The Rebelle Rally
The Rebelle Rally covers 2,500 kilometers of stunning terrain across the Nevada and California desert.
Blending the love of driving with the ultimate challenge of precise navigation, the Rebelle tests your skills over 8 days of competition. It is not a race for speed, but a unique and demanding event based on the elements of headings, hidden checkpoints, time, and distance using maps, compass, and roadbook.
NO GPS. NO CELL PHONES. EVER.
MCLEAN, VA., October 19, 2021 – Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM) is proud to share that the Rebelle Rally extended its relationship naming Iridium its official safety and communications partner. The Rebelle Rally staff and competitors relied on a host of Iridium and Iridium Connected® devices to support connectivity needs over the course of the ten-day event.
Now in its sixth year, the Rebelle Rally is the first women’s off-road navigation rally in the United States, and the longest competitive off-road rally in the nation. Covering over 2,250 kilometers across the Nevada and California desert, competitors are not allowed to use GPS or cell phones during the competition, only relying on maps, a compass and a roadbook to find both marked and hidden checkpoints.
When it comes to communications between staff for logistics and staff and competitors for safety, Iridium fills the gap. Course officials rely on the IC-SAT100 push-to-talk (PTT) devices from partner Icom for high-quality voice communications throughout the rally, and competitors are equipped with Iridium 9555 satellite phones provided by Roadpost for emergencies.
The Iridium network routes the data for competitor tracking, which is a key component for scoring and safety, vehicle telemetry, and voice communications. This is done via YB3 trackers utilizing the Iridium network, that are mounted to all competitor and course vehicles and handheld YB3 units used by competitors to signal checkpoints that populate the real-time scoring system. In addition, a Thales MissionLink™ 700 powered by Iridium Certus® provides connectivity for the scoring and competition team when cellular access is unavailable.
“The Rebelle Rally made history as the first women’s off-road navigation rally raid in the United States and continues to be the ultimate competition for driving and navigation,” says Bryan Hartin, executive vice president of sales and marketing, Iridium. “Iridium is proud to be the official safety and communications partner for the Rebelle Rally, ensuring the participants stay safe and connected as they push the limit while competing off the grid.”
Iridium Chief Operations Officer, Suzi McBride competed in the Rebelle Rally last year and stepped up to the challenge once again. “The Rebelle Rally elevates women across the globe, empowering them to push their limits, and is a good reminder that speed isn’t everything without focus on precision and quality,” said Suzi. “It’s been thrilling to be part of this community as a Rebelle participant and to firsthand experience the significance of Iridium’s role as the official safety and communications partner in keeping participants connected during the competition. We all feel confident knowing we have Iridium connectivity watching over us with the support from Icom, Roadpost, and YB Tracking.”
“We have trusted Iridium products since the rally’s inception,” explained Rebelle Rally founder Emily Miller, “because we will not cut corners when it comes to safety, communications and scoring. As the backbone of exceptional products, Iridium ensures we have a wide range of reliable solutions to meet our unique demands.”
The Rebelle Rally is long in duration and distance. It is remote, challenging, and requires reliable, quality communications for our safety and operations to function and succeed. We move quickly over long distances and have supporting dispatch and logistics located offsite in other states. Our requirements led us to a simple, proven, top-quality solution – Icom’s Iridium-enabled Satellite Push To Talk (PTT).
Iridium is the official safety and communications partner for the Rebelle Rally, the first women’s off-road navigation rally raid in the United States. Over the 10-day event in the remote California and Nevada desert, participants compete through hidden checkpoints, distance, and time, navigating through it all with only maps, a compass, and a road book. Although cell phones and GPS are prohibited, connectivity for emergencies and staff logistics remain essential. Learn more about the critical role Iridium partner Icom plays in supporting the Rebelle Rally in this Q&A:
This is Icom’s second year supporting the Rebelle Rally with the IC-SAT 100 satellite Push-to-Talk (PTT) handset. What drew you back in for a second straight year?
We were more than happy to come back and support such an awesome event for the second year. The Rebelle Rally has such a welcoming, family-oriented atmosphere that draws everyone from contestants, staff, and sponsors back year after year!
An event like the Rebelle Rally has a lot of moving parts. Why is the IC-SAT100 so well suited to support this event?
From the Twin Springs Ranch in rural Nevada to the Glamis Sand Dunes in Southern California and everywhere in between, the IC-SAT100 is able to provide consistent, reliable communications for the Rebelle Rally without any additional infrastructure.
The Rebelle Rally is also a tough competition as it stretches across the Mojave Desert, so any communications device Rally staff use needs to be able to withstand everything the desert throws at it. The IP67 waterproofing and dust-tight protection, makes it the ideal solution for the Rebelle Rally.
In previous competitions, the Rally staff used different satellite and GPS phones with VHF ‘race radios’ installed in staff vehicles. Can you share how the IC-SAT100 differs from those devices and share any feedback you’ve received from staff on the differences they’ve experienced?
The IC-SAT100 differs from traditional satellite and GPS phones as it’s a one-to-many communications device whereas traditional satellite and GPS phones are not. In the past, the Rebelle Rally staff would have to dial out to a specific number and hope someone was there to pick up the call. With the IC-SAT100 and its one-to-many talk group call functionality, safety staff can talk to everyone involved with managing safety for the event at the same time.
The VHF radios that the staff used to use would work well when within range of one another or a repeater. In contrast, the IC-SAT100 utilizes the global Iridium® satellite network, ensuring reliable connectivity anywhere on the planet. With the scope of ground that the Rebelle Rally covers, being able to communicate with safety staff 60, 70, to even 100 miles away allowed for staff to go wherever they wanted, without a worry.
We had Chris and Chad with the safety team, and both let us know how much of a gamechanger the IC-SAT100 has been from previous years’ communications, as anywhere in the Rebelle’s 2,250-kilometer Rally area that they needed to communicate, they were able to.
What would you like readers to know about the IC-SAT100 specifically? Are there any features or unique capabilities that standout in the remote desert environment?
Rebelle Rally staff found the IC-SAT100’s ability to display which direction and how many kilometers away another transmitting IC-SAT100 user is, to be a unique aspect of the device. Wherever the desert took them, they were able to locate one another with the IC-SAT100 devices.
It’s important to also touch again on the IP67 rating of the IC-SAT100. The ability for the device to be able to 100% withstand the dust, sand and whatever else that the desert throws at it, is something that cannot be overlooked.
Can you share more information on how the Icom team trained the Rebelle staff to use the devices and supported with setting up talk groups, emergency overrides, and more?
From top to bottom our Icom Network team was able to provide tremendous support for the Rebelle Rally. Starting with our Mobile Network Administrator Courtney Boddy, who was able to do the unit provisioning, talk group setup, and ensuring that the priority talk group functionality was setup within the PTT-Command Center Portal. To our Network Division Manager Rodney Grim, who attended tech inspection at the West Inn in Las Vegas. Providing valuable best practice training on how to properly use the IC-SAT100 devices, we were able to ensure that everyone on the Rebelle Rally’s staff knew exactly how to use the IC-SAT100 to the best of its and their ability.
Do you have anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
We were happy the Rebelle Rally chose Icom for the second year in a row and hopefully reading about our participation and success in the event will make you choose us, too!