Frequently asked questions

Operating life of iSLDMB is approximately 15 days.

72 hours with fully charged battery pack

With anodised aluminum casing and storage temperature recommendations of -20°C to 50°C (-4°F to 122°F), Pablo can handle most adverse weather.

Yes, by using the default configuration of 30 min GPS and SST acquisition, and hourly transmission of the
collected data the drifter will operate for approximately 4 months.

Yes, it uses 10 AA alkaline batteries, and we have a video available to assist with this procedure. Please reach out
to support@metocean.com to request it.

Yes, the Stokes has bi-directional communication capabilities made possible by the internal Iridium module.
When logged into our LiNC GPS tracking platform you can send new configurations at any time. Once the Stokes
transmits on its next interval it will receive and action the new configuration.

Yes, the Stokes has an internal accelerometer and an antenna on both sides. When the accelerometer senses it
has ‘flipped’ over it will use the antenna that is facing up allowing uninterrupted operation.

. The Stokes collects and transmits its GPS Location (within 100m actual) and Sea Surface Temperature (+0.25°C
(32.45°F) from -5°C (23°F) to 40°C (104°F))

Yes, this is possible if you have the newer iTrac II model and is performed by using the USB cable that comes with the
device while connected to a laptop computer running our iMailer software. This software can be downloaded from our
LiNC platform. There is an additional charge for this service so if you require more information, please reach out to our
Sales team at sales@metocean.com.

No, you are only charged for the number of days in the month that the iTrac is active, and the invoice is sent out the
following month. For example, an iTrac activated on October 15th would only be charged for 2 months of service in
October whereas an iTrac activated on October 1st would be charged for the whole month if it remained active until
October 31st. A $100 activation fee is charged for each activation and regardless of how long the device was active.

This depends on what interval you need your boat to report with, so you should check with DFO as this varies depending
on what zone(s) you are fishing in and what you will be fishing. The monthly cost varies from $69.99 to $199.99 with
transmissions ranging from 60 minutes to 5 minutes. Please reach out to our Sales team at sales@metocean.com for
more information

If you do not already have one, we can create a login for you for our LiNC platform, access to this platform will allow
you to request your vessel’s current position and review its trip history. There is no additional charge for this service,
and this can be accessed via the browser on your computer or smartphone. Please send your request for access to
support@metocean.com .

If you have an iTRAC1 the green LED light indicates power, and this should always be steady, as it being off means there is a power issue. The amber GPS LED and red Satellite LED will intermittently turn on when a position is being logged and transmitted. The iTRAC2 has an additional LED for indicating a message is waiting to be retrieved and once the iMailer software has read it, the message LED will turn off.

9523n Transceiver – The 9523n is a SBD satellite transceiver that is ideal for integrators who need a very
compact satellite transceiver to incorporate into an integrated solution. Some of the key features are:
• Voice, SMS and Circuit Switched Data capable
• Iridium DPL communications
• Iridium Push-To-Talk capable
• Direct PCB integration
Tera 9523 Modem - The Tera modem solution integrates the 9523 Transceiver, providing users with
easy solution to communicate data over the network using SBD, CSD, and RUDICS. The Tera modem
solution allows for SIM or SIMless based operation.
Hecto 9602N Modem - The Hecto 9602N SBD Modem is a Remote Satellite Short Burst Data only
modem designed to provide a reliable and cost effective means of Iridium SBD development. It utilizes
the Iridium SBD (Short Burst Data) module and provides both D9 RS232 and USB Mini-B connectors, for
direct connection to a PC. No SIM card is required.
Iridium 9602N SBD Transceiver - The Iridium 9602N SBD transceiver module combines the coverage of
Iridium with the low latency of SBD. It’s designed to incorporate into an integrated satellite
communication solution for a specific application or vertical market. Some of the key features are:
• RS232 interface
• GPS module antenna feed for shared antenna applications
• XXMC connector for small omni-directional L-Band antennas
Iridium 9603N SBD Transceiver – The 9603N SBD Transceiver is Iridium’s smallest, lightest transceiver. It
is ideal for developers who need an extremely compact satellite transceiver to incorporate into an
integrated solution. Some of the key features are:
• Smallest available form factor
• GPS module antenna feed for shared antenna applications
• SIM-less operation
• Single header connector for:
- Power
- On/off control
- Logical level asynchronous Uart Control
- Network availability
The Iridium Edge® Solar – It is a standalone and programmable, solar-powered Short Burst Data (SBD®)
device that offers real-time GPS tracking and local wireless sensor and communication capabilities over
Bluetooth.
Iridium Edge Pro –The Iridium Edge Pro enables users to create customizable end-to-end monitoring
solutions for vessels, vehicles, and remote equipment. Some of the key features are:
• A Programmable, Integrated Remote Device with Interfaces for Sensor and Equipment
Integration
• Quick Partner (VAR) Development Using MicroEJ® Java Development Tools
• Built-in Services including: Geofencing, Event Logging, Position Reporting, Modbus, J1939 and
BLE
• Easily Paired with Cellular Solutions Using Programmable Interfaces
• Programming Over the Air
• Industry Standard Eclipse Based Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
• Virtual Device Emulator Including Simulators for GPS/SBD and I/Os
STREAM – The STREAM transceivers 200, 210, and 211 allow end-users to send and receive data via the
Iridium Satellite Constellation anywhere on the planet. . Key feature are:
• All STREAM variants come equipped with an Iridium 9603N transceiver, serial communications
module, and a power entry support for various OEM engineering systems.
• Plug and Play Satellite Communication
• Low Latency with Iridium Satellite Telemetry

