TXT by SpaceX satellite

Could people who have tried this out please post how well it works ?
The main thing will be whether it can be used under any canopy at all.
And what will happen to Garmin InReach ?

One NZ dont seem to have uploaded any info about it to theire chatbot yet and the door to a hunan isnt working either.
What does it cost per message ?
Can you use other messaging apps like iMessage, Whats App etc ?
Can you send a picture ?

“One NZ Satellite TXT is now included on your One NZ mobile plan at no extra cost. TXT anywhere in NZ with line of sight to the sky on your iPhone XX with the latest iOS. See one.nz/spaceX for service limitations. Network performance varies.”

I did a deep dive on this the other day, my phone is duel sim and have a prepaid One NZ as a long standing Spark user and i note that currently cant be used on One NZ prepaid for satalite texting....suck ballos....

I suspect Spark wont be far off joining so going to wait for that.....Currently my Samsung S23 is compatible but not keen to go on a plan.

Some areas i hunt get both signals and others only one or the other hence duel sim....

I watch with interest

Hamish

I can't see inreach going away for a wee while unless you can send a one push sos on your phone and even then you will have to unlock it, obviously you could just use a plb with your phone but my feeling is, it's going to take a while for it to be fairly reliable, I have the star link on my roof in a rural setting with no obstructions and even that isn't always that flash.

One NZ do say upfront you should always carry a PLB even with this Spacey capability on your phone. So they have someone there whos onto it.
@HNTMAD ive been thinking of changing providers . Which would you say is better overall in the hills ?

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Originally Posted by Bagheera

One NZ do say upfront you should always carry a PLB even with this Spacey capability on your phone. So they have someone there whos onto it.
@HNTMAD ive been thinking of changing providers . Which would you say is better overall in the hills ?

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Mostly Spark....where I hunt.

Hamish

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HNTMAD

I did a deep dive on this the other day, my phone is duel sim and have a prepaid One NZ as a long standing Spark user and i note that currently cant be used on One NZ prepaid for satalite texting....suck ballos....

I suspect Spark wont be far off joining so going to wait for that.....Currently my Samsung S23 is compatible but not keen to go on a plan.

Some areas i hunt get both signals and others only one or the other hence duel sim....

I watch with interest

Hamish

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Same boat, exactly the same as me. Almost no OneNZ coverage at home, but go to a few areas with no Spark so have OneNZ as a prepay. No coverage on prepay, and even the OneNZ people say that their plans will be way more expensive for my use and not offer anything extra as it would seem that most if not all of the current dual sim phones are not compatible with txt-to-sat. Sucks balls...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bagheera

One NZ do say upfront you should always carry a PLB even with this Spacey capability on your phone. So they have someone there whos onto it.
@HNTMAD ive been thinking of changing providers . Which would you say is better overall in the hills ?

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My thing is in most of the better hunting areas there isn't any coverage from any of the telcos. Just working on Starlink Mini haha. Cutting out the middle man.

I’m starting to think Garmin and zoleo will be around for awhile yet. Someone pointed out if you have one bar of cell coverage ( and can’t send text or call) the phone won’t switch to satellite mode.

If you have one bar you should not need sat? When you have no bars but the signal indicator is not greyed out that is when I've had the issue...

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Originally Posted by stug

I’m starting to think Garmin and zoleo will be around for awhile yet. Someone pointed out if you have one bar of cell coverage ( and can’t send text or call) the phone won’t switch to satellite mode.

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You can just turn off mobile data and phone (if capable) will use sattelite texting even if it has cellular coverage

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Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

You can just turn off mobile data and phone (if capable) will use sattelite texting even if it has cellular coverage

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Even in spark mate?

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Originally Posted by HNTMAD

Even in spark mate?

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No. Only on satt capable OneNZ phones

Don't need service just clear sky works well but sometimes needs a while to aquire.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HNTMAD

Even in spark mate?

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Spark is apparently 2-3 years out, they and 2Deg have gone with a Starlink competitor whos name I can't remember. A lot more lead time involved, although to be fair I am thinking that OneNZ will be the crash test dummies so the tech will be a lot more mature once Spark and 2Deg launch it.

Lets hope OneNZ have improved customer service since the rebrand otherwise they won't have any customers left to use the service. Or perhaps they will since it takes roughly 5 years to disconnect from them

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Originally Posted by Happy Jack

Lets hope OneNZ have improved customer service since the rebrand otherwise they won't have any customers left to use the service. Or perhaps they will since it takes roughly 5 years to disconnect from them

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Yeah - my experience with them as well to be honest. That's why I am Spark for main plan (could go 2deg but the coverage at home isn't as good) and 1NZ gets prepay only. If 2D had better coverage out of the main centers I'd roll with them in preference to 1NZ just on customer service.

