From time to time we check in with UUPlus for the latest info on satellite communications. This chat turned up several interesting tidbits which may be of interest.

In no particular order:

• The latest Iridium phone with newest firmware installed will work direct with Apple computers.
• Old style Iridium phones with serial output should use a KeyspanUDSA19HS serial to USB adaptor (US$30. from Amazon.com).
• Latest version of UUPlus works native with Apple operating system.
• The UUPlus software now reads Iridium SMS (free text-160 characters) messages.
• Finally, they now have an automatic GPS derived lat/lon footer which creates a link to Google Earth.

We have used both UUPlus and Sailmail for communications over the years. Both are excellent services. The one big advantage of UUPlus is being able to send and receive attachments, which Sailmail does not allow.