Satellite Email via GPS?

mtm_king asks: "Has anyone had any experience with Magellan GSC 100 Satellite Communicator? It is a GPS that does email. (Their web site pricing and info is out of date.) The GSC costs $850 unit, $130 for case and antenna, another $50 in sign up fees, then it is $30 a month for the service. My parents live full time in Mexico (outside of Todo Santos, cool place) and just have a cell phone which is expensive and flaky ($1.00 a minute+ from the US) . Trying to communicating with them is really frustrating. I am thinking about buying one of these units for them,but it is getting close to some 'serious money' considering I do not know how well it works. I know I could try to get their PC on the internet through the cell phone but considering that they have to stand by a window or go outside to use it, and the cost of an ISP and more minutes on the cell phone...well, I am looking for cheaper/more reliable alternatives than that." Would the GSC really work better in this case than using the cell phone modem?

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Magellan GSC 100

[blues5150]

The world's first handheld satellite communicator! The Magellan GSC 100 allows you to send and receive e-mail, text messages to and from anywhere in the world using the revolutionary ORBCOMM Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellite system. The GSC 100 also has a fully-functional GPS receiver to help you navigate and pinpoint your location anywhere in the world.

With the Magellan GSC 100, far from home no longer means being out of touch. Unlike traditional land-line, cellular or paging systems, the GSC 100 and ORBCOMM network operate from isolated parts of the world where conventional systems do not reach. As a result, remote workers, outdoor enthusiasts and international travelers can communicate anywhere in the world.

ORBCOMM SATELLITE SYSTEM
The Magellan GSC 100 uses the ORBCOMM satellite system to transmit messages around the world. ORBCOMM is a constellation of Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellites that enables GSC 100 users to send and receive brief, text messages or "GlobalGrams" using standard e-mail protocols.

When the user sends a GlobalGram, the message travels directly from the GSC 100 to the ORBCOMM satellite, down to a Gateway Earth Station (GES), and on to the Internet through normal terrestrial land-lines. To retrieve messages, the user simply requests a message check from the satellite and the message automatically transmits down to the GSC 100.

GSC 100 AND ORBCOMM COVERAGE
The GSC 100 has global capability and can be used from anywhere on the globe that has authorized the ORBCOMM service. Please check ORBCOMM'S website for a list of authorized countries.

ORBCOMM SERVICE PRICING
ORBCOMM service pricing differs from country to country. Please check with ORBCOMM for further details on individual country service plans.

MESSAGING FORMATS
All messages transmitted via the GSC 100 are called GlobalGrams. The GSC 100 will send and receive messages in one of two formats, depending upon the location of the unit.

A Standard GlobalGram is composed when an ORBCOMM satellite is in sight of both the GSC 100 and GES. The message can contain up to 2000 characters. A Standard GlobalGram is delivered near "real time". As more GESs become operational, standard messages can be sent and received throughout the world.

A Store-and-Forward GlobalGram is composed when the satellite is in sight of the GSC 100 but not the GES. A Store-and-Forward GlobalGram can contain up to 200 characters. The message is stored in the satellite and delivered when a GES is in view.

Please check ORBCOMM'S website for details on sending a GlobalGram.

ORBCOMM VALUE-ADDED SERVICES
ORBCOMM has introduced ORB2You and ORBWeather, value-added services available for the GSC 100. The ORB2You message dispatching service enables virtually anyone to communicate with a GSC 100 user even if they don't have access to E-mail. Individuals can dial toll-free 1-877-ORB2YOU and dictate their message to a dispatch center representative, who will then transmit that message to the GSC 100. Similarly, a GSC 100 user can send a GlobalGram to the dispatch center for delivery to the intended recipient via phone or facsimile.

ORBCOMM's ORBWeather service delivers position-specific weather reports directly to the GSC 100. To receive a weather update, a GSC 100 user would send their GPS position report to the ORBWeather e-mail inbox, and then receive forecast conditions for the current day, the following day and the following evening, in a standard, easy-to-read format.

