EMAIL ON BOATS: Getting E-mail on your boat can be simple if you stay within range of the  coastline where there is a plentitude of cellular telephone  transmitters. But, venture into an isolated anchorage, or go offshore and that lifeline quickly disappears! Radio Email works through the same HF radio used for voice contact. That generally means either HAM or Marine SSB. Place  a 'black box' ( radio modem or TNC) between your Laptop and your radio, add a little software, and you are ready to go. But go where? There's a bit more involved, especially cost wise, that just adding that 'black box'. Satellite Email promises Global coverage for pennies (lots of pennies). But, do they deliver on those claims? Part of the problem is: choice. Too much 'choice' ... and, far too much HYPE!  Which way to go? HAM Email? Commercial SSB Email? Satellite Email? Cell Phones? To get you started, here is a small list of some major players: IMC provider of maritim data communications, international news, e-mail, internet and weather to ships at sea. MarineNet service offers high speed marine SSB radio e-mail service from public coast station WKS serving private and commercial vessels. Iridium Orbcomm GlobeWireless PinOak Digital SeaWave SeaMail Radio E-mail network in Congo Around the world with PACTOR-III Kiel RadioKiel Radio GmbH, Your bridge to Internet Bern Radio Your gateway to the world Sailmail Email Service for Yachts via Marine HF SSB Radio Winlink Digital Messaging for Amateur Radio Bushmail Worldwide E-mail that works via HF Radio anywhere in Africa CruiseEmail CruiseEmail provides the solution for S.S.B. (single side band) radio                                                   communications for email service to boaters private and commercial with                                          worldwide coverage Monaco Radio Centre de communication Maritime Radiomarine Network The name radiomarine.com.ph is for sale E-Mail Systems By far and away, the most popular and desirable way to communicate offshore has become via e-mail. It eliminates the hassles of different time zones and schedules. It can also be the most difficult to implement on board. If cost is no object, we feel that the most reliable and straightforward way is using a satellite telephone system. The Inmarsat Mini-M and American Mobile Satellite systems are actually quite inexpensive to operate. This gives you not only e-mail, but often voice and possibly fax as well. There is still no means to surf the web, or is there going to be for the next few years. The only world-wide system over the near horizon with a data rate exceeding 2400 Baud is Globalstar (9600 baud), slated to be operational in October 1999. Knowing how these things go, it will be a surprise if it is on schedule.  Some Internet Service Providers cannot support connections of 2400 baud, users. Here are a list of services you can expect: MarineNet (a) Fast reliable plain text messaging, Pactor-II service. (attachments stored in your personal mailbox)  (b) Easiest to use client software of any current radio based service. (c) E-mail weather forecasts sent to your vessel for any area of the world. (d) Your own personal mailbox accessible anywhere in the world. Stores all messages sent to your radio e-mail account.  (e) On-line or phone support for installation or operational concerns. (f) Sales and service of equipment when it comes time to upgrade gear. (g) Service sold by the month not by the year. (no contracts!)  Add-on services:  (a) E-mail forwarding to an land based account when your account is inactive or, are off the boat for extended periods. (15 dollar one time fee)  (b) Medical help via e-mail through on of the largest medical groups for people who travel the world. Contact us for rates. Source: Marinenet Data Systems, Inc. 17940 Loxahatchee River Road Jupiter, Florida  33458  John Heron, President MarineNet Data Systems, Inc. WA4FAP Satellite Communication Inmarsat Mini-M Our first choice in satellite communications is  Inmarsat Mini-M. At an airtime rate of $3.00 per minute with no long distance or monthly cost, it is less expensive and more reliable than using the SSB marine operator. For e-mail, with a data rate of 2400 baud, this works out to  $.021 per kilobit. Compare this to the cost of SSB based systems from Globe Wireless at $.49 per kilobit or PinOak Digital at $.12 per kilobit and you begin to get the picture. Plus, it is just about as easy to use as your present telephone for e-mail service. Fax capability is also standard with Mini-M. The Mini-M phones is either the Magellan/Nera Worldphone Marine, or the KVH Tracphone 25. Both systems use a stabilized antenna that is a round toped cylinder shape about 10" in diameter and 10" high, and weighs about 12 pounds. The  antenna is typically mounted on a pole on the stern, just above head height. There is a shoe box size, below deck antenna electronics unit that points the antenna at the satellite and keeps it there, and of course the phone unit itself. Pricing starts at just