• Flight following for aircraft and helicopters
• Tracking and messaging for maritime vessels
• Tracking of mobile assets such as trucks and heavy equipment
• Monitoring of equipment on oil and gas pipelines
• Monitoring of equipment of water, gas and electric utility distribution

It is a type of data transmission from Iridium, with a limited byte size capability for quick and easy
transport. This service enables value-added applications to send and receive short data transactions of
less than 2 KB in periodic time intervals efficiently. It is ideal for remote monitoring applications used for
asset tracking, remote telemetry, and pipeline monitoring.

The default password for accessing VOICEMAIL is the last 7-Digits of your Iridium Phone Number (MSISDN).

Space-based cross-links make Iridium impervious to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes, which can damage ground-based wireless towers. Calls are routed among Iridium satellites without touching the ground, creating a highly secure and reliable connection.

Yes. 911 Emergency Service is available in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands by dialing "911" and pressing "OK"or the green soft key.

The USB port Iridium 9555 is specifically used for data applications or file transfers. It cannot be used for charging the handset.

To get your satellite phone ready for use, test is once a month using the free Test Your Satellite Phone (TYSP) service. Follow these six steps.
1) Go outside

2) Extend the antenna toward the sky

3) Turn on your phone

4) Wait for the green LED network indicator

5) Dial 00- 1-480-752-5105

6) Press the green button to start your call

We do have shared plans. A shared plan is a pool plan that has multiple devices sharing the same data allowance. There is a minimum amount of devices that can be used for a shared plan. All shared plans will use the Iridium Plan Met_DSG_12P.

All payloads are sent RAW and "AS IS". Nothing is done to encode or change the payload sent. MO Messages delivered via E-Mail contain the payload as a RAW TEXT.SBD file attachment.

Iridium SBD allows MT (Mobile Terminated) messages to be sent to modules via files attached to an outgoing email. The procedure below will outline the key points in performing this operation. When sending files you will have to identify the transmission/mailbox interval of your device. It is during these times that the device will be able to receive incoming messages. Create an email with the following:

• Text email ONLY (not HTML)

• The body of the email should be empty. Even a space or carriage return can cause the iridium network to reject it.

• Enter only the 15 digit IMEI into the subject line. You can send the same file to up to five IMEIs in the same email by adding a space between each IMEI in the subject line.

• Attach the associated file you would like to send. The file type needs to be in .sbdformat. Do not send more than one attachment in a single email as it will be rejected.

• Send the email to data@sbd.iridium.com

In Relay click the SBD drop-down menu and select the Modem Usage.
• Select the desired IMEI from the SBD Modem drop-down menu
• Select a Start Date and End Date from the calendar
• Click Submit to view SBD usage for the selected modem
• Click Export CSV, to download a copy of the SBD Usage
In regards to limits you can only see Date (UTC) and Actual Bytes.

MT messages stay in the queue for up to 5 days.

MO-SBD stands for Mobile Originated SBD Message (MO) while MT-SBD stands for Mobile Terminated
(MT). In regards to transmitting data over the Iridium network using SBD messages they can be (MO),
meaning they are sent from an Iridium modem, or (MT), and meaning they are sent to an Iridium
modem.

Do not use unless you are 100% certain that you must use it. Very soon it will only be available only if
using direct IP. When this option is used, the device sends a message to the gateway and the gateway
will queue up the message for delivery to a direct IP server. Once the direct IP server receives the
message, the gateway will not consider the message delivered until the direct IP server responds with a
line of code to say the message has been delivered. This means that if the direct IP server does not
respond with this code, the gateway will continuously send the message over and over again.

When an email is received with the payload sent by the device, it would be an SBD attachment on the
email, which your system can then parse. In the body of the email will be some general email delivery
information, including what we call geo-referenced Iridium data. Iridium does a single satellite “Doppler
style location” that can give a CEP (Circular Error Probability), which will tell you in KMs roughly how
accurate it is in relation to the actual location of the device. Iridium uses this data only to determine
what continent the device is sitting in cause that is how they know which satellite is overhead to deliver
data. Accuracy should not be used to pinpoint the exact location of an asset as it may be off a few kms.
Below is an example.
MOMSN: 2875
MTMSN: 0
Time of Session (UTC): Mon Feb 8 12:39:39 2021
Session Status: 00 - Transfer OK
Message Size (bytes): 10
Unit Location: Lat = 26.10643 Long = -80.18904
CEPradius = 2
Definitions:
MOMSN, MTMSN - MO = mobile originated, MT = mobile terminated. MSNs are message sequence
numbers, like a counter.
CEPradius – Provides an estimate of accuracy of the unit location in kilometers. Estimate is accurate 805
of time
Status – Transfer Ok, Incomplete call, SBD Denial, SBD Timeout.

