Satellite phones and backcountry photography

[Stephen Willard]

I am considering purchasing a satellite phone for use in the backcountry far away from civilization and cell phone reception. My plans are to use the phone to inform my wife about any change of plans. Sometimes the shooting is real good, and I intend to stay an additional week. Sometimes the basin I am in is not worth my time so I intend to move on to another basin. Keeping my wife informed about where I am affords me more flexible about my time and place of shooting. The phone could also be use to augment my PLB in the event of an emergency.

The price of the phones is dropping. I have found a satellite phone for $300 new, and there is a variety of service plans to meet anyones needs including limited use such as my application. Most now offer free incoming text messaging and around $0.50 for each out going text message. It is my belief that a satellite phone would increase my yields in the field, and the added cost would be well worth it.

Has anyone ever used one of these phones? Do they really work? Will they work with cloud cover or in storms? Will they work in tree cover? How about in deep valleys?

Any considerations or comments would be appreciated.

[John Brady]

Hi Stephen, I have no direct experience with a sat phone but I do carry an epirb. This is a device of last resort that when activated will send out a distress signal notifying the authorities of your position via satellite.

A new device has come along that may be of interest to you. Spot will not allow you to text or carry a conversation but it will allow you to send three types of messages. The first is an I'm ok message that will e-mail your exact coordinates to anyone you set up on your list. Via satellite it will send your gps coordinates and they will show your location on google maps, very cool. You can also turn on the tracking feature and people on your list can real time follow your progress.

The next notification is send help. It tells the people on your list that you need assistance but are not in a life threatening situation. Handy if you break down.

The third is more like my epirb, it is a 911 feature. When activated the authorities are notified that you are in a life threatening situation.

As I recall the device is a couple hundred dollars and you have to pay for an anual service at about $150.

I bought one for my 22 year old daughter when she decided she would ride her bike from South Florida to New York alone. It was the best way I could keep an eye on her and allowed me to sleep at night.
http://www.findmespot.com/en/

john
www.timeandlight.com
www.gladesgallery.com

[eddie]

my friend has this device that basically tracks where you go and how long you stay in any location. he basically wore it around NYC and then after that day we looked at where he went and where he stopped and all. not sure if it will work out tin the BC...or that it is even what you need......as it is not a phone.

[George Stewart]

Where did you find the phone for $300?

I too have been considering a sat phone. I would probably lean toward the Iridium brand as it is usable all over the world - that means polar regions. I do envision at least two trips to polar regions and would like total coverage. Also, with wars and associated activities raging, I think Iridium will be in business for a long time to come.

The latest Iridium handsets are small and well accessorized. You can also get annual packages that dispense with monthly fees.

[Eirik Berger]

There are several satellite phone providers and services (Iridium, glabalstar, Inmarsat, Thuraya etc). Before choosing one it is very imporant to check their coverage map. Not all providers have coverage everywhere.

Iridium is the only phone system that has a good coverage in Arctic regions, so I had no choise. As I often travels up to 80°N no other providers could guarantee coverage. I bought a used 9505 handset with extras for about $1000. Since it is for emergency use I chose a postpaid service. Then I know taht I will be able to use it as much or as little as necessary. Prepaid services are just valid for a given period. That was unacceptable to me.

The phone has served me well, it is big phones compared to ex. Thuraya handsets, and the battery capasity tends to degrade after some time. In cold they are useless without external 12V power. No problem if you are in a motorized vehicle with 12V battery. On longer trips on foot/ski I use a solar charger to ensure that I have charged batteries at any given time.

If you get an Iridium phone for $300 you are most likely buying stolen goods. :)

I also have a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) with GPS and transmitting on both 406 Mhz and 121,5 Mhz. The latter frequency is officialy not used anymore (from feb. 2009) and Cospas/Sarsat does not listen there anymore. But all rescue helicopters will use that frequency as a homing signal, useful in bad weather when they arrive to pick you up.

[Eirik Berger]

I too have been considering a sat phone. I would probably lean toward the Iridium brand as it is usable all over the world - that means polar regions. I do envision at least two trips to polar regions and would like total coverage. Also, with wars and associated activities raging, I think Iridium will be in business for a long time to come.

Well if the Iridium sattelites manage to stay out of obscolete Russian satellites they might be OK :)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5713541.ece

You are correct regarding to coverage in polar regions.