under $6000 for a complete system, ready to install. For use in a quiet anchorage, at the dock or on land, the Magellan/Nera Worldphone Portable is the choice. A totally self contained package about 10 1/2" square and 3" thick, the case cover opens up to become the antenna and provide access to the phone. Finding a satellite is a snap with the on screen and audible signal strength indicators. Typical time from turn on to being ready to place calls is less than three minutes. Pricing is under $3000, and special package pricing is available on the Worldphone with popular accessories. If you have a Worldphone Marine, the antenna/case and other components are available for conversion to  portable operation. AMSC/Skycell If you don't require world wide coverage, then another option is services from American Mobile Satellite/Skycell . Coverage is from the Aleutian Islands, coastal Canadian, US and Central American waters down to the Panama Canal. The Caribbean and east coast of the US and Canada, up as far as Nova Scotia, and Hawaii are covered as well. When you combine the 4800 baud data rate with airtime as low as $1.19 per minute, e-mail is even more economical. Monthly service is $45.00 per month, and an additional $15 per month for data. Additional charges and optional hardware apply for fax. Calls to the US and Canada are toll free, and additional long distance charges apply for calls outside US and Canada. The most popular hardware for this service is the Westinghouse WaveTalk. The antenna is about the size and shape of a bicycle helmet, and weighs under 3 pounds. Mounting is similar to the Mini-M. Below decks there is an antenna electronics unit, a transceiver unit. and a  handset that is similar to the handset on a cellular phone. Pricing is under $5000. Another choice is Mitsubishi electronics ST141 or for portable use - the ST251 Omniquest. The ST141 employees an antenna radome about 13" in diameter and about 7 inches high. It can be mounted on a stern pole, similar to the Mini-M phones. A single electronics package is between the cellular style handset and antenna. The ST251 has  available a transmobile unit, allowing for connection to the ST141 style antenna. Though really designed for land mobile use, the ST141 antenna has been successfully used in marine applications. Orbcomm Orbcomm is a system of  low earth orbit data only satellites that is a data system only. Basically, the satellites pick-up and deliver you mail when overhead, and then  once in range of an earth station, transfer your mail. The most common hardware for use with Orbcomm is the Magellan GSC100, a self-contained a handheld communicator. As of July 1, 1998, the GSC100 has not been shipped, so details of its operation are not available. The cost of operation is rumored to be $29.95 per month, which includes 10 messages of a maximum of 500 characters, and 20 message checks. Beyond that the message cost is $.01 per character and $.20 per message check. There is also a transceiver from Panasonic that hooks up to a computer to send and receive data on the Orbcomm system. HF Radio On Board is in the process of exploring the possibility of marketing this product - check back later.  Inmarsat - C Inmarsat-C is another data only satellite system that has been around for a number of years. HF Radio On Board sells the Trimble Galaxy-C. It offers simple reliable  operation, and valuable safety features. The transceiver is compact and the antenna is about  the size and shape of a football cut in half. As part of the new GMDSS requirements for commercial vessels, Inmarsat-C is here to stay for some time to come. With it you receive Notices to Mariners and other safety related information at no charge. Receipt of a message to the terminal can be acknowledged with a report of the vessels position obtained from the built in GPS receiver.  Messaging is $.01 per character though Inmarsat service providers such as Stratos Network. Iridium  The the phone will be about $3000, service will be approximately $50 per month, air time will be between $4 and $5 per minute (ouch!), and the data rata (which won't be available until April 1999) is 2400 baud. We assume that there will be associated long distance charges as well as airtime cost for incoming calls (incoming calls on Mini-M are paid by the caller). So what is the advantage over Mini-M? Well, smaller equipment that is handheld and doesn't have to be oriented at the satellite, lack of a one third second delay between when you speak and the person on the other end hears you present with Mini-M and Skycell. Other than that - not much. Considering the higher operation cost, Mini-M in not necessarily a bad investment, especially since there are no long distance charges and no monthly charges - if you don't use it it doesn't cost you anything. GLOBALSTAR Globalstar is the only service we see that has the potential of changing the communication world as we know it. Of course we think the world is data, something  that doesn't seem so clear to Iridium, and