If a party on the Seal River has been out for 10 days suffers an accident, and is not expected to reach their pick-up point on Hudson Bay for another 9 days, we needed to check into satellite communications. But we take safety very seriously.
Satellite phones are totally different than cellular service.
The signal transmits directly to one of 66 world-wide orbiting satellites. It is then relayed to other satellites in the system, and finally returned to a ground station receiver. The signal is digetal, giving a static free conservation. We are regularly asked about communications, and whether cellular phones work in our wilderness area. In neither the BWCA nor Quetico Park are there any monitored radio frequencies.