sat comms in the Pilbara

[Stingray]

I have been using Thuraya phones which have worked well over the last few years but the satellite has just failed so need to sort out something else.

Pivotel (the provider I use) has put together an offer for replacement phones using either Inmarsat or the more expensive Iridium and I'm trying to work out what to do. Has anyone had any experience with Inmarsat phones in the Pilbara? Pivotel recommended against them due to the position of the geostationary satellites (to the east and west). They suggested using Iridium which uses a system of moving satellites. I thought about sky link but I am more interested in comms rather than connectivity, and I need one for me and one for my mate for safety reasons.

I am just about to leave so I am pretty miffed but glad it happened before I was out bush. It is going to cost a lot either way but I have to have a reliable system in place. Any advice would be appreciated. And obviously don't buy a second hand Thuraya phone...

FYI in the not to distant future it appears you may be able to access sat services from late model iPhones. Apparently SMS only to start with but transition to voice and data with time without the need for a dedicated handset.

 

[grubstake]

FYI in the not to distant future it appears you may be able to access sat services from late model iPhones. Apparently SMS only to start with but transition to voice and data with time without the need for a dedicated handset.

https://www.mobilecorp.com.au/learn...-sos-via-satellite-now-available-in-australia

 

[Harbourmaster]

On another forum they are saying Thuraya have recovered services for Malaysia, Vietnam,western Indonesia most of China and some others I can’t remember. Said they are working on recovering the rest . Sorry don’t have a link

 

[Hippyty79]

Ive got the same issue, been with Pivotel since late 2017, I’m curious to see which way you go.

 

[Stingray]

Thanks for your responses. I wasn't aware about restoring coverage. I just found the press release from Thuraya

"Abu Dhabi, 10 May, 2024 :
Abu Dhabi, 10 May 2024: Further to our previous communications about the unexpected payload anomaly and service outage on the Thuraya 3 (T3) satellite, Thuraya is pleased to announce that it has successfully recovered services within the Indo-China region. This region includes Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Western Malaysia, Western Indonesia, Singapore and majority of China, and is witnessing a traffic increase in both voice and packet services.
Thuraya is encouraging all its service partners and customers in these locations to test the service and provide feedback as part of its continued efforts to restore services.
Thuraya remains fully focused on recovering services in the remaining impacted Asia Pacific territories. We will provide further updates on this in due course.
A dedicated 24/7 customer service is available to address any inquiries related to this incident. The support team can be reached at [email protected]."

I just emailed customer care about if and when they might restore services in WA. I'll let you know if they get back to me. Well I'll be...my email just pinged they just did! (see below). Seems a bit different to what Pivotel indicated to me at least. Mmmm...

"Thank you for your email,

In response to your query, we are experiencing network degradation in our network over Australia and our teams are working on it, we kindly request you to refer to your respective service provider for further support on this issue please. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Samiullah
Operations - Customer Care"

 

[rustyhooks]

Good morning Stingray, i hired a iridium 9555 around 8 years ago as the dragon lady wanted the additional security plus she could stay in touch with loved ones, we hired at that time on advice from another detecting forum user that the iridiums were the best and that there was no lag or downtime as there was with thuraya, my cousin has a Thuraya and has always had downtime issues, after the rental unit was returned we priced a iridium 9555 and i was a bit worried about the price.
In that same year i was lucky enough to buy a second hand unit from a geology firm in Perth off of Gumtree for $850, we use a company in the east called Tech rentals as when we rented 8 years ago there guy Dana Anderson is really great to deal with and he put us onto whats called seasonal travellor, we get sent a Sim card and we activate it as we leave, on return we deactivate and get sent a new sim for next time.
So long as the Dragon only sends texts the useage bill never exceeds $55-$75 dollars per month and texts are very cheap, phone calls are $3 per minute or there abouts, if the incoming calls are to us or texts they are free, some years back we ran into a couple who had broken down in the desert edge and we were able to arrange there rescue so i believe it payed for its self then, also as we are both now 70ish it has given added security to our travells, Dana can be contacted on 1300550014 or 03 98963001 or mobile 0417897677, i would advise rent first before buy, or check ebay as there is a few on there under $1000 as they are around $2300 new , good luck mate hope this helps.

 

[Northeast]

Not the Pilbara but was recently in the Leonora/Sandstone/Laverton areas. Used a Zoleo which is only a 2 way text device. It worked perfectly and utilises the Iridium network. Iridium have 66 satellites in their network which is reassuring that if 1 dies there are 65 others still flying around.
Not suggesting the Zoleo is a good option for you but my experience with Zoleo and Iridium could not be bettered

 

[Coota]

On another forum they are saying Thuraya have recovered services for Malaysia, Vietnam,western Indonesia most of China and some others I can’t remember. Said they are working on recovering the rest . Sorry don’t have a link

Thuraya has restored services in some regions that were previously in the western part of the Thuraya 3 (T3) coverage area by reconfiguring satellite beams on the Thuraya 2 (T2) satellite. T2 sits over the equator near East Africa. The T2 satellite cannot be reconfigured to provide service in Australia.

