highway was only another 20 from there. Figured one of us could get help if came down to it.

The way I look at it.. I'm going into a remote place for the sole purpose of being detached from the world. Part of the experience is not having instant access to help. I realize it and am completely ok with it. Even if you have a SPOT or a sat phone, something could go wrong, the weather could be so bad rescuers can't get to you, or they can’t find you. Its piece of mind and really nothing more. I really like having the phone so I can call and rub it in when a critter hits the dirt.

 

[BOWUNTR]

I've been to Alaska hunting the past three seasons and have always borrowed my buddies phone. This year I'm gonna have to rent one. Thanks for the info. I'll be renting one from Surveyors. Their rate is cheaper than any I've seen. Thanks for the info. Ed F

 

[elkdiesel]

Thanks for the information guys. This will help out a lot. Anybody have weather predictions for SE AK in mid October?

 

[mdhunter61]

Thanks for the information guys. This will help out a lot. Anybody have weather predictions for SE AK in mid October?

I do...chance of rain.