Communications At Sea

/ Ben Starling
Not an option…

Last weekend at the Cruising Association, we also attended a lecture on ‘Staying in Touch on Boats’, by Ed Wildgoose of mailasail.com satellite communications. 

Safety and preparedness for the crisis (that we hope will never happen) is always our priority. 

And there’s always the chance that I’ll need to get in touch with Pussy Galore sometime late at night. Let her know I’m safe, not to worry, etc, etc. You know how she – (Err, Furrball? She has never shown even the tiniest sign she knows you’re alive… Yeah. But best be ready – it could happen, you never know. I’m jus’ saying…)

So. At the lecture. Ed outlined the options and the Can Opener wrote ’em down:

Options
  • WIFI, broadband
  • 3G, GPRS mobile and dongles
  • Satellite phones
  • custom radio solutions (eg PACTOR, SSB, sailmail…)
Reach
  • WIFI: 20-100m (21-109yards) at a cost of about <0.1p/MB (<0.2¢/MB)
  • 3G/GSM: 1-20 miles at a cost of about 4p-5£/MB (6¢-$7.90/MB)
  • Satellite phones: global reach at a cost of about 50p-10£/MB (79¢-$15.87/MB)
WIFI
  • use a ‘booster’ to extend range eg Wifi bat, WL500 or Alfa (Taiwanese brand)
  • ensure the antenna is external (above deck) and can ‘see’ the shore
  • join an aggregator eg FON (a Portuguese company, useful in/near EU)
Sat phones
  • very useful in distress
  • use optimisation software for core needs (eg teleport emails)
  • avoid costly downloads
  • it has low speeds and is not priced for bulk
  • gets all its power from solar power
  • updates models less often (for eg. compared with iphone models. The customer base is very limited so it takes more time to get their investment back, so they wait longer to bring out a new model.)
  • some example models:
    • IRIDIUM 9555, 9575, 9522P – <£1000/phone
    • INMARSAT iphone Pro
    • Iridium Pilot approx. £3000/phone
    • INMARSAT Fleet Broadband FB150, 250, 500 for business uses

Safety

  • With a sat phone you can call the manufacturer from the boat as the problem develops and
    • send a photo of the problem and
    • get advice early.
  • With a sat phone problems tend to develop more slowly.
  • Two way communication as a problem develops is better than just finally pushing the Mayday distress button when you have exhausted all your own ideas by yourself.
  • Since you use (and therefore test) the sat phone from time to time, familiarity is good. You know it’s working (vs a distress signal button that is only tested when a crisis is in progress.)

What kind of communications systems do you have on your boat? Would you choose the same system(s) next time? 

–Captain Cat 
 (transcribed by the Can Opener)

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