 

[Stingray]

Just found the same information Coota - looks like Thuraya is well and truly a dead duck in Australia damn it.

 

[rustyhooks]

Hello again guys we contemplated going over to Thuraya at one stage some time back because it was cheaper than Iridium, but after being out prospecting with the cousin a few times over the last five years or so we gave it away as the signal was always crappy and intermittent.The cuz would walk around looking for a high spot on one occasion he could only contact his better half late at night by going for ride on our quad bike as we were behind a west facing large hill, he borrowed our 9555 and bingo instant signal, he now has Starlink which is great for useage with your phone or whatever but the cost is far greater, its something we looked at but intill the cost comes down we will stay with what we have.
Where as we never have had any problems with the Iridium not a lot of Latency either in comparison to Thuraya as well.
As a foot note we are about to become great grandparents and in a week we are off for a extended stay in our northern playground and the Dragon wants to stay in contact i can see on a 4 hrly basis so have to see where that ends up cost wise GRRRRRRRRRRR.

 

[Northeast]

Just re: Starlink. Whilst in the middle of nowhere W.A. we were heading out on a 120 km round trip just to get phone service to receive and then send an email re: a 40E (since the brother in laws Thuraya was dead and my Zoleo doesn’t do data).
We took a wrong turn not far from camp and ran into a caravan parked up. Nice old couple who we had a bit of a chat to, are they finding gold, where are you from, etc.
Just about to head off and told old mate where we were going and he said “just use our Starlink - emails, phone calls, internet, whatever, it is all unlimited for a monthly fee”. So we did just that. We were both on the phone and the lady was watching something streaming inside the van on the TV and it all worked perfectly. No delay in the phone convo at all.
Was actually quite impressive. I think $140 a month but if you are living full time in your van and all your internet and most of your calls/messages are via Starlink then it’s not too bad.
We pay $80 a month for internet at home and $80 a month between our 2 mobile phone plans!

So, that couple saved us a heap of time and fuel and if they happen to read this, thank you again

 

[firefly]

Just re: Starlink. Whilst in the middle of nowhere W.A. we were heading out on a 120 km round trip just to get phone service to receive and then send an email re: a 40E (since the brother in laws Thuraya was dead and my Zoleo doesn’t do data).
We took a wrong turn not far from camp and ran into a caravan parked up. Nice old couple who we had a bit of a chat to, are they finding gold, where are you from, etc.
Just about to head off and told old mate where we were going and he said “just use our Starlink - emails, phone calls, internet, whatever, it is all unlimited for a monthly fee”. So we did just that. We were both on the phone and the lady was watching something streaming inside the van on the TV and it all worked perfectly. No delay in the phone convo at all.
Was actually quite impressive. I think $140 a month but if you are living full time in your van and all your internet and most of your calls/messages are via Starlink then it’s not too bad.
We pay $80 a month for internet at home and $80 a month between our 2 mobile phone plans!

So, that couple saved us a heap of time and fuel and if they happen to read this, thank you again

I'm currently doing the same right now. I'm located in a remote location and using Starlink. I have full comms and with download speeds of approx 200Mbps. I'm very impressed with the service and as you note, it's not expensive and really easy to use/setup. A game changer and saves having to drive hundreds of km's for a good Telstra phone service.

 

[grubstake]

As a foot note we are about to become great grandparents and in a week we are off for a extended stay in our northern playground and the Dragon wants to stay in contact i can see on a 4 hrly basis so have to see where that ends up cost wise GRRRRRRRRRRR.

Once the Dragon finds out that Starlink gives her unlimited WhatsApp/Facetime/videophone app of choice, plus emails, streaming and browsing, there's only one way you'll be going mate!

 

[red devil]

Once the Dragon finds out that Starlink gives her unlimited WhatsApp/Facetime/videophone app of choice, plus emails, streaming and browsing, there's only one way you'll be going mate!

Re Starlink
This is $174.00 per month on roam which you need in the bush and it can be converted to run on 12 volt.
regards Red

 

[Aries]

Its well worth the money, only downside is you can stream TV but not the AFL, 7 Plus does not put it on internet based programs.

 

[Flatlander]

l been using starlink from day dot. Case of have to, but i read somewhere in that next year we will get AFL 2025 ,$139 for home base.$174 roaming travel anywhere any time The way I look at it ,a cup of coffee a day if you work it right I got the gear for free and 2 months for free , turn it off and on when needed there r some hidden little restrictions about downloads etc to many big companies downloading big lots of data so there goven it a bit or tried