[Stephen Willard]

John, a PLB and EPIRB are basically the same thing. They are both legalized airplane black boxes. My PLB will also send GPS location information with the signal. Do you have a website for the device you gave to your daughter?


George here is the website for the GSP 1600 satellite phone that sells for $299.

http://www.globalstarusa.com/en/

It is called a GSP 1600 and functions as both a cell phone and satellite phone. If a land cell signal is found it will use that system first. If not, then the phone will connect to a satellite as a last resort.

For all of you, here is a website that has ten useful tips about satellite phones.

http://www.satellitephnoerental.com/

Eirik, it makes sense that a satellite phone would draw more power because it has to transmit longer distances to satellites through the ionosphere. In that case, I would not consider the GSP 1600 a viable cell phone unless it is designed to use less energy when connecting to a cell phone tower. I also would not treat a satellite phone as something you would use frequently because the high energy level of those phones would very likely cause brain cancer.

Eirik, what solar charger did you use to charge your satellite phone?

For all of you, weight is less a consideration for me because I can port around 200 pounds of gear with my two llamas I bring with me.

[jp]

My brother had a globalstar phone but it didn't work in the gulf of Maine like it was supposed to due to a satellite problem. They work most other places though and sat phones are popular with serious boaters and the yacht crowd as it doesn't take much to get outside cell phone range on the ocean.

For no monthly cost you could also consider amatuer radio. You no longer need to learn more code, just learn a few things about radio and electricity. It might not work in a deep valley like a sat phone, but the low frequencies will carry MUCH better than a cell phone, and there are repeater networks all over for VHF frequencies.

[Eirik Berger]

Eirik, what solar charger did you use to charge your satellite phone?


This one:
http://www.solstarenergy.com/iridium_satellite_solar_charger.htm

Not cheap and not light/small, but needed if you are away for some time and if you don´t have access to external power for charging.

[John Brady]

Hi Stephen, The site for Spot is.
http://www.findmespot.com/en/
I would consider it in addition to the sat phone if you can make it fit the budget.
West marine, bass pro etc. sell the spot.

A Lama? Your photo trips sound way cooler then mine.
jb

[Larry Gebhardt]

My parents have a Globalstar phone they use on their boat. In the southern Caribbean the coverage is very spotty and they only get a few minutes of talk time before the satellite sets. It does seem to work to send email though. So check the coverage maps and try to find some online reviews from people who have used it in the same areas you will.

[Stephen Willard]

Hi John and Eirik,

Thanks for the links. I will take a peek.

John, my llamas names are Popcorn and Chocolate Chip. We are best of friends, and they are great company. The higher I go the better they like it, and they love to watch me take pictures. They also attract wildlife because most indigenous animals have never seen llamas before and they are very curious about them. It is quite common for me to find a herd of elk or big horn sheep bedded down with my llamas a couple hundred feet from camp in the morning when I go to get them. They also have extremely keen hearing, eye sight, and sense of smell. I have had two encounters with mountain lions over the years, and both times my llamas tipped me off way before they arrived so that I was ready for them.

I do not have to bring in food for my llamas. They can feed on the alpine grasses or just about anything else that is there. Typically, we can go in with camera gear for 8 to 10 days before I have to replenish with provisions. If I leave my shelter and camera gear in the backcountry, then I can bring in enough provisions for three weeks. Well trained llamas are the perfect pack animals. I completely trust them with my camera gear because they have never damaged anything. They know how wide they are with their packs and will not rub up against anything.

You can see pictures of them on my website www.stephenwillard.com on a new webpage I just added titled "llamas and Humanity".

[John Brady]

Stephen, thats incredible! And from the look of your web site you are able to get into some pretty incredible places. Thanks for sharing your story. You are a fortunate man.

If you ever need help with one of your 8 to 10 day trips let me know.

[Archphoto]

Stephen, it takes a man of God to win the trust of these wonderfull animals.
Great nature, great shots ! Love your website.

Peter

[George Stewart]

Hey Stephen!

If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to see a separate thread about the Llamas; including, how you got them, training, upkeep, cost, tack, etc. Thanks.

[Jim Michael]

I keep a Spot device in my Stinson and put it in tracking mode when I fly. It sends a position report every 5 minutes and you can make your position info available on the Spot website. There are a couple other modes you can use to send predefined info via email, an OK message and a Help message, and a 911 mode that activates authorities for a rescue, e.g. you fall and break a leg.

