What do I need to send/receive text messages via satellites?

December 26, 2007 7:41 AM

What device can be used to send/receive text messages from very remote locations?

I'm about to go to southern rural Peru in a couple weeks to do some linguistic research - to facilitate this trip, it may be a good idea to report some of my findings to my colleagues who have access to libraries and their own expertise. Ordinarily, this would mean going to an Internet-café, but given the remote location of where I'll be, the poor roads, lack of public transportation, etc it could turn out that I travel 2-3 days to report a finding, wait a day to receive a response, and then realize that either (a) the finding is uninteresting or (b) it is interesting and now I must go back to the village to gather more detailed data. I don't have much time and four false-leads would be enough to ruin the trip.

If I had something like a "satellite Blackberry", that'd be ideal. Google searches yield all kinds of cool gadgets, but most of it is way more technical (and heavy/cumbersome!) then I'd like. No need for a word-processor or a computer.

I found plenty of satellite phones, but given the time difference and the nature of the data (very technical - but easily summarized with alpha-numeric equations), a text message device is ideal.

If anyone knows, it'll be you guys. Thanks as always!

posted by mateuslee to technology (11 answers total)

this?
posted by Leon at 7:53 AM on December 26, 2007

You mention text message and satellite phone as if they're mutually exclusive. Why not use the satellite phone to send a text message?
posted by sharkfu at 9:07 AM on December 26, 2007

Yes, Sharkfu, that's one possibility too - I just wanted to stress that something which only has an email function is preferable.
posted by mateuslee at 9:19 AM on December 26, 2007

Well, if you're going to be completely in the bush, then I'd say satellite phone to send SMS messages or satellite phone + data cable + pocket pc to send emails.

If you think you might be near sporadic cell towers, then I'd go blackberry + world data plan, maybe lean towards the blackberry 8320 (which has wifi in the rare chance that you're near a wireless router).
posted by sharkfu at 9:34 AM on December 26, 2007

Thanks Sharkfu, I think its safe to say I won't be near any towers (who knows, but one must assume). When you say pocket-PC+data cable, is this a set-up that is relatively portable?
posted by mateuslee at 9:39 AM on December 26, 2007

Yeah, it should be relatively portable. Pocket PCs are about 6oz + a charger. Most of my research has been on a different satellite phone system (thuraya - middle east only) but it should be possible. You might want to concentrate on "expedition stores" that have packages of stuff known to work together. Everest expeditions seem to have driven research in these areas.

Here's an example link:

Explorersweb. They have pocket PCs, data cables, and whole expedition packages here.
posted by sharkfu at 10:00 AM on December 26, 2007

Excellent find Sharkfu. I'm looking into it now...
posted by mateuslee at 10:52 AM on December 26, 2007

I don't know just how remote a place that is (electricity?), but you could also invest in a solar charger for the small gadgets as well.
posted by Ky at 11:02 AM on December 26, 2007

Yes, thanks Ky - I have a solar charger already. Good thinking!
posted by mateuslee at 11:35 AM on December 26, 2007

OLPC. More than the minimum you're looking for, but buying one for you buys one for someone who needs it far more than you do. A small fax machine might meet your minimum; text back and forth fast, not complex, plus you get hard copy as you go.
posted by eccnineten at 9:32 PM on December 26, 2007

Hm, not sure what you mean ECCNINETEN. This may be a nice idea, but I'm not looking for a laptop!
posted by mateuslee at 11:44 AM on December 29, 2007