satellite phones (and keeping in touch with home)

[Christian Döhler]

hi Nick,
I have just come back from 5months in Papua New Guinea. I spend a lot of time before my fieldtrip to prepare and solve these kinds of problems. to give you a summary: I used a satellite-phone (Iridium 9555) and a solar panel (SUNLOAD 62Wp) both of which I borrowed from the university. I bought a battery (power gorilla) to store the power. Most importantly, I created an email account with a company called "mailAsail.com". they offer rather simple ways of restricting your laptop's internet access to the bare minimum: checking/sending emails. It is a paid service and possibly there are ways to solve this problem free of charge. however, I was looking for a simple way. anyway, with this setup I was able to send/receive emails in a remote part of Papua New Guinea. It certainly wasn't cheap (and I am still waiting for the last satphone-bill), but it was simple to use and most importantly: it worked!!! 
please contact me, if you have questions about the details. 
best,
Christian

ps: I am not sure, if you will be able to buy a satellite phone in the country. In any case, there should be no problem in buying it somewhere else. these phones are meant to work everywhere.


Am 05.12.2011 um 12:05 schrieb nick williams:

> Dear All,
> 
> I have a rather specific question, but I haven't been able to find much information on this and thought those of you with experience doing fieldwork in remote locations might have some ideas. Beginning in March and for about a year I'll be doing fieldwork in a remote village in southeastern Indonesia (Alor). There is no electricity (other than a few hit-or-miss generators). I plan to bring solar panels and/or a generator (depending on how much funding I have). However, there is also no cell phone service. I'd like to be able to keep in touch with my family back home without making regular trips to the nearest internet-connected location (several hours away), so I'm considering investing in a satellite phone. 
> 
> So, my questions: Has anyone used such a device in the field before? in Indonesia our the surrounding region in particular? Would it be better to buy the phone in country to make sure I get something that works? Are there any other options for setting up satellite-internet access in the field that isn't outrageously expensive (the phones themselves are quite pricey!).
> 
> Thanks for any suggestions or advice!
> cheers,
> Nick
> 
> ----------
> Nicholas Williams
> PhD student in Linguistics
> University of Colorado at Boulder
> 

Christian Döhler
PhD Candidate
School of Culture, History & Language 
Australian National University, Canberra
__________________________________
http://people.anu.edu.au/christian.doehler