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There are cell phone sized thingies that can send text messages to iridium's constellation, which is (as I understand it) way further away than starlink. I use
by intrepidhero 4y ago
There are cell phone sized thingies that can send text messages to iridium's constellation, which is (as I understand it) way further away than starlink. I use one while backpacking.
I'd be super excited to get the same capability in a standard cell phone.
- fsh 4y agoThe Iridium orbit heights are not much higher (781 km vs. 550 km). You can always trade bandwidth for increased sensitivity. The most extreme example is GPS. Your phone can receive it from 20000 km away with a tiny antenna, but the data rate is only 50 bits per second.
- rocqua 4y agoWithin the limits of a 5G receiver, there are probably limits to how much sensitivity you can give up for bandwidth.