Sat Phone reception in the Mountains

I did a half hour search on this subject and didn't come up with what I'm looking for.

I'm one of those guys who tours alone quite a bit in Crystal's back country. Sometimes full day tours but usually I lift ski in the morning and when I get bored or it gets skied out I head out back. I can't get myself past Spots annual fee and limitations. I do some sailing and sat phones are routinely used for ocean trips. I am now thinking about getting one for my sailing and mountain travels but am wondering:

1. How well they work in trees, deep valleys, etc in the mountains.
2. What about their battery life?
3. Do they transmit a gps signal or do I have to carry a GPS to tell rescuers where I am?

Spot Global sat phones have reliability problems so they are out. Older Iridiums cost ~&200, latest generation ones are ~1000. Minimum air time purchase is 75 minutes for $150, I think this is comparable to Spots annual fee.

I like the sat phone idea because they will work where ever I am, not just skiing but; climbing, sailing up north, foreign travels, or if I ever sail off shore. I like the idea of one device for every thing.

Does anyone have experience in this area?

Eric

I've used Iridium in the Duffy lake area of BC -- works fine if you have a clear view of the southern sky. A single charge was suffcient for a 5 day trip, only turning the phone for a nightly call home. I've used Iridium on a Grand Canyon raft trip as well -- here I would have to wait up to twenty minutes for a satellite to pass overhead and then have maybe 5 minutes of talk time. Reception is better at night. On the Grand Canyon (18 day permit) I brought a large solar panel for recharging -- I needed the large panel 'cause for an October trip in the Canyon I was limited to charging during lunch breaks.

No GPS function on the older phone I used.

I get pretty good cell reception on Verizon in Crystal backcountry -- but maybe not so much at the bottom of Union Creek or the Lake Basin.

I've used Iridium in Hells Canyon area and deep in the Selway Bitterroot wilderness in Idaho. No issues in either place, but sometimes have to wait 20-60 seconds in the Selway to find a satellite. Single charge has lasted for a week to two week trip no problem, but I keep the phone off when not in use. Also find the 75 minute cards to be decent value, but they usually have a 30 day life if I remember correctly - might check into that if you have plans to use the phone over multiple months. Haven't used any sat phones w/GPS capability.

I find the sat phone nice when I'm on a longer trip because it's nice to be able to talk to my wife and kids, rather than just shoot out a text message.

See the following article (a few years old) for a comparison of mobile communication devices:

www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/10/101_Rescue.html

A friend of mine recommends the McMurdo FastFind PLB. No annual fees. But also no way to cancel a rescue if you hit the button. It seems like having one of these as a backup if your cell phone didn't work might be a reasonable approach.

I've had a McMurdo FastFind for a couple years now.... light, small, no fees... totally forget its in my ditty bag with my ten essentials. Can't use it for messaging or updates, but as an emergency beacon I think its great.

No experience using a sat phone around here, but I used a rental Iridium in the Waddington Range, BC about ten years ago....over two weeks we made maybe 20 minutes of calls. Always kept the battery out of the phone for storage and I think we never needed to use the second battery we brought along. All our calls were in the alpine though- haven't tried using one down in the trees and the one I used at the time didn't have any kind of GPS function.

I carry an ACR Resqlink PLB.  It weighs ~5oz and is pretty small.  When I tested it at home with the one free test there was an email in my inbox within a few seconds.

A PLB seems like a better choice unless need to actually be able to talk to someone.  They work everywhere in the world and don't have batteries to worry about except for the 5 year service interval.