I was hiking along Subime Hut, West Sabine Hut, Blue Lake Hut, and Lake Constance last week . I could not get the satellite connection.

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Originally Posted by Simpson Tong

I was hiking along Subime Hut, West Sabine Hut, Blue Lake Hut, and Lake Constance last week . I could not get the satellite connection.

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For some perspective I’ve picked up a guy off the Cascade Track last year, he used the native Apple satellite SOS (Globalstar, so not Starlink). That’s not too far from your route as the crow flies.
He was messaging either St John or the police flat out, I forget which one sorry.

I just used the sat messaging feature today at work on my iphone with one nz i work in the forest and have no signal all day so was surprised to get a txt come thru i sent multiple txts from inside my digger and they sent straight away

I can send and receive messages in the middle of nowhere. Can send photos too. Putting my phone in aeroplane mode only coming online when I want lasts 4 days and if I switch off untill I need it, a long time. Same as out in the boat too.

I had an email from One NZ asking me to give feedback on my experience of using satellite service! It was that slick that I didn’t even click that I had been in the Longwoods with no service but looking back I got and sent a text. Thumbs up from me

Was texting my sister all weekend while she was up the top of the Ahuriri hunting Tahr. No issues

Unfortunately i'm with Spark but this sounds great!

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Originally Posted by Sika 8

Unfortunately i'm with Spark but this sounds great!

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I changed from spark just last week for this reason and another. Was effortless to change to One NZ. The other reason I change from spark is that if your account is in credit they won’t give you your own money back unless it’s for “hardship”. Never use to be a problem to collect credit once a year as I just pay my bill to a round number every week. So fuck them, it’s my money.

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Originally Posted by dvk-kp

I changed from spark just last week for this reason and another. Was effortless to change to One NZ. The other reason I change from spark is that if your account is in credit they won’t give you your own money back unless it’s for “hardship”. Never use to be a problem to collect credit once a year as I just pay my bill to a round number every week. So fuck them, it’s my money.

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I've never found a phone company customer that was truly happy with their provider, OneNZ has given me the absolute stuff around in the past and I'm now with Spark reluctantly. Spark is the only real option where I am 6km outside Tauranga, until the SpaceX voice service becomes an option. I think if SpaceX started their own mobile phone outfit in NZ the big three would be bloody worried to be honest.

any updates on this? I have changed to one nz for this reason so will be testing it out soon and I will update the thread. I plan on stopping my Garmin subscription and having an E perb on my belt for emergencies and using the phone for other important messaging. I believe you can get messages back from non One NZ customers back home and also text mates that are somewhere else in the bush with a One NZ compatible phone. I read somewhere that the spark equivalent just launched 8 satellites. Compared to star links 30 thousand plus, I'm not sure how long you would be waiting. There would be other ways to make up for not having Garmin in reach. Maybe text your partner back home for weather updates, or get her to call helicopter for early pick up etc. Will be interested to see how it plays out. Will feel good getting rid of a subscription! so many

Galaxy s24 works mint

Just need them to hurry uo and release it on iPhone, can't be arsed with an android.

It’s suppose to work with iPhone 14 and later

https://one.nz/why-choose-us/satelli...ones-and-plans

I've been texting on it all day, sister has IPhone14 and she's been using it also

Just got back from couple of weeks in the Marlborough mountains.

I have the new iPhone 16 with One & an inReach mini.

Hardly used the InReach. Had it on, and tracking one day only, in particularly difficult country.
Will probably cancel the subscription

The Sat txt worked well, but isn’t 100% reliable. For some reason sometimes it just can’t get a satellite.
But I would say still superior to inReach txting.

Beware it’s hungry on battery. Using my phone in flight mode I could get about 4 days, with most battery consumption being photos. But if I had it on for Satellite connectivity battery drop was noticeable.

Will almost certainly get a new battery for my old PLB and use that.

I suspect Garmin will need to be more competitive with their subscription prices to remain relevant.

One inReach feature which we couldn’t get to work, but would be really useful is location sharing.
Is anyone sending your location inReach to inReach, and then viewing on Garmin's Earthmate or any other mapping app?

Well changed plans on Christmas. This weekend been have just managed to finally get satalite texting to work. (Samsung S23 Ultra) fantastic now it's working (been into one 4 times to complain about it not working) was averaging 4minute replies with the missus. 2 minutes to send, then 2minutes to receive the reply. Good to have another form of communication at the finger tips