Satellite system cuts costs

A low-cost internet-based satellite e-mail system called Sat.400 has been introduced by Station 12 which is said to cut communication costs by up to 30 per cent. The system selects whether to transmit at five bits per character, when using the telex alphabet, or eight bit for non-Latin scripts like Chinese or Japanese.

When sending a message to a number of vessels, the system transmits a single message to the Inmarsat-C satellite, which is then split into an individual signal for each ship. A positive delivery notification is given when messages are sent from land, but not for those originating from the ship.

It is also possible to use the system for polling – requesting pre-set information, such as location, speed, and heading, from all vessels in the fleet. While Sat.400 can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet, polling information will only be sent to a specified terminal for security reasons.

HTML message overheads are also removed to reduce the transmission costs, and utilising the Internet means that no additional software is required. The cost of sending messages is $0.21 per 256bits, including delivery notification.

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