Satellite Phones, How Dependable Are They?

Satellite phones come up as (in my ranking anyway) just before using amateur radio. Most of the time I'd go with a dependable radio team if I had one. With that in mind, read this article, Satellite phones key in government operations when the Big One hits,about the British Columbia approach to having senior officials equipped with a sat phone for when all else fails.

Back 10-12 years when we in King County's Office of Emergency Management procured one sat phone, we included a weekly test by the duty officer on duty that week. Like the article says, we had to go outside to do it. We had a briefcase-size version in which the lid functioned as the "Dish" to get a connection. We did our checks with the Washington state duty officer which is 24/7 and when we bought our system we made sure we were going to be compatible.

For our department director in King County they were all issued an 800 Mhz radio and they had a "Policy Talk Group." We also did weekly radio checks with our departments and cities in King County. We had maybe quarterly radio checks with the department directors to make sure they:

1. Could find the radio
2. That the battery was charged
3. Could put it into operation
4. And speak on it following radio protocols

The executive's office wanted results from the roll-call and people (directors) that missed were reminded of the need to participate in the future. These policy-level tests were normally done in the evening because of their meeting schedules.