Satmodo Saves the Day

As fishermen, hunters and avid explorers, we all enjoy being on the fringe of the busy world with all its stresses and the constant barrage of communication. That is a big part of why we like being outdoors; to escape of the world, but what if something happens. We take precautions, spare parts, first aid, vhf radios, but those only cover so much for so far.

Heaven forbid something drastic happens and you need help. Normal means of summoning help by cell phone or radio will not work because you’ve gone off the grid so to speak. Enter the satellite phone, which allows you to make two-way calls from anywhere on the planet.

It is a testament to man’s ingenuity that we even have that option to make calls from the middle of the ocean or deep in the jungle.

Now Sat phones used to be very expensive to buy and minutes were treated like gold bars. I can remember calling home from many a deserted bay in the Pacific while fishing Costa Rica and Panama in the mid nineties. “Hey there, everything is good, catching fish, how are you? Gotta go! Miss ya!”. That will be 15 dollars please, when the bill came in. That was many years ago and luckily the price to purchase and use a sat phone has come down dramatically.

To own and operate a sat phone has become very reasonable and the ability to rent a phone for special trips is priceless.

Now you can carry a sat phone on your boat for that extra long adventure or crossing, and it does not have to be a life or death emergency to use it. You can check in at home, do business or tell them what’s biting without the worry of breaking the bank.

If you do have an emergency, you can handle that too and it could easily save a life or just keep you from many versions of a miserable experience.

Another time comes to mind where the sat phone saved the day. We had just finished fishing a weather buoy that is 120-miles from port. We had enjoyed a banner day that really started in the middle of the previous night. We hadn’t gone four miles into the trip home when one of the motors shut off. We checked systems, fuel, turned everything off and back on with no luck.

 Garmin’s prediction of our ETA was frightful, only 16 hours to go on one engine.

We broke out the sat phone and called my buddy’s mechanic. He is now Saint Mechanic since he answered the phone on the weekend and walked us through some electronic reset mumbo jumbo. The motor fired right back up and we blasted off at 35-knots.  Tell me a sat phone isn’t the best money you will ever spend.

You don’t have to be broken down to need a sat phone. How many of us had made way too many “last casts” and now we are running way late. Loved ones are beginning to wonder as the sky darkens and the angry afternoon storms form. Now wonder switches to worry as the darkness of night comes on. How priceless is it to just whip out the sat phone and put their mind at ease that you are on the way in and doing fine. Yes you are still in trouble, but not near as much as you would have been when the Coast Guard came looking for you.

Of course in the that worst case situation of a sinking vessel, a life raft and sat phone are essential tools if you ply offshore waters. With good communication, you are in a much better situation than you would be depending on an epirb to save you. (Though you want that too!)

Now that I’ve made the case for having a sat phone, where and how do you go about getting one? The crew at Satmodo is the answer to that question.

Satmodo takes great pride in making the process of buying or renting satellite communications super simple and affordable.

If you spend a lot of time out of range of land-based communication, then you may want to consider buying a sat phone.

Mike Mikha of Satmodo says, “In the Sat Phone World the most up to date technology to both rent and buy would have to be the Iridium 9575 and the Iridium GO if someone wanted to go the purchase route. For guys wanting to rent we normally send out the Iridium 9555 or the Iridium 9575.” Mike continued, “Satmodo’s satellite phone retail store is located in the beautiful Banker’s Hill neighborhood, only three blocks from Balboa Park, the cultural heart of San Diego. Our address is: 239 Laurel Street, Suite 101, San Diego, CA 92101. We are open on weekdays from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM and we are open on weekends by appointment only.”

Satmodo also supplies their services nationwide and puts great emphasis on having only the best customer service. They not only sell and rent, but also educate their customers on the use of the equipment making the process painless.

Sat phone prices and services are so cheap now compared to days of old or the fuel we burn, that there is really no reason why you should not take advantage of the safety and peace of mind that a sat phone can bring to the table.

The new Iridium Go is another economical way to create a hotspot in the great outdoors. Iridium GO uses the world’s furthest reaching network to created the first ever reliable global connection for both voice and data communications on your smartphone and up to five mobile devices. Just flip up the antennae and your devices can work anywhere on the face of the planet without roaming charges.

How great is that if you are sneaking away to fish, but need to be able to be reached or make that one call.

I always recommend that you tape emergency numbers to the phone itself, like the number for the U.S. Coast Guard in your area. Include any prefixes required to dial in case someone else is calling for help. Of course charge the batteries, carry extras and protect it all in a waterproof case of some sort.

Visit the Satmodo crew if you live in the San Diego area or visit Satmodo.com to tap their fully knowledgeable staff and 24/7 support and sales.

They always have awesome pricing and a five-star customer service attitude.