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Old 08-02-2016, 16:25   #1
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Iridium Go Versus KVH TracPhone System

Can anybody explain the major differences between these two systems? It seems to me that I can get both emails and voice service with the Iridium Go for a lot less money compared to the KVH Tracphone V3 system.
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Old 30-09-2016, 11:29   #2
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Re: Iridium Go Versus KVH TracPhone System

I believe the biggest difference is that the TracPhone's are a GeoSynchronous - GeoStationary orbit. You should get fairly constant connections with a KVH TracPhone where as the Iridium people report very frequent disconnects. I heard something like 70% of all calls will be disconnected instantly and most stable connections last only minutes. You can read all the reviews about this regarding the Iridium as it's a fairly cheap / popular solution. You're going to see a lot of mixed reviews and you're getting what you pay for.


It's difficult to find TracPhone reviews. I cannot find a single one that doesn't appear to be promotional / bias. These appear to be commercial solutions more often than not and claim to be much more reliable.
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Old 30-09-2016, 11:58   #3
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Re: Iridium Go Versus KVH TracPhone System

Are you sure you need voice?

I've found my Delorme Inreach (now owned by Garmin) connected by bluetooth to my iphone to be a great solution to offshore communication. A fraction of the cost of what you're looking at. Always works. Works everywhere. No external antenna. It sits on my chart table and transmits through the fiberglass overhead just fine. SMS or email send/receive. As anyone under age 30 will tell you, if you can't say it 160 characters, it's not worth saying

They also now have a much improved weather service - on demand 5 day forecast for any lat/lon for $1. Not as good as a wide area GRIB but good enough for me.
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Old 30-09-2016, 13:01   #4
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Re: Iridium Go Versus KVH TracPhone System

Delorme Inreach is a vastly different service from either of the other two...


People use TracPhone for major data and phone call usage. Like gigabits a month potentially and high speed connections at sea. If Delorme Inreach suits your needs, then there are dozens of other options that will as well. I've heard good things about Delorme.


I actually stumbled across this post because i'm looking for highspeed data options under the $5k a month range. I'd like to find someone who's used TracPhone and could give me some info on how well the V11-IP works.
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Old 30-09-2016, 14:07   #5
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Re: Iridium Go Versus KVH TracPhone System

Quote:
Originally Posted by CarlF View Post
Are you sure you need voice?

I've found my Delorme Inreach (now owned by Garmin) connected by bluetooth to my iphone to be a great solution to offshore communication. A fraction of the cost of what you're looking at. Always works. Works everywhere. No external antenna. It sits on my chart table and transmits through the fiberglass overhead just fine. SMS or email send/receive. As anyone under age 30 will tell you, if you can't say it 160 characters, it's not worth saying

They also now have a much improved weather service - on demand 5 day forecast for any lat/lon for $1. Not as good as a wide area GRIB but good enough for me.
Agree 100% with the above
Weather was right on across Biscay this past summer.
Also a back up GPS
Fairly cheap to buy and then turn on and off by the month.
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Old 02-10-2016, 08:56   #6
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Re: Iridium Go Versus KVH TracPhone System

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Originally Posted by maplemale View Post


I actually stumbled across this post because i'm looking for highspeed data options under the $5k a month range. I'd like to find someone who's used TracPhone and could give me some info on how well the V11-IP works.

I put a v3-ip into a boat months ago. Very easy vrs the older stuff. Was surprised by the speed while surfing. Put the phone line alone with a cell modem system into a single phone system. So can use cell or sat on same handset (line 1 / 2)
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Old 02-10-2016, 09:14   #7
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Re: Iridium Go Versus KVH TracPhone System

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