Thanks Sparks. Julian and I are in contact and might have some common stuff down the pipe...

Gil.

Great point Ray, I didn't think about the broadcasting thing.. HF will be heard somewhere most of the time, and any radio operator would jump on a distress like it was his life's mission!
Gil.

I remember reading about that TALL ship and the use of ham WINLINK being the only communication method to get the rescue started. Another advantage of HF radio is that - unlike a satphone- HF radio is a BROADCASTING method and if using a common mode CW, SSB voice &etc. MANY station have the potential to hear the distress call, not only the one phone number dialed from the satphone.  Satphones tend to lose signal when under huge columns of clouds, like the cells and super cells involved in violent weather.  I've been there and experienced that.  Satphones have their places, but if it'saboard the ship for summoning emergency assistance,, better to go with an EPIRB, for all the many reasons.

All in all, I'd rather have an old Sparky on the other end of the radio link, with headphones screwed-on tightly. 

de RadioRay  ..._ ._

Hello Ray :-)
Yep, there was also the case of the ship Bounty, reproduction of the original, that sailed in a hurricane off the coast of Florida years ago. Their satellite comms failed in the storm but they were able to send an email to the coast guard via Winlink! If I remember well the captain did not make it but around 14 crew were saved (can't remember this second)..
Gil.

Right! 

Because we live waaay out in the country, we had one choice: to get internet, we got Hughes satellite internet a decade ago. We had big thunder storms several times per week and the signal droped to zero.  Seems their satellite microwave downlink does not penetrate several miles of thick, cumulo-nimbus clouds.  Scatter and absorption is a REAL problem on certain microwave frequency bands. Fortunately, since then , fiber-optic internet has come to our area  :-)  Got rid of Hughes immediately.

- de RadioRay  ..._ ._

Hello.
One only has to subscribe to satellite TV and wait for the first storm to know that satellites do not always work!
Gil.

Hello.
I updated the site engine to Simple Machines 2.1.3. As usual, please let me know if you notice any degradation of service or bugs. Thank you.
Gil.

Hello.
I would not hesitate to get one if the BF amplifier issue has been resolved, but I do not know if it is the case..
Gil.

Thank you, Gil. You kind of curtailed my enthusiasm as a possible buyer.

In the links I provide below I found:

QuoteLab599 is a new radio manufacturer in Rubtsovsk city in the Altai region of Russia.

QuoteTX-500 is assembled in UAE. [United Arab Emirates]

About these two places:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubtsovsk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates

16 reviews here: https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=14781
https://swling.com/blog/2020/08/lab599-discovery-tx-500-answers-to-your-questions/
https://swling.com/blog/2021/07/lab599-discovery-tx-500-uk-distributors-and-dealers/
https://lab599.eu/  >  https://pileupdx.com/product/discovery-tx-500/

Hi, I tried one. It has just one weakness, the BF amplifier. Common-mode currents can fry it. At least it was the case when I tried it. I know, because I fried it and had to explain that to its owner... It is/was? a known issue. I do not know if it has been fixed in recent models...
Gil.