Iridium Sat phone for SHTF?

[kb1fua]

I've got one at work.
I agree with the above, they've designed the network to be very resilient.

"Internet Outage" and "Grid Down" would need to be defined better.
Those are complex networks with a lot of redundancy, and it would be difficult to define how any individual outage would impact end users.
The public switched phone network is now mostly IP, even if you have an old analog phone at your house. They have pretty solid networks to support their systems, so usually issues are local, or 'statewide' type events. (yeah, sometimes better, but these get hard to define). With more end users relying on IP only based phone service via their internet provider, it gets even harder to define if the end point you are calling is going to be available.

But they are a good tool. An expensive tool, though. Think $1,500 for the phone, and $60 a month for the lowest tier service (mine has 10 minutes included per month).
You'd pay extra for a phone number out of the North American Numbering Plan, if not, you get something that looks more like an international phone number. With the international phone number (included in base price), the dialing is slightly more complex (011 + the full number you are calling)

Calling emergency services would require (ideally) using their 7 digit phone number to make sure you get to your local PSAP. Easy to load those in memory ahead of time, though.

Antenna -MUST- have a clear view of the sky, so no using this indoors unless you have an external antenna. It's not like a cell phone. You can't stick it in your pocked and expect it to ring when a call comes in.

It's a lot of money for a poorly defined event. A lot of people start talking about needing "comms when the grid goes down" without really understanding how these systems work and what the likeliness of it happening is. Is your brother really willing to spend that much money based on fear?

Better solutions out there now. Recently released cell phones have SMS through satellite capability. If his concerns are more local, get some good (not Chinese) GMRS radios. He's more likely to use those types of devices and be familiar with them than some expensive phone that sits in a closet waiting for some imagined zombie apocalypse.

☝☝☝

 

[kb1fua]

I often wonder why the SHTF people always worry about being able to talk to someone? Who are they going to talk to and what will they have to say to them?

"Like minded people"... is what they've always mumbled to me...

 

[trentbob]

I live in Pennsylvania on the border of New Jersey divided by the Delaware River. New Jersey maintains their State Police Emergency Network which is for the most part, in most parts of the state, simplex VHF from Barracks to barracks, SPEN 2 is the old National police frequency of 155.475 CSQ..

Let's face reality, if the s* ** really really did hit the fan.. I guarantee you the most effective communication in Pennsylvania, New Jersey will be VHF simplex csq on battery power or generator. Also 2 m simplex on battery or generator. Do you really think we'll have any satellites left?😆😆😆

 

[TAC4]

I am prepared more for grid malfunctions and severe weather
storms than SHTF, not really into bunkers etc lol I learned a lot
from the big North Eastern blackout in 2003. Remember that
one ? in North America most people were not prepared and
still not prepared for such an event. It can surely happen again.

Since that event I went from not having a flashlight to
getting a wood stove, generator, camping style stoves and
led lighting and solar powered power packs. With all
the food and water supplies that go with it.

As far as communication, I think having a good portable
AM SSB SW WX radio like a CC Crane will keep you informed if anything is happening even know you can't talk out.

So for me I would say no to anything that is dependant on the Internet or network communication systems. Keep it simple the better. Look what happen the recent Microsoft outage ?
Disaster

The photo below shows the blackout in 2003.

 

[BinaryMode]

I am prepared more for grid malfunctions and severe weather
storms than SHTF, not really into bunkers etc lol

Yes, this is a VERY real possibility. Especially with the threat of cyberspace and the vulnerability plagued SCADA systems. BUT! If the grid does go down, and I mean for a prolonged period of time, you are in fact in a REAL SHTF scenario. Trust me when I tell you this... I could go on but will stay brief as to the subject of this subforum.

I learned a lot
from the big North Eastern blackout in 2003. Remember that
one ?