GSC 100 Advantages

The world's first and only hand-held unit to offer anywhere to anywhere communication and navigation using the ORBCOMM satellite system and GPS system.
No matter where your adventures may take you, global e-mail messaging capabilities allow you to communicate to any Internet e-mail address.
Integrated GPS receiver capabilities allow you to identify your position, plot and track your course, store waypoints and communicate this information to anyone, anywhere in the world.
Messaging Features

Worldwide messaging via ORBCOMM satellite service
Send and receive brief, e-mail messages called GlobalGrams
Easy-to-use, menu-driven interface
Store up to 100 messages and 150 addresses
Automatic wake-up feature sends and receives messages at pre-selected time intervals
GPS Features

Displays position, speed, distance, time-to-go, and more
Continuously points to your destination and keeps you on course
Displays your trip's progress with a track plotter
Stores 200 user-defined waypoints
Relay your present location by inserting GPS position into your GlobalGram message
Ships With:

Telescopic whip antenna
Rechargeable NiCad battery pack
Universal AC converter
Software update cable
Data/power extension cable
Activation instructions
User manual
Quick reference guide
Optional Accessories:

Carrying case
Mounting bracket
Data/power cable
Additional NiCad battery pack
Cigarette lighter adapter
External GPS antenna
PC software kit
AC converter, international plug kit
Optional Antennas:

Fixed Site VHF Antenna
GPS Antenna
Combined GPS/VHF Magnetic Mount Antenna

Combined GPS/VHF Roof Top Mount Antenna

Combined GPS/VHF Trunk Mount Antenna

Re:You are an OPRESSOR:Y Tu Mam� Tambi�n

[Anonymous Coward]

These liberals scare you in today's world from saying the "N" word.
These liberals tell you race mixing is ok.
These same liberals say pledge of allegiance to the flag is wrong in school.
These same liberals say gays are ok in boy scouts, since when is a thirteen year old gay?
These same liberals say no to guns.
These same liberals smoke 3 packs a day and then sue the tobacco companies.
These same liberals increase your taxes and then spend it overseas while taking vacations on their own islands.
These same liberals give the "minorities" legalized racism.

Hell with all of you.

HAVE PRIDE in YOUR CULTURE - Be a WESTERNER. Fuck Islam, fuck China, fuck all the other Eastern backward assholes. They live in a pit of shit.

"There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the negro race before the public. Some of these people do not want the negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs. There is a certain class of race-problem solvers who don't want the patient to get well.
Booker T. Washington, 1911

SHEOCRACY - KLINTON KOOL-AID - CLITLER - HIJACK-SON
CLIPPED HAIR, MEAN-FACED - LEXUS LIBERALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF WITCHES
9TH JERK-IT COURT OF SCHLAMIELS
TRICKLE DOWN IMMORALITY - SECRETARY OF HATE (Ashcroft)
WHEEL CHAIR MAFIA (For all the whiney cripple shits)
KLIN-TONGS - FA-TASSES (A play on fucker Yasser's FATAH)
SHEEPLE - THE LAST LADY (Death to Hillary CLINTOON)
TURD-WORLD (The shit holes that are not America)
GOVERNMENT-MEDIA-COMPLEX (Fuck Disney, Fuck Eisner, Fuck them ALL)
FEMI-FASCISTS - DEMN-CATS - DUNGISM - YAGS
WOOLY-HAIR LIBERAL - ANAL RIGHTS (For all the fags who want the public to pay for their AIDS medications - FUCK OFF)

AND Blacks with self respect, THROW OUT YOUR HORRIBLE LEADERSHIP.

Jesse Jackson a confirmed dirty foul thief, adulterer, lied about having college degree, was never ordained as a minister. Extortionist.
Michael Jackson, pedophile.
OJ Simpson, murderer.
Michael Jordan, adulterer.
Rap Stars, categorically, murdering, drug pushing, anti society homicidal maniacs show project a most disgusting but exceedingly popular image of ghetto violence and culture.
Magic Johnson, adulterous AIDS infested person, almost infected his wife with AIDS that he got off someone else while cheating on his wife.
Halle Berry's mother is white, her father is black. Her black father beat her mother and abandoned them.
Farrakhan - anti Semitic elitist foul violence mongering horrible person. Should be in prison.
Mike Tyson, rapist, convicted and chronic.
Don King - convicted murderer, high roller promoter. Convicted murders should not be popular negro role models.
Ike Turner, beat his wife Tina.
Bobby Brown, beat the shit out of Whitney Houston. (Also sentenced to 75 days in Jail for driving while drunk, in addition to beating Whitney)

And Condy Rice, Clarence Thomas and Colin Powell are traitors? This is what kills me the most about liberals. Some good conservative hard working people like Rice and Powell get themselves out of the fucking gutter, and their own fucking people stab them in the back.

Get some real leadership, or face doom. You liberal fucking scum, you are a disgrace to yourselves.