SPOT Sat Phone

[oldranger]

Ok techno nerds what do you think of this as a Sat Phone Option. It does use the Globalstar system, which used to be pretty unreliable:



Mike

[Rockchucker]

Looks pretty good, 7ozs, not too bad! I'm in the market for something similar.

[xNateX]

Looks like a Qualcomm GSP 1700 sat phone with different colors. Those can be had on eBay for under $400, although buying from REI or backcountry might be well worth the extra cost.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... 0&_sacat=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've been studying up on sat phones and the GSP 1700 / SPOT sat phone is what I'm leaning towards. The pricing plans just went up after February 28th of this year or thereabouts. Prior to that point, it was $40 a month for unlimited minutes. A prior thread on this website had mentioned that Qualcomm's pricing structure was bound to change once they got all their new satellites launched.

I'd love to have one. Can't quite justify the cost just yet though. I think the odds would be high that having one available would more likely end up being used to help others. Which makes it all the more valuable to me.

correction: The GSP 1700 is a Globalstar handset, not a Qualcomm handset.

[Flux]

I want one. I have a SPOT and it does fine. Would love the phone though, I have a lot of folks who depend on me so it would be a nice thing to have either way. Never had any service issues in socal and the Sierra thus far.

[cloudlesssky]

You can get a $100 rebate on this phone for purchases through 8/12/13. The rebate form can be located at:

http://www.findmespot.com/downloads/SPO ... _14_13.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm going to try one out on my planned Tahoe to Mammoth hike this Aug. I was able to reserve/rent one for $27/wk and $1/min airtime. I used an iSatPhone Pro last year on the JMT and this looks to be a bit lighter. Hopefully it will work as well.

[fishmonger]

At first glance this looked interesting, but once I dug deep enough to get actual numbers for service costs, when compared the pricing to my Isatphone, I am still glad I got the Isatphone. The device itself costs about the same, but my plan was $120 for 100 minutes over 2 years, as in $5/month and 24 months of service with 100 minutes included. I don't call much, so for me a plan that does provide the minutes I "may" need and doesn't have a lot of running costs is highly preferable. If you can rent it, that's a pretty sweet deal, though, especially if you only need it for a few weeks a year.