Yes, like yesterday. And it wasn't the first time NY et al had a blackout like that either. I remember that day in July or August very well because the day before I was canned at my job and then the next day I was at a job fair. LOL! To top that off I stopped in at a restaurant and the nice looking waitress decided to sit next to me and chat. Then after I returned home I heard the news. In 2003 Colorado in particular was dryer than a popcorn fart from a cactus... So yeah, I remember that day very well indeed.

As far as communication, I think having a good portable
AM SSB SW WX radio like a CC Crane will keep you informed if anything is happening even know you can't talk out.

In my opinion, a nice high quality crystal radio like this one and a long wire or loop antenna may be a better option. Again, in my opinion. For anything power driven I'd go solar and battery. But it depends on the SHTF scenario. Something like a super volcano eruption will null and void solar and most DNA on the planet... Heck, a neutron blast from a star will do that quite nicely. And there are other things going on right now. One is the possibility of the shifting of the magnetic poles. But I digress.

 

[Omega-TI]

Who needs to worry about missiles or cyber threats when so many terrorists have come over the border? One well timed coordinated strike on the large substation power transformers and we would be in the 1800's for years. Those large transformers take quite literally YEARS to obtain.

No phones, no lights, no motor cars, not a single luxury, like Robinson Crusoe as primitive as can be...

 

[K5MPH]

Who needs to worry about missiles or cyber threats when so many terrorists have come over the border? One well timed coordinated strike on the large substation power transformers and we would be in the 1800's for years. Those large transformers take quite literally YEARS to obtain.

No phones, no lights, no motor cars, not a single luxury, like Robinson Crusoe as primitive as can be...

View attachment 166385

What Border would that be?

 

[bearcatrp]

What Border would that be?

Seriously? Both southern and northern thanks to the weak policies.

 

[merlin]

Monthly high cost for a maybe SHTF, and then Iridium goes dark. SMoooz.

 

[dlwtrunked]

Love it! Never thought of this before but a broken microwave oven might make for a good Faraday cage as it is designed to keep intense 2.4 Ghz microwaves inside to cook your potatoes. I would think the reverse would be true as well. Just don't know how well it would work on other frequencies.

It is designed not only to keep microwave in but to keep an even exposure inside. Good securing in thick aluminum foil be just a good/bad for protecting against electric field (there have been tests of that). Both should be well grounded.

 

[vagrant]

If one wanted to throw money at an Iridium communication solution, the Icom SAT100 radio is something I have used and recommend when the Zombies run out of toilet paper. Encrypted and no minutes to deal with. There are magnet mount antennas if one wanted to use it in a vehicle or inside the shipping container full of TP.

For much closer non-Iridium communication, I recommend the Motorola DTR series radios. Again, secure communication so the Zombies won’t hear about the toilet paper stash. No subscription fees on this choice.

No license needed for either of those two choices, but the Garmin InReach is what I use…to keep the TP comms affordable.

 

[Gatorman]

I'm not trying to start an argument here but I know for a fact when there is a serious emergency, the satellite providers will cut off service to anyone they don't think needs to be on the system. I have seen this occur in two situations, both post-hurricane. One in a foreign country and one in the US. This is why they give certain government employees special cards that enable to access the land-line phone system since they could cut back on that service too. There is just so much bandwidth out there. I could say cellular is extremely unreliable after an "event," especially a storm. If the sites are backed up by microwave, it doesn't take much to push the dishes off their path. If they are on fiber, more reliable unless the towers blow down or the antennas get ripped off the tower. I was on the scene of a major hurricane in The Bahamas just days after it happened. A self-supporting Rohn tower was still up. A side-mounted commercial antenna, VHF, secured at base and top, was ripped of its supports and we were never able to find it.

I think in a SHTF scenario, we are going to be the last people the USG are going to worried about communicating. Look at how long it took the cell service to come up in NOLA. The military had to borrow a portable repeater from a well-known corporation and all the hand-helds they had, put the repeater on the roof of a tall building and fly up daily to put gas in the generator. Even the military has no answer to a situation like this.

