Inmarsat RBGAN + Opensky/EOL hybrid service --anyone done this?

[jreads]

Hey there,
The Opensky/Europe Online hybrid service requires the use of a phone line to push the uplink over the internet to the command station to the bird, then the satellite sends the downlink to a dish with a universal LNB and USB receiver for the hybrid service.

I'm trying to set up something in an area where 1) there are very hostile folks and 2) there are no land-line phone lines. Typically in an area like this, you set up a REALLY BIG DISH that can do a two way connect. However, that requires an installer. And we simply can't get one.

So, I thought that the RBGAN terminal might be a solution, but the costs for that are serious enough for me to consider anything.

It occurred to me that if the RBGAN was used as the uplink (it connects either through the modem port or a serial port and is an ISDN connection, from my understanding), and the hybrid service as a downlink. We'd still need a REALLY BIG DISH, but we'd only need it in receive mode, so no installer would be necessary. The RBGAN autosenses and sends.

Has anyone ever done anything this desperate? It's an intriguing idea, since it would cut the cost of the connection down to a fraction of the highway robbery that is Inmarsat.
--AJ Reads

 

[jreads]

Inmarsat RBGAN + Opensky hybrid services

Yes, it works. If you're absolutely stuck in an area with no phones, then this might be a solution for you. Inmarsat is quite expensive by itself. With the hybrid service as the download channel, then you can cut the cost to a fraction of that price.

This is being done all over the western edges of Asia, evidently. I'll be trying it myself soon.
-AJ Reads