Satphone & Service

I'm looking for a good Sat phone and service. Most of my cruising will be in the southeastt( Florida, Bahahamas, Turks & Caicos etc.). Suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

Sat Phone

I've been using an Iridium sat phone for a few years now. Sorry I don't know the model off hand - I have it down on the boat. I use it in SE Alaska and have used it between Vancouver BC and Alaska. It works very well in our crusing area. It makes everyone sound a little drunk, even the voice mail lady, but other than that, no complaints. Sometimes you have to be outside, but I have found I can use it successfully on my flybridge, which has a canvas cover. My employer pays the fees, which start at about $40 per month, and goes up from there, depending on usage. I don't use it for data (Internet) or anything else, just voice.

I used Globalstar before this and it was horrible.

Here's a recent article with some comparisons.

Panbo: The Marine Electronics Weblog: Beam Oceana 800, and weather via sat phone

I believe Globalstar is still struggling to replace burned out birds. Service is better than it was a couple of years ago, but still not comparable to Iridium in some places.

The positive side to this is a very aggressive price war keeping prices down while they try to keep their customer base.