New-Globalstar GSP-1700 – 7.05oz

Wow — $999!

Are you buying one, Bill?

Benjamin,

I have looked at Satellite Phones and read about folks using them. The weight also seems to be talked about a lot so when I saw this one was a lot lighter I thought someone here might be interested.

I don't even own a cell phone. In fact I have never even talked on a cell phone.

I am interested in the new iPhone but might get the type of cell phone you just buy time for until I can see how the iPhone turns out.

The plans in Canada seem to have unlimited free (or unlimited-for-$4.95) SMS.

I don't really have anyone to call from the field except in the case of an emergency, but if the SMSing is free I could see some use for it. Sounds like a nice way to remind paranoid loved ones that you haven't been swallowed whole by a monster — without spoiling the wilderness/isolation feeling too much and without worrying about wasting expensive minutes.

Maybe I can convince my girlfriend to buy me one… it would be for her sake more than for mine anyway! :)

$1000 is a lot of money plus a plan…but if the normal retailers will rent one of these I will be taking one along with me this summer for sure. It's well worth piece of mind for my wife.

One can purchase a used factory restored Globalstar 1600 with GPS chip for about $350. Weight is approximately 14oz. A no frills plan where you buy the minutes you use can be added for $39.95/mo. The minute charge is $1.49/min.

From this one can calculate the annual cost of the phone. In my case it works out to about $570/yr contract and minute charges (plus acquisition cost in the 1st year).

Rentals of the same phone would be about $400/yr for the same usage. Rental includes prepaid fedex 2day service to and from the supplier.

Forgot my useage calculation: 20 days a year @ 3 minutes a day contact time with Wife.

I bought a Globalstar GSP-1600 on eBay and have been using it during December and January (367 grams with battery but no cables). Globalstar started a promotion for 50% more minutes and I decided to do the annual plan and try it out.

My wife also worries about my adventures, frequently a combination of traveling alone by jeep and hiking/backpacking, and I can let her know what I'm doing and have flexibility to change my trip plans daily.

With regard to the GSP-1700, the price is $1000, and it is now on the Globalstar USA homepage. I just received a flier from Globalstar giving $100 discount to existing Globalstar customers and $200 rebate if you turn in your old GSP-1600. This promotion goes through the end of June 07 ($100) and August ($200 rebate on old phone).

According to Globalstar, they have been repositioning satellites during December and January and so there will be more dropped calls than normal. They are also launching 4 more satellites in March and 4 more in May all of which should be relocated by August 07.

My experience thus far is mixed. You just never know when you'll get a clear strong signal and no signal, even at the same location. Last week I camped out at the Hall's Crossing Overlook in Utah to do a winter hike to Brimhall Arch. This is a pretty remote location where cell service just isn't possible. That night, I called with a four bar signal (the strongest). The next morning, about 11AM after returning from Brimhall, I tried calling from the same location (excellent sky visibility by the way). I couldn't get any signal after 10-15 minutes of waiting (I've discovered that sometimes it can take quite awhile before the signal strength comes in).

With regard to just using a few minutes for short calls, it may not be that successful. The time starts ticking for a call when they start trying to get the connection through (when it says "connecting…") not when it starts ringing or the person answers. Second, at least for me thus far, it is common to lose the signal during this process. This means you might try three times to call, never really be able to talk enough to get any message through, and waste three minutes of airtime easily.

Another consideration, when you use a satellite phone, you must have the antenna out and directed up and it needs a very clear view of the sky, not stuffed in your pack. This makes it difficult to receive calls. (Also, to receive/send calls in a vehicle requires additional hardware and installation.) So, what if your wife (or someone else) wants to contact you. The methods are voicemail and a short text message of 35 characters or less. The later is free for someone to send you with most plans. Neither can be done with the "emergency" plan that was suggested above paying $1.49 per minute.

Also, if you decide to go the eBay route, the phone must be activated by Globalstar. A dealer cannot do it. Second, Globalstar will check the account for the phone number, giving you the same number as before, and you may have serious problems if they think money is owed by the account with that phone number. I bought the phone from an individual that had hardly used the phone and had a perfect eBay record with a lot of transactions.

I hope this insight helps those of you contemplating satellite phones.

Craig Shelley

Great information. Thanks Craig!

Thanks Craig for the update on the deals that Globalstar are running. Did not know about the 50% deal on plans. These phones are clearly not cheap and the plans, no matter which one is chosen, are not cheap either. Spending $500+/- a year ongoing for either a rental or purchased phone is probably just the price one has to pay to keep a spouse happy. Additional arguments for a sat phone included use during natural disasters such as huricanes and earhtquakes. And the proverbial Getting Lost and/or Broken Down on the road miles from any cell phone tower pickup.