This is used to specify where the data will go once it has hit the Gateway. Up to a maximum of 5
destinations can be specified. Below are the 3 options for delivery Type.
Email: The most common used option but can be affected by spam filters & security systems.
IP Address: Full server IP address followed by a colon and the server port
#. Example: 192.182.1.200:8080
Iridium Device: Used for sending data between SBD devices

Back Office is an option in Relay that should be selected if you are this interested in using LiNC to decode
data. LiNC is a complete asset tracking and monitoring solution, that enables you to remotely operate,
track and monitor your devices in real-time. There is a monthly fee using back office and if selected this
will show up on your monthly invoice.

If the device is expecting a mobile terminated message, and it is registered on the network, when a
message is queued at the gateway, a small free message gets sent to the device saying “Ring”. You could
build your firmware to recognize that serial input to the field application to say “When this happens,
create a session to go to the network and grab whatever message is waiting for me”. This means the
device does not have to constantly ping the network. To receive an SBD ring does not cost anything,
however, the retrieval of data as a follow up will.

MT Filters is used for specifying the only email addresses, IP addresses, and/or domains that are allowed
to remotely send communications to a device. Is often used as a security measure to ensure
unauthorized sources cannot send a command to device they are not authorized to communicate with.

Update: Allows you to change the plan, SBD delivery details, MT filters details, & enable/disable ring
alerts & BO access fee.
Suspend: Used to suspend the IMEI/SIM. Drops the cost for SBD, but for SIM it will stop the
transmissions but the cost remains the same. The suspension cost is reflected by the plan chosen. For
the most part it would be $2 but there are couple exceptions. For example wholesale plans.
De-Activate: Used to de-activate an IMEI. De-activated IMEIs can be reactivated and are subject to a reactivation fee depending on the plan assigned upon re-activation.

Iridium provides some guidelines here Iridium - Call Guidelines

Example 1 - Originating a call from a landline phone in the United States terminating to an Iridium satellite phone. It does not matter where the satellite phone is located, the dialing is the same.

a) From the landline phone, dial: 011 8816 XXX XXXXX

b) 011, International Direct Dial (IDD) access code for United States/8816 XXX XXXXX, the MSISDNM

Example 2 - Originating a call from a landline phone outside of the United States terminating to an Iridium satellite phone. It does not matter where the ISU is located, the dialing pattern is the same.

a) From the landline phone, (i.e., France) dial: 00 8816 XXX XXXXX

b) 00, International Direct Dial (IDD) access code for France / 8816 XXX XXXXX, the MSISDN.

Example 3 - Originating a call from the Iridium satellite phone (does not matter where the satellite phone is located) to a landline phone located in the United States.

a) From the satellite phone, dial: 00 1 602-752-XXXX

b) 00, for all outbound calls from the satellite phone/ 1, United States country code/ 602, area code/752-XXXX, actual phone number.

Example 4 - Originating a call from an Iridium satellite phone (does not matter where the satellite phone is located) to a landline phone located in another country.

a) From the satellite phone, dial: 00 CC XXXXXX

b) 00, for all outbound calls from satellite phone/CC, country code/XXXXXX, actual number.

Example 5 - Originating a call from an Iridium satellite phone (does not matter where the satellite phone is located) to another Iridium satellite phone.

a) From the satellite phone, dial: 00 8816 XXX XXXXX

There are two options available.

1. Dial 2888 (+2888 or 002888 will also work) on your Iridium phone and press the green key.

2. To receive an SMS message with your prepaid balance, send a blank SMS message to 2888 (+2888 or 002888 will also work). The Iridium system will respond with the number of remaining ISU-PSTN minutes in the account, the number of days until the account expires, and the date and time (GMT) of expiration in English.

Note: The prepaid balance is calculated based on ISU-PSTN minutes. If you place a large amount of ISU-other satellite calls, the announced minutes will be higher than actual. If you place many ISU-ISU calls, the announced minutes will be lower than actual.

Confirm the following

1. The SIM card may not be locked in the SIM tray. Inspect the SIM tray and upon locking a little “click” will be heard.

2. The antenna is extended and angled at 45°. The angling is required because when holding the phone up to your ears at a 45°, the antenna is angled as well, this will ensure it is pointing straight up.

3. Iridium Service is provisioned by your service provider for the SIM installed in the phone.

Handsets ship with a default PIN for SECURITY. The default pin is 1234.

The default password for accessing VOICEMAIL is the last 7-Digits of your Iridium Phone Number (MSISDN).

Swapping a SIM card to transfer active service to a new inactive SIM Card may also result in a fee. Please contact a Sales Representative or Customer Service Representative for details.