Anybody have any experience renting satellite telephones for wilderness tripping? Who did you rent from? How well did the phone work? What did it cost? Am looking at renting a phone for a Grand Canyon trip as well as a Green River trip (Desolation/Gray) this spring. Any dvice or suggestions?
Once for Wrangell St, Elias
Had an older Kyocera Iridium service via
http://www.satellitephonestore.com/
Used it once and worked fine. Depending on the area of your coverage you need, it determines the service provider a bit. Globalstar is cheaper but not entirely worldwide as Iridium, at least that was my experience two years ago. A phone card, may be more convenient than a deposit and refund. My only gripe is that it took a bit for me to get my $200 deposit back from SPS.com, however, some of it is due to them having to get the money from Iridium itself. A phone card alleviates the deposit issue.
Just like with a GPS, you have to have a satellite lock which takes much longer than a cell phone on a cold start.
Jay
Rented one for a solo trip…
from these guys:
http://www.gmpcs-us.com/
Excellent performance & great customer service