Using Iridium Satphone in flight
Using Iridium Satphone in flight
I have heard of the VL1000J headset adaptor as a 'cheap' option.
Anyone any experience? It connects 'in-line' with one of the crew headsets - can everyone in the aircraft hear and take part in the conversation? Clarity, choice of antenna?
Other options (I'm not (yet) in the USD700+ Flightcell adaptor market, I don't think).
Any experience gratefully received.
Sam.
Anyone any experience? It connects 'in-line' with one of the crew headsets - can everyone in the aircraft hear and take part in the conversation? Clarity, choice of antenna?
Other options (I'm not (yet) in the USD700+ Flightcell adaptor market, I don't think).
Any experience gratefully received.
Sam.
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I don't know about the options you mentioned, but we use a satphone everywhere we go. It's how we communicate with the home office, anywhere in the world. It beats the old airinc phone patches. It's not 100% reliable; we still find coverage isn't always available, but it is most of the time, whether in the middle of the atlantic, or the middle of china.
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I don't know what model it is. It's an Iridium satphone. I believe the handset is a common, generic telephone that's mounted on the back of our pedestle below the aircraft radios.
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There is a general issue with sat handhelds at speeds above say 100kt. I am currently looking into this for a project for data in the cockpit. Some handsets are better than others, apparently, and 160kt+ has not been a problem with some of them.
The fixed installations (expensive) are fine because they have doppler correction.
The fixed installations (expensive) are fine because they have doppler correction.
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We use Thurya handheld Satphones at work in remote areas, and they generally work OK anywhere. They will also pick up a cellphone network when it exists. Dont expect western landline quality though, still a bit of delay sometimes and some "can you hear me....etc". Never tried one in flight, though they work fine speeding across the desert in Landcruisers, they dont always need to have a clear view of the sky.
Regards, SD..
Regards, SD..
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Are we sure we are all talking about the same satellite networks?
Iridium is a low-earth orbit system (with satellites approx. 780 km above the surface). This means that the satellites seem to move relative to the earths position, but the orbits have been chosen so that there's a worldwide coverage, including the poles. According to wikipedia, there are handheld phones available, mostly from Motorola, and interfaces for computers, but there's no mention of commercial aviation.
Also, due to the low earth orbit, the velocity of a satellite, measured against the earths surface, is something in the order of 27.000 km/h, or 15.000 knots. I doubt whether 160 knots, in one direction or the other, will have a significant impact on the doppler shift that the phones have to contend with. There must be another reason for Iridium handhelds not working at 100 knots plus speeds.
I don't know exactly what type of service the satellite phones are used in commercial carriers, but I've seen a few press releases from Boeing about their Connexion service, and the bandwidths and services that are offered are in no way compatible with what Iridium can provide. It looks more like the Boeing system uses geosynchronous satellites - satellites that are in geostationary orbit at approx. 36.000 km altitude, where the orbit is exactly 24 hours, matching the rotation speed of the earth. These types of satellites offer much higher bandwidths but with higher latencies. They also require far less satellites, and have no coverage over the poles.
One of the posters mentioned Thurya, which is a geosynchronous system.
Good place to start is Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_phone
Iridium is a low-earth orbit system (with satellites approx. 780 km above the surface). This means that the satellites seem to move relative to the earths position, but the orbits have been chosen so that there's a worldwide coverage, including the poles. According to wikipedia, there are handheld phones available, mostly from Motorola, and interfaces for computers, but there's no mention of commercial aviation.
Also, due to the low earth orbit, the velocity of a satellite, measured against the earths surface, is something in the order of 27.000 km/h, or 15.000 knots. I doubt whether 160 knots, in one direction or the other, will have a significant impact on the doppler shift that the phones have to contend with. There must be another reason for Iridium handhelds not working at 100 knots plus speeds.
I don't know exactly what type of service the satellite phones are used in commercial carriers, but I've seen a few press releases from Boeing about their Connexion service, and the bandwidths and services that are offered are in no way compatible with what Iridium can provide. It looks more like the Boeing system uses geosynchronous satellites - satellites that are in geostationary orbit at approx. 36.000 km altitude, where the orbit is exactly 24 hours, matching the rotation speed of the earth. These types of satellites offer much higher bandwidths but with higher latencies. They also require far less satellites, and have no coverage over the poles.
One of the posters mentioned Thurya, which is a geosynchronous system.
Good place to start is Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_phone
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I looked up the information on our Satphones in the Aircraft Operations Manual. It lists Iridium, and two different phone setups. One is the mobile, the other a Com Center installation. In use, there appears to be no difference in the reception or connectivity.
At any rate, at typical enroute speeds, no difficulty thus far in use of the phone(s).
At any rate, at typical enroute speeds, no difficulty thus far in use of the phone(s).
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SNS3, confirm you are using a standalone handheld sat phone, with no connection to (or a repeater in) the aircraft, and it works at 500kt. If so, what handset model is it?
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SNS, confirm then this is a system that's only been used by the cockpit crew? Not for the passengers and not for fancy things like broadband internet connection and so forth?
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SNS3, confirm you are using a standalone handheld sat phone, with no connection to (or a repeater in) the aircraft, and it works at 500kt. If so, what handset model is it?
SNS, confirm then this is a system that's only been used by the cockpit crew? Not for the passengers and not for fancy things like broadband internet connection and so forth?
It's not fancy, but it works.
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If it is in the aircraft manual, it is sure to be a fixed installation. That makes it irrelevant here, because fixed installations have been around for years. They are very expensive and they do work, even providing broadband data speeds.
The interesting thing is whether (and which) standalone handheld satellite handset works in the cockpit for voice or data.
The interesting thing is whether (and which) standalone handheld satellite handset works in the cockpit for voice or data.
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Been chatting to my man over the North Atlantic this morning......
Iridium 9505A with remote antenna (like a flat GPS antenna) on the dash. It's not hi-fi but does the job well enough. A generic GSM phone/headset adapter from our local Transair makes it much clearer/easier to use.
Used in all sorts of GA stuff, up to Kingair speeds, with few problems.
Iridium 9505A with remote antenna (like a flat GPS antenna) on the dash. It's not hi-fi but does the job well enough. A generic GSM phone/headset adapter from our local Transair makes it much clearer/easier to use.
Used in all sorts of GA stuff, up to Kingair speeds, with few problems.
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Wonder if that particular aircraft has heated windows? I heard that the metal that's found in heated windows insulates GPS signals. It might hurt Iridium signals as well - their frequencies are more or less the same.
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I would expect a King Air to have the £20k heated glass panels, at least on the LHS, but not side windows.
Of course if the "rooftop" antenna is actually roof mounted that will solve the problem but then you are into certification issues - pretty substantial on a pressurised hull. But screwing an antenna on the roof of a normal GA plane should be OK, assuming it can be "regarded"
as a GPS antenna. If it comes out on a BNC socket, who will know?
Of course if the "rooftop" antenna is actually roof mounted that will solve the problem but then you are into certification issues - pretty substantial on a pressurised hull. But screwing an antenna on the roof of a normal GA plane should be OK, assuming it can be "regarded"
as a GPS antenna. If it comes out on a BNC socket, who will know?