up in the air internet and TV coverage

[crxcte]

I need some advice, I want to receive internet coverage while flying a small aircraft. Not flying over 14K feet and most of the time under 10K feet. What hardware and service would I need to set up?

Would this be expensive?

Chris

[Astrobroadband]

This would be extremely expensive and not practical for almost any private aircraft. A wireless data plan from Verizon or Sprint would give you some coverage but will not work all the time. I'm sure you have tried using your cell phone before while airborne (trust me the plane won't crash). Because it works on the same towers you would have similar coverage.

[crxcte]

Yes, I've tired the cell phone PDA and as soon as I get a signal it is lost. May be if I flew on top of a interstate I might be able to keep coverage longer but that is not an option. My objective is to beat the high cost of GPS and XM weather service through my laptop. I've heard of the commerical airlines having wifi coverage I'm guessing it is through satellite.

[grohgreg]

The problem is keeping the transmitter "locked" onto the satellite. Commercial aircraft do it all the time - but they've got space (and money) for the necessary equipment. It would be expensive - but not difficult - to add receive only (i.e. satellite tv) in your case. But a transmit/receive system adds additional (and even more expensive) hardware that probably couldn't reasonably be "plumbed in" to a small private plane.

If you do have the money - and think you have the space - what you need to investigate is beacon tracking satellite internet equipment. It uses input from your gyro to make antenna pointing coincide with your (reasonable) airborne maneuvering

//greg//

[crxcte]

can internet be tethered through a satellite phone at a reasonable (3 meg) speed?

[grohgreg]

Nowhere near. Matter of fact, very few residential satellite internet systems achieve that kind of speed. But back to satphones - they just don't have enough RF bandwidth for that kind of digital bandwidth. Depending upon hardware and provider, you're probably looking at anywhere between 9.6k and 256k. Some may claim higher speeds, but they're probably "burstable" numbers.

//greg//

[Wildblue1]

I fly GA regularly and use my cell for little things like Wx updates and such. I rarely have a problem with signal. What are you flying? I generally stay blo 10k MSL and more often blo 5k.