Communication on a bluewater yacht
South Pacific Familyadventure 2008
Claes Brodin
Sat 10 Oct 2009 09:35
last intensive sailingperiod in the eighties.
On top to the right is our Sailor satellitetelephone for direct calls(1,3
Euros/min),and connected to main laptop for e-mail service.
Below to the right is the SSB radio(Icom M-800)mainly used for
communication between cruising yachts.We used the Coconut breakfast Net
covering the area Fr Polynesia to Tonga (8188Khz 08.30),and Rag in the Air
covering Samoa-Fiji-New Zealand-New Caledonia(8175Khz 07.30 local
time).The "Scandinavian family" have it´s on net on 8182Khz at 08.30 local
time.This way of free communication is invaluable.
With a good WiFi cinnection,Skype is a very good tool to communicate for a
very low price.External antenna for WiFi is superior to inbuilt antenna or
Pc card.
GSM mobil telephone on external antenna, communictaes with main laptop
over Bluetooth and internet through GPRS.Used very much in Europe,in the
South Pacific there is only rudimentary GPRS availability and roaming
costs for mobile are very high using European providers.Local SIM card is
a good choice.