Sponsored

Satellite Phones

ecidiego

Well-Known Member
First Name
Chris
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Threads
53
Messages
2,863
Reaction score
4,217
Location
San Diego
Vehicle(s)
2021 Gladiator Mojave
Occupation
IT
I go out there as well by myself to do astrophotography with my scope. I would be interested in this information to. Years ago I looked into it and it was crazy expensive. Hopefully it’s come down now a bit
Can you send me a pin of where you go? Wife has a whole setup with a guider, ZWO ASIAir pro, the works and wants to go up there....

EDIT: I see you have an ASI too and the camera, haha cool. I recently modded ours with an external WiFi antenna. Is that a Z61 as a GUIDE SCOPE? lol, rad.
 

LostWoods

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2020
Threads
15
Messages
1,921
Reaction score
2,171
Location
Gilbert, AZ
Vehicle(s)
2024 4Runner / 1995 YJ
Where I go in Death Valley the nearest Ranger is a day's away, and in the Mojave Desert time counts and a CB is of no use whatsoever.
I highly suggest getting your amateur license and going ham then. 2m gets some pretty outstanding range in the deserts that will dwarf CB unless you're using a high power unit. Death Valley does have a few repeaters as well which dramatically increases your available range.

Satellite phones are great for truly remote locations worldwide where local communications aren't possible or reliable but there's nowhere in the lower US that I'd say they're a requirement. I'll echo an inReach as others have said as you can send text messages for urgent needs and in the case of a true emergency, you have a true oh shit button on the side.

Most importantly is they're super small and light and can be carried on a neck lanyard or one of several mounts. I have a bracket on my dash in the truck that we can both easily reach and a mount on my backpack strap when exploring on foot. A high power radio or satellite phone is pretty worthless if you find yourself separated from your vehicle and injured so a true emergency comm solution needs to be highly portable.
 

athous

Well-Known Member
First Name
JOhn
Joined
Oct 1, 2020
Threads
7
Messages
128
Reaction score
164
Location
Rancho Cucamonga
Vehicle(s)
2021 Gladiator Mojave
Occupation
IT
Can you send me a pin of where you go? Wife has a whole setup with a guider, ZWO ASIAir pro, the works and wants to go up there....

EDIT: I see you have an ASI too and the camera, haha cool. I recently modded ours with an external WiFi antenna. Is that a Z61 as a GUIDE SCOPE? lol, rad.
yes that is a Williams optics zenith 61! And yes it’s very unorthodox but I was having tracking Issues with the smaller guide scopes so tried this and it actually works amazingly well. And that’s the bane of things currently is the wifI. I have the pro as well but it’s reach to my iPad is lacking. The new air supposedly has an antenna which is nice. As far as location we generally rent a place out in the sticks and run it from there if I’m with the wife and kid. 29 palms has lots of airbnb’s for cheap. However I prefer a Jeep trail that goes into the park but doesn’t require actually going through a park entrance. Wife and kid don’t like that though as it’s a long haul to get there. ive been going to the riverside clubs goat mounting site since it’s quick to get there and doesn’t require long back roads travel. I’ll dig up what trail I go to for the best dark spots When I’m back on the computer tomorrow. What kind of scope you running with?
 

exfil offroad

Well-Known Member
First Name
Josh
Joined
Feb 27, 2021
Threads
11
Messages
240
Reaction score
207
Location
Arizona
Vehicle(s)
21 Gladiator-Willys /18 Wrangler JLU-Rubicon
anybody ever consider using gmrs? its like a cross between cb and ham. 50-60 mile range.
 

Sponsored

Maximus Gladius

Well-Known Member
First Name
Kevin
Joined
Jan 30, 2021
Threads
40
Messages
1,683
Reaction score
1,990
Location
Calgary, AB, Canada
Vehicle(s)
2021 Gladiator Rubicon
Occupation
Construction, Gold Mining, Surface Engineer
My InReach Explorer is my life line. I have it with me when I’m travelling through from Alberta to BC to go gold mining in the back country. Lots of features and plan options and all syncs to the cell phone for quick texting, emails and social media. Once synced to your cell, you perform everything on the app. There’s the odd time you’ll experience a glitch like the system is undergoing some kind of necessary maintenance but it hasn’t been a big deal….yet. You can preplan your trip on the Garmin website at home by marking pins and waypoints, create quick premade messages. This unit I have is previous gen but it still works!

I wanted to know how an SOS would work so a few years ago I was cross country skiing in Kananaskis and came across 2 rescue skiers that were in the area. I asked them “what is the rescue process once an SOS is activated”? They said the SOS signal is sent to Texas then as contact is made as to what the emergency is the dispatch officer sees it’s coming from Alberta and SOS is then sent to RCMP in Red Deer with the info. The SOS is then sent to the closest RCMP station nearest the SOS activation. That RCMP dispatch then sends the SOS to the nearest Conservation Station and then the SOS is sent to the rescue units out in the field, and in this case would be the two rescue skiers standing in front of me!
358D4CA1-053E-4CDE-8C8F-5E2106B3E690.jpeg
AB09FECE-F615-4AD7-935E-59EFE6C22BCB.jpeg
64DDCB9F-680D-4292-912F-E29BB2818D17.jpeg


All the while, communication is maintained with dispatch assessing the situation with the injured person.
 

