To all electronics experts out there...?

The theory is that it works in a very similar way to a cell phone, except that instead of communicating (transmitting/receiving) signals with a local, ground-based, cellular antenna mast a Sat phone communicates with one of a series of "global" satellites.

The advantage is that as long as the phone's antenna can "see" the sky, it can communicate with a satellite, so should work anywhere in the world; on a cruise, for example. A regular cellular phone will normally only work inland or in coastal waters.

The downside is that it is still very expensive to make calls, in comparison.

I think that, currently, coverage is global except for the Poles, and prices in UK seem to start around £300.

Modern Sat phones will also operate as normal GSM/GPRS cell phones.

Google "Thuraya", "Iridium" & "BGAN" for more info. HTH.

There are still satellite phones, used a lot by TV networks.. They run more power than a cell phone, since the satellites are in orbit, 22,000 miles in space. The one annoying problem..there is a delay in voice transmission, due to the distance to and back from the satellite in space. Although radio waves travel at the speed of light, a minimum 44,000 mile round trip creates a noticeable delay!! Even many TV stations experience a 2 second delay coast to coast with all the relays and satellites, and analog to digital conversion. (A to D, then D to A.) If you notice the video-phones used in Iraq and Isreal on the news, you may notice the long delay between questions

They work just like a cell phone- except the cell towers are satellites in orbit. So- you talk on your satellite phone and it it received directly at the orbiting satellite- then it 'repeats' your call by sending back down to the ground. Just like cell phones, there are many towers, or in this case, satellites. So- the satellites know about where you are located, and where the person your calling is located and transmits it to the right location. Generally via a ground station.

Are satellite phones still in business? Their business model got killed by the rapid increase in popularity of cell phones for much cheaper- and the project went bankrupt a few times.

okay the difference between a cellphone and a satellite phone is actually pretty simple

cellphone: signal goes from your phone : to cellphone tower : to cell company : to call reciepient

satellite phone : signal goes from your phone : to satellie : to company : to call reciepient

basically the cellphone can only be used in range of a cell phone tower, while the satellite phone you can use anywhere

You talk. The transmitter converts voice to data signal. The signal transmits to a satelite and down to a reciever and then it is converted to sound and you can hear.

Works like a normal phone, just different frequency.