Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Re: Conference Announcment "Interoperability - Heading Down the Right Road"

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 02 Nov 2002 20:58:06 -0500

-------- Original Message --------
   From: "Todd Ellis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Conference Announcement "Interoperability - Heading Down the Right Road"

 Been there...done that.  I was a "beta" tester for one satcomm group that sold portable
phones through a company that begins with Q.  They had never operated their equipment in
the rain...turns out that the handheld unit, although really cool, didn't work well in
moderate rain.  In addition, it did not work well in areas hemmed in by pine trees.  Those
who have never been to North Carolina might not know that our state tree is the Lob Lolly
Pine...and we have a lot of deciduous plants and trees here!!  Forget urban areas of any
type.I also tested another product that utilized a steerable array in a radome (obviously
mobile mounted).  After the 90-day test, I found that the unit worked far less than I felt
it should have.  In this case, rain and trees also affected the path, but in many cases,
hilly terrain was also a problem - the bird was low on the horizon, and after leaving a
meeting with the client in Virgina, I couldn't call back into the meeting so they could
hear the audio.  This is on I-95, a major artery not known for winding through mountains
anywhere...Here's another problem - space junk.  Anyone remember the Galaxy failure a few
years ago which left all those pagers silent?So when people tell me that they are buying
satcomm phones, you have to understand the caveats.  For emergency response?  No thank
you.Todd Ellis