"Can you hear me now?"

[snick33]

I carry an old tiny Kyocera that I haven't had a contract for in two years, but I always keep it charging in the Jeep, and the 911 function always works on a cell phone even if you haven't paid the bill or even if it's set to roam. I use my regular phone so often that it's always on the verge of being dead so this works for me. I suppose it's kinda beating the system.
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Mother nature really likes us, and not just because we taste like chicken.

[matt gilbert]

Apparently when you call 911 the range of the phone is effectively boosted. I heard that the phones broadcast at a different (stronger) frequency when you call 911. I don't know if anyone out there can verify that though.

[Tom Treks]

[Hnak]

I usually don't take a cell phone, because I usually hike in the Canyon and there is no service there. I did take one when I hiked Mt. Whitney last summer, just for the novelty of calling home from the highest place in the (continental) U.S....

[sam_hikes]

I'm almost always wired since I'm on oncall, on the job, and have family that depend on me.

Usually only have signal problems in deep canyons and find it depends on your phone/calling plan... Verizon has a special nationwide calling plan for travelers which provides a much better coverage area & requires a tri-mode phone. Many phones are only analog or digital and some both but not as many support the 3 bands which allow for better coverage with some plans.

For extended trips such as GC or very remote areas, I've brought along a SAT phone which I've rented from http://www.phileasing.com ... They rent em for $45/week which is a small price to pay so that if necessary you can make the call.

[Daryl]

Motorola had an off shoot called Iriduim that was going to make sat phones cheap enough for everyone to use. They launched 40 some sats and went belly up. Boeing bought the sats now and are trying to find uses for them.
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[sam_hikes]

[bzachar]

The original plan for Iridium was 77 satellites. (Iridium is the 77th element in the Periodic Table of Elements.) Due to cost the system was scaled back to 66 satellites and the name was unchanged. (The 66th element in the table sounds like a disease.)

The target market for the system was world-traveling executives. Because different countries use different frequencies and different air interfaces (GSM, TDMA, CDMA) for cellular networks, there's no such thing as a cell phone that operates anywhere in the world. Iridium phones are not cell phones... they communicate directly with the satellites... allowing you to make or receive a call anywhere on the face of the earth.

Unfortunately the system delivered poor voice quality, the phones only worked outside (by design, you need LOS to the SVs)and initially cost $3000. Airtime was $3.00/minute. If you got a signal indoors (only by standing next to a window) it was by luck.

Why Marketing thought people would pay these prices for poor voice quality with a phone that only worked outdoors still amazes me.

Iridium LLC filed for bankruptcy a few years ago and a new company called Iridium Satellite LLC now operates the system. Iridium cost somewhere between 5 and 8 billion dollars to develop (that’s not a misprint, Billion with “B”) and was purchased from the bankruptcy court for around 25 or 50 million… literally 3/10 of a cent on the dollar.

The system is still operational and the US Government is the biggest subscriber. Boeing in Chandler has (or had) the support contract.

Bill

[Daryl]

Yep, what Bill said...
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[Kim]

me neither, daddy-- don't own a cell phone! I like not having life interrupted, but I'm sure I'll break down one day and get one for the convenience. I'd prob have it off all the time, though. My husband recently got a cell phone for work and we bring that, also shut off.