KX L

Well-Known Member
First Name
KX
Joined
May 1, 2019
Threads
16
Messages
419
Reaction score
488
Location
Lake St Louis MO
Vehicle(s)
2017 CVO Street Glide; 2022 JT Mojave with 6MT
Occupation
Retired
I've had the Delorme InReach since they first came out in 2014. Garmin acquired them a couple of years later. I've paid the monthly fee, now close to $30/month, since I bought the unit.

Fantastic piece of gear that was perfect for carrying on the Harley as I rode the country on my quest to ride to each state to walk or climb to the high point of the state.

I found out the hard way that it's great for everything unless you have the shakes from freezing cold or some malady as they want to know what the issue is via text on the tiniest screen ever.

You have to move the cursor over to the correct letter over and over again to spell out words.

It saved my ass after summiting Mt Borah in Idaho.

Bottomline, never leave home without it if you're going to be in an area with spotty cell phone service, going off road, or leaving your local area.
 

Maximus Gladius

Well-Known Member
First Name
Kevin
Joined
Jan 30, 2021
Threads
40
Messages
1,683
Reaction score
1,990
Location
Calgary, AB, Canada
Vehicle(s)
2021 Gladiator Rubicon
Occupation
Construction, Gold Mining, Surface Engineer
I've had the Delorme InReach since they first came out in 2014. Garmin acquired them a couple of years later. I've paid the monthly fee, now close to $30/month, since I bought the unit.

Fantastic piece of gear that was perfect for carrying on the Harley as I rode the country on my quest to ride to each state to walk or climb to the high point of the state.

I found out the hard way that it's great for everything unless you have the shakes from freezing cold or some malady as they want to know what the issue is via text on the tiniest screen ever.

You have to move the cursor over to the correct letter over and over again to spell out words.

It saved my ass after summiting Mt Borah in Idaho.

Bottomline, never leave home without it if you're going to be in an area with spotty cell phone service, going off road, or leaving your local area.
Have you paired and synced it to your cell phone and used the EARTHMATE app to do all your texting with?
 

ecidiego

Well-Known Member
First Name
Chris
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Threads
53
Messages
2,863
Reaction score
4,217
Location
San Diego
Vehicle(s)
2021 Gladiator Mojave
Occupation
IT
yes that is a Williams optics zenith 61! And yes it’s very unorthodox but I was having tracking Issues with the smaller guide scopes so tried this and it actually works amazingly well. And that’s the bane of things currently is the wifI. I have the pro as well but it’s reach to my iPad is lacking. The new air supposedly has an antenna which is nice. As far as location we generally rent a place out in the sticks and run it from there if I’m with the wife and kid. 29 palms has lots of airbnb’s for cheap. However I prefer a Jeep trail that goes into the park but doesn’t require actually going through a park entrance. Wife and kid don’t like that though as it’s a long haul to get there. ive been going to the riverside clubs goat mounting site since it’s quick to get there and doesn’t require long back roads travel. I’ll dig up what trail I go to for the best dark spots When I’m back on the computer tomorrow. What kind of scope you running with?

It's my wife's thing - I just buy all of it and do tech. Haha. The z61 is the main scope - just getting into the hobby. Guider is the little guy ZWO sells. She uses a Canon R6, no dedicated camera yet. If you don't want to pay for the Plus ( has a few upgrades but not worth tossing your Pro ), this guy will do the antenna mod for you for $50:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1013982058/asiair-pro-external-wifi-antenna

Major improvement.
 

KX L

Well-Known Member
First Name
KX
Joined
May 1, 2019
Threads
16
Messages
419
Reaction score
488
Location
Lake St Louis MO
Vehicle(s)
2017 CVO Street Glide; 2022 JT Mojave with 6MT
Occupation
Retired
Have you paired and synced it to your cell phone and used the EARTHMATE app to do all your texting with?
Yes I downloaded the app when it first came out---never could get it to work---and haven't tried since. Great idea to try it again. Thanks much.
 

Bbannongmu

Well-Known Member
First Name
JTR.Spartacus
Joined
Jan 18, 2020
Threads
26
Messages
1,874
Reaction score
2,155
Location
Earth
Website
m.facebook.com
Vehicle(s)
2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon
Build Thread
Link
Occupation
Certified Emergency Manager
Vehicle Showcase
1
Sat phones can be expensive and tricky. I’ve used them and managed them for years at work in all sorts situations. Sometimes they are the only thing that will get you easy, quick 2way voice comms (HF radio can provide voice comms in the boonies over great distances but requires a license, equipment, and a big antenna).
We use PACE for comms at my work to try to have 4 deep comms when possible Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency.
I just got the SpotX 2 way satellite messenger for Christmas. Seems similar to the Garmin inreach. Driving my JTR to Wyoming, Idaho, Montana from Pennsylvania this summer. Haven’t activated it yet but hoping this fills my tracking/ 2 way messenger - contingency/emergency needs for when my cell phone and GMRS Radio doesn’t work. I guess I’ll find out. Good luck!

D4BC07E7-93FD-435D-AC9F-27B8328EB659.jpeg
Sponsored

 
 



Top