 

[mmckenna]

I'm not trying to start an argument here but I know for a fact when there is a serious emergency, the satellite providers will cut off service to anyone they don't think needs to be on the system. I have seen this occur in two situations, both post-hurricane. One in a foreign country and one in the US. This is why they give certain government employees special cards that enable to access the land-line phone system since they could cut back on that service too.

That's a GETS card.

It prioritizes traffic on the public switched telephone network.

I'm not sure how Iridium throttles their traffic, but the GETS card only works if you can get into the 800 number to access the system. Then, all it does is bump that user up on the priority list to access resources on the PSTN.

Wireless Priority Service (WPS) works on some of the cellular networks, but Iridium isn't listed as one of them.

I think in a SHTF scenario, we are going to be the last people the USG are going to worried about communicating. Look at how long it took the cell service to come up in NOLA. The military had to borrow a portable repeater from a well-known corporation and all the hand-helds they had, put the repeater on the roof of a tall building and fly up daily to put gas in the generator. Even the military has no answer to a situation like this.

I think the "SHTF" scenario needs to be well defined. Too many individuals/hobbyists/preppers quote "SHTF" as their reason without defining what exactly the issue is. No one communications tool is going to work in all of them. Diversity in your tools is key.

 

[bearcatrp]

A good CB with SSB capabilities is cheap communications for a good distance. But I suspect allot of folks are doing that anyways and probably will be crowded. I would not trust anything that the government can shut down on a whim.

 

[TAC4]

A good CB with SSB capabilities is cheap communications for a good distance. But I suspect allot of folks are doing that anyways and probably will be crowded. I would not trust anything that the government can shut down on a whim.

That would be a great choice.

 

[TAC4]

What Border would that be?

I few got through Texas.

 

[Omega-TI]

If the S really HTF, the last thing you may be thinking about is radio, more like how much ammo and delivery devices the ammo. You'll have to protect what you have. Seriously, if you want to talk all gloom and doom, imagine the entire east coast out of power for two weeks...

By day three everything refrigerated and frozen will go first, so unless you have a way to cook it, you better consume it. Depending on the time of year, many elderly will die without power for the air conditioners, heating or medical devices. Without power to pump gas, transportation will be heavily curtailed... and forget your Tesla. Sewage plants will shut down, water will not be available after a few days when the gravity systems run dry... but the basements and many subways will flood when the pumps stop working. After people run out of food and water, they will start dying and disease could become rampant. Others will be roaming to take what you many have, because the police will not be able to be out in force. In the major cities it'll be a nightmare. No, honestly I believe playing radio star will be one of the last things on your mind.

 

[TAC4]

What do guys think of operating ham gear illegally
with out a license in such a scenario. I mean the FCC enforcement will pretty much be non existent. You can make your own call sign. WASSIAF WeAreSoScrewedItAin'tFunny

 

[Omega-TI]

What do guys think of operating ham gear illegally
with out a license in such a scenario. I mean the FCC enforcement will pretty much be non existent. You can make your own call sign. WASSIAF WeAreSoScrewedItAin'tFunny

I never condone operating amateur radio gear without a license (illegally) for any reason. If you want to play, at least get a Technician class license, it's not that hard.

 

[mmckenna]

What do guys think of operating ham gear illegally
with out a license in such a scenario. I mean the FCC enforcement will pretty much be non existent. You can make your own call sign. WASSIAF WeAreSoScrewedItAin'tFunny

There are legal radio services: FRS, CB, MURS, as well as radios like the Motorola DTR.

Hams tend to get pissy really quick if they think someone is operating where they shouldn't be. SHTF'ing or not, they will likely make your life difficult.

But if you are going to blow off the FCC and really don't give a crap, might as well do it on the ham bands, at least that way you won't be interfering with public safety/first responders.

But, what SHTF type scenario were you thinking would happen where you'd need to hop on the ham bands?
And it's really not that hard to get a ham license, so no reason to not do it right.