Check out the article at: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070206/globalstar_mover.html?.v=1

Timjoh

Wow, talk about perfect timing. I literally had the phone in my hand to call Globalstar and trade in my GSP-1600 for a GSP-1700 when I decided to re-read this thread to get info on the rebates. I can wait on upgrading…but I sure hope they get this problem fixed. Iridium is quite a bit more expensive, both for the equipment and the airtime. Also, Iridium data is 2400bps compared to 9600bps for Globalstar (not fast anyway, but fast enough).

Over Christmas, Iridium lost another satellite. It literally shut down on it's own and is not responding to TTC commands (the data sent from the ground to control the satellite). They are making plans for shuffling the satellites that are left, and don't currently have any coverage holes. They have no realistic plans to add new satellites in the very near future, but there are some discussions for the longer term. There are now a couple of planes of satellites with -0- spares, and there is significant concern that the constellation will not make 2014. I work with several of the engineers, and they're pretty concerned. This info typically doesn't make the news.

One item making it to at least the satellite news groups is the recent report that Globalstar is having some technical problems and their link margin is very low. They've indicated that users may experience problems.

Great technologies, but there are unique problems satcom faces: It's not the Bell PSTN system.

I would want to know more if I was about to spend $1000 on a handset that may have spotty coverage, and you probably would also.

I'd use my real BPL handle, but I'd also like to avoid the certain wrath that would come with that.

My new GSP-1700 arrived five days ago. Initial tests suggest it is functioinally equivalent to the heavier GSP-1600 that served me well for six years in the United States and Europe, always providing a usable signal (though not always right away) when I could see more than half of the sky. Provides peace of mind during solo excursions in remote areas without cell srvice.

I bought a Technocel Large Canvas Case from Amazon.com that fits the GSP-1700 perfectly (blind luck). Weighs less than an ounce, cost less than $13 and holds the phone securely to my belt

Wow, it seems like Globalstar is really on its last legs. According to the article linked above, Globalstar themselves say, "by some time in 2008 substantially all of the company's currently in-orbit satellites will cease to be able to support two-way communications services."

Frost and Sullivan, some research and consulting firm that previously gave Globalstar an edge over Iridium, now finds that "more than 99 percent of calls placed through the Iridium handset were successfully connected, compared to 51.3 percent of calls from the Globalstar handset. Tests also indicate that 98.1 percent of calls on the Iridium handset and 36.2 percent of calls on the Globalstar handset were successfully connected and completed without being dropped during a three-minute period."

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070221/daw052.html?.v=48

anyway, just thought I'd summarize so anyone (like me) who's thinking about getting a Globalstar handset gets all the facts… I'm also really curious how any users with phones already are finding the service these days.

I had a an Iridium phone for two years last year I switch to Globalstar. The link that you gave leaves out a significant problem between the two satellite services. The iridium uses geosynchronous satellites while Globalstar uses low orbiting non-geocentric satellites. Which is the reason why I changed to Globalstar. If you ever use an iridium phone the major drawback is the latency, latency, latency.
If both parties have worked out an understanding and know how to talk using an iridium phone then you're okay. Latency times can be between two to five seconds (and artificially higher when you have to think when talk and when not to talk and to work with somebody who doesn't know how to talk on it). If you try to talk to someone who does not understand this you can spend 30 minutes trying to have a two minute conversation. Using low orbiting satellites, Globalstar has much shorter latency times and you're able to actually have a conversation with people who are ignorant about latency conversations. Globalstar has more dropped calls just like cell phones have more dropped calls compared to home phones. Satellites are moving quickly overhead, multiple ground stations are required, the signal like a cell phone has to switch to the next satellite and the proper ground station to keep the lengthy conversation going i.e. more dropped calls. Therefore you need more active satellites, ground stations and so on. iridium are in fixed positions above the Earth and do not move much so you will have fewer or almost no drop calls at all. If you're really looking at getting a satellite phone I suggest you rent each one and try them out for yourselves. You will see that both have limitations. If you just talked to one person and you find latency not annoying I suggest you go with iridium. If you talk to real people in the real world I suggest you go with Globalstar. Try ordering a pizza or explaining to a taxi service where to pick you up on a remote highway. And you will see the frustrations of both systems.

The real kicker for me was trying to get someone to pick me up in a remote location. My wife was in a meeting for six hours. I was unable to communicate well enough for anyone to understand where to pick me up. I had to wait until she was out of her six-hour meeting. Call her and give her the instructions and then have her to relay it to someone who can take me up. During this all day event I did not lose contact once except when people thought the connection was dropped and hung up on me because I did respond within two seconds and talked over me and confused they would normally hung up. I get annoyed because Globalstar drops calls more frequently but I can have real conversations and I've had 20 minute conversations before with 60% visibility. Other times I have trouble with four minutes conversation with the same visibility or take three to five minutes to get a satellite lock with less visibility. Like I said, rent it for both try them out in the real world scenarios then make your decision based upon your needs!!