to a lesser extent, Globalstar. It is projected to be available in October 1999 The best numbers we can gather is about $1000 for the phone and $1.00 to $1.50 per minute. We  have not heard what the monthly charge will be, but our guess would be about the same as Iridium, or maybe slightly less. Same goes for incoming airtime and long distance. The bright star of Globalstar is 9600 baud data... fast enough for limited image transfer and text web surfing. Our concern is twofold. One - Globalstar is what is called "bent-pipe" technology. The signal goes from the phone, up to the satellites and down to a ground station. The reason satellite is plural is that the system is sort of like cellular telephone except that the cellular radio sites are moving (real fast) and you are relatively stationary. If multiple satellites are in view, the one that has the best reception handles the call. Unlike Iridium, if the satellite is out of view of a ground station, it doesn't relay the signal to another satellite that is in view, then down. It simply doesn't work. This means that what Globalstar calls world wide coverage doesn't necessarily mean mid-ocean coverage. It is also our understanding  and concern that not all the ground stations are funded or planned, so it may be a while before  even Globalstar's concept of worldwide coverage is a reality! In short - satellite technology IS rocket science. It is very complex and technically very difficult. The question seems to be not if it is going to happen, but how and when it is going to happen. SSB E-mail What if you don't want the expense of  satellite. There is another way - on SSB radio. One way we recommend are on ham radio or using SailMail on marine SSB. For ham radio e-mail contact  for information on Winlink/Netlink.  The first thing needed is a suitable radio, either a marine SSB  like the Icom M710/700PRO, the SEA 235. Next thing needed is a radio modem. This performs the same function between the radio and computer as a telephone  modem does between the telephone line and computer. Don't be shocked by data rates of 200 to 1200 baud. The radio modem is working in a much more noisy and fluctuating environment than your telephone modem.  HF Radio On Board sells modems from two companies for this purpose. The Kantronics KAM+ and the SCS PTCII. Think of them as a Volkswagen and a Porsche. The KAM+ sells for $360, including the cables for your radio, and a copy of AirMail software, a  Windows 95 shareware program written by Jim Corenman. If possible, the KAM+ transmit output is adjusted for your radio for proper operation before shipping. Also included is a printout of the setup screen for your radio/modem combination, to make software installation easy. Also on the software disk is a copy of Jim's Pactor primer. The SCS PTCII is truly the best radio modem money can buy at this time. It employs proprietary Pactor II modulation for speeds up to 1200 baud with data compression, 800 baud without. The digital signal processing increases receive sensitivity by 18 dB - that like increasing the transmitter output of the distant station from 100 watts to over 6000 watts! And since the Sailmail station uses PactorII., you get the same effective increase on your signal. Signals that cannot be heard by the ear get through. It is the most amazing thing we have seen in over 35 years of transmitting data over radio. The SCS also has a control output for controlling the frequency of most radios. AirMail uses this output with the built in database of  the Sailmail station's operating frequencies. This feature makes connecting to a Sailmail a simple point and click operation. Without the SCS modem, an additional communications port must be added to the computer, at a cost of about $200 to $250 for a notebook computer pc-card adapter, along with possibly additional hardware between the new com port and radio. Also, the selection of supported radios is fewer. By the time you add the cost of frequency control convenience on top of the less expensive modems, and the  benefit of digital signal processing gain in power and faster transmission times (which means less battery drain), it is well worth the difference in price. You can buy it directly from SCS for $945 plus shipping  (what we pay for it) and be on your own! Keep in mind that there is a very steep learning curve with data over radio. It took us many hours to get our first PactorII modem properly configured. Its up to you. The other  thing to be aware of is that this is NOT like using a telephone for e-mail. The station  may be busy on another frequency that you can't hear it or the station using it. The station may be temporarily off the air for some technical reason. Or there may be some solar activity negatively affecting propagation. But it does work and it is relatively reliable. Several of the boats on the Pacific Cup Race used it to communicate with the folks back home,  and it was the primary means of contact between the communications vessel and the race committee in Hawaii.