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Comment by ChemSpider | Hacker News Reader

How much would it cost if I buy a non-Apple device with (just) this feature? Is it even available? Or would I need a full-blown satellite phone?

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You are looking for a PLB, a Personal Locator Beacon:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_position-indicating_...

https://oceansignal.com/products/plb1/

You buy it, you never pay anything else, it works all over the planet, in extreme conditions, you never need to charge its battery (good for 7+ years), and most importantly, it communicates with an exclusive satellite constellation dedicated to search and rescue, operated by national governments. Your emergency call is handled directly by local government agencies, the military in many parts of the world, who have a duty to respond to the emergency - in accordance with international treaties.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Cospas-Sarsat_Pr...

So how does rescue work-- I assume you do have to pay the people who rescue you

Undefined. But at zero cost in every case I know of, in a multitude of countries. Be it a simple policeman driving into the middle of the desert to help a cyclist, to a complex joint, multinational, civil-military operation in the middle of the ocean, with aircraft and the rerouting of container ships.

https://www.acrartex.com/survivor-stories/

This isn't true everywhere. E.g. in the alps you might be billed for rescue, particularly if you're not injured or in a medical emergency. That said, SAR insurance is cheap. Many alpinist associations and the likes offer it as part of their membership, which is often less than 100€/yr. There's no reason not to have it if you're going out into the mountains.

Depends on where in the world you are.

For the US, it's on a state-by-state basis but rescue is usually free as long as it's a true emergency and you weren't blatantly reckless to begin with.

For other parts of the world, you might get a bill to recover the cost of rescue. But in most cases it's still usually free.

(Medical care once you get back to civilization is a different story.)

Wow. That's honestly quite amazing. Our world would really be incomprehensible to someone just a few hundred years ago

Most places provide it free, although if you're in an area that sees a lot of rescues you very well might get a bill.

I'd highly recommend the garmin inreach mini. I do a bit of hiking and traveling in remote places and it's a good peace of mind. It's dedicated to saving your life, the battery can last a lot longer than a cell phone, and it has texting if you need to reach out in a non-emergency.

It costs about 50$ or so to register for the year and you just pay for a month when you need it. Well worth the secuirty. It also has a dedicated SOS button under a cap that you can press during an emergency. It will send your location to an international monitoring center that will dispatch someone local to your location for rescue. You can opt in for insurance that I believe covers an air lift.

It also can double as a location tracker or rudimentary GPS if you need directions to civilization or lake.

Note that you can decide NOT to pay the "service fee" and they'll often still work, you'll just be hit with some pretty hefty fees for rescue, etc.

You can also get a older ELT-style 121.5 MHz but I wouldn't really recommend it. Might be nice as a last-ditch.

A Garmin InReach does not work as an SOS device without an active subscription.

The satellite monitoring for the old 121.5 beacons was turned off in 2009.

I almost want to get stranded somewhere to try it out!

I used it in remote Colorado while elk hunting to give my girlfriend updates on my safety and it worked perfectly.

I also want to add my enthusiastic recommendation for the Garmin InReach mini. I purchased one to keep as an emergency communications device. It’s small, lightweight, keeps a charge for months when powered off, and (in a pinch) can be used without pairing to a phone. I keep mine in my backpack.

I test out my InReach every time I go out of cell service and it Just Works.

Setup was a pain though.

Garmin makes dedicated devices for this. They start at $350.[0] Plans start at $15/month.[1]

[0]: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/outdoor-recreation/satellite-...

[1]: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/837461

I've also seen them discounted as low as $250 at REI. I plan to purchase one before my next cross country drive, a lot of places without cellular reception and many of those are sufficiently isolated I wouldn't want to have to wait for assistance to happen by.

With garmin gps phones you can text any number, not just emergency services. Did anyone catch if this would be possible with the new iphone's emergency satellite plan?

It is not, at least not in what they announced today. It's just for emergency services at this point.

EDIT: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213426

Covers many of the particulars.

yeah, i had hope with the "open Messages" prompt on the satellite finder view, but then they didn't mention it unfortunately

https://www.findmespot.com/ is a popular brand of satellite emergency beacons I know of (I've never used one, though). You don't need a full satellite phone

$11.95/MO - cool. I learned something new ;-)

If you're only looking for search and rescue, you can get a personal locator beacon for around $300 with no subscription fees. they last around 7 years before you'll want a new one in case of battery failure. They operate on the same NOAA systems that ships use to send SOS signals.

I wear one a lot since I live alone in the woods without cell or internet service for several months out of the year.

I've been considering a Garmin InReach Mini, its roughly $350 for the device and roughly $300 for a satellite subscription for 2 years. This iPhone ... is quite compelling in the face of that.

Assuming you use case is to press an emergency button which shares your location with a dispatcher and nothing else which this seems to be for now. You apparently can’t text family to say you’re running late etc.

Seems to be iPhone only. I want to know how much it is after 2 years. Will it be part of Apple One?

Well, I found that satellite phone plans start around $50/month - so it should be less than that.

Honestly Apple should make the service free. It’s akin to making Airbags pay as you go; no just include them.

I suspect their plan is to introduce satellite calling by the time 2 years is up, but we'll see if the phone has the hardware for that already, or just the bare minimum for emergency texting.

Ultra racers usually hire a spot tracker for the duration of the event.

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