[Stephen Willard]

George, I actually rent my two llamas from a llama outfitter 10 miles from my house. I get the same llamas every year, and I rent them for the season from snow to snow as the contract reads $800 each. The website of Stan Ebles llama ranch is www.llamapack.com. Take a peek. I could buy my llamas and board them at Stan’s place for $500 less a year, but I have had several llamas die over the years. So I just get new ones. I take all the older llamas from Stan who have had years of experience. There is a good chance though I may buy some younger llamas from him and board them. Llamas can last for 15 or so years.

You can buy packing llamas and then board them at a ranch or farm near your home. They are very inexpensive to maintain. Like any living creature including humans, the trick is getting well trained llamas that have not bend abused. Good llamas will not spit, and will never tug on the rope. They are very shy animals, and are very much like cats. You should not be loud around them and speak to them softly. They are social animals, and I highly recommend that you get two. A single llama on the trail is a sad llama with lower output. Two llamas on the trails are happy llamas with high output.

I let them eat as we hike, but Stan does not train his llamas to eat while you hike. I watch there stool output as means of monitoring there nutritional and energy levels. I know what grasses they love to eat and when there is some of there favorite grasses on the trail I will stop and let them rest and eat.

They do not like anything near the faces. So I apply bug repellant from behind their heads and to their legs to for relief. Remember happy llamas are very productive llamas. Stan requires that you take a four hour course on llamas before you can rent them.

You can find out more about llamas on google. I will post a separate thread when time permits.

[Renato Tonelli]

This is fascinating! Thank you for taking the time to post the information and your experiences.

[Stephen Willard]

Renato, you are welcome.

I forgot to mention one of the most important aspects of llamas other than carrying all your gear into the backcountry, is that they keep you fresh and extremely productive. Before llamas, packing was at most 5 miles for three days of food and camera at 75 pounds, and then carrying around your camera at 11,000 feet all day long was exhausting. There were many times where I was just too tired to take off my pack and investigate if there was a possibility for a composition. Of course, that was provided I could see past my exhaustion to even find a composition.

When I switched to llamas my yields went through the roof. I remained fresh all day. With two llamas I bring in 12 lenses, cook tarp; an office consisting of a Palm Pilot, Palm keyboard, and table top that snaps on my tripod; a real tent instead of bivy bag; sleeping gear; 5x7 and 4x10 cameras and rain covers to protect them in bad weather; lots of film; two small portable butane lanterns; two heavy duty tripods; all the clothing to remain safe; a PLB; an iPod; starbucks coffee and a French press; cooking gear and food; film changing tent with collapsible table top; a GPS to mark all compositions; a small point-shoot digital camera to record all compositions; a database on my Palm Pilot to log all info about the compositions I have found whether I actually photograph them or not, so that I can revisit them year after year; and the list goes on and on. I keep more reserves of food, film, and fuel back at the SUV for replenishing.

When I return home, the digital snap shot, the GPS way point, and the database info on my Palm Pilot are all merged into the main database on my desktop computer for each composition. The GPS locations also gets down loaded to my TOPO map software so that I can actually see where each composition is on the map. Each record for each composition in the database has 122 fields that allows me to monitor the location, camera configurations, characteristic of the composition, print inventory, masking info, and all printing information for each composition. Currently, I am monitoring 336 compositions I have not photographed. Some of them I have been working on for five or more years with many revisits. My main database then gets upload to the database on my website where I use PHP and CSS programs to construct my website.

I always set up a great camp that has great vistas of breath taking grandeur. A great camp with good music keeps me upbeat and productive no matter how horrific the storms are in the high alpine of Colorado. A lot of people think what I do is recreational, but in truth, I work my ass off from 4:00 AM to 11:00 PM day after day for weeks and months on end in solitude with my llama buddies. Once in a while my llamas and I will take some time off to climb a few peaks during midday, and boy do they love climbing. I do not even bother tethering them. They just tag along right to the top.

Clearly, a satellite phone would be a nice addition to say hello to my lover (wife) from time to time and keep her posted with my change of plans :-) However, equally important, all of the things I have noted here would not be possible if it were not for my llamas. To me, my llamas are just as important as my cameras and lenses, and of course, my lover.