You don't need to aim it. You should, however, carry the Mini with maximum exposure to the sky. The consensus seems to be that the best place is on top of your shoulder - perhaps secured to your pack strap. The orientation of the antenna is nowhere near as important as the location.
The Iridium satellites are in a low orbit, so the apparent transit time is short. There is typically only one satellite in view at any given time. The plane of the orbit is generally southwest to northeast. The only practical consideration based on orbital plane is that worst-case reception occurs in narrow defiles running northwest to southeast - very narrow time window for satellite visibility.
Awesome info thanks, I'm considering returning my mini after terrible performance over the course of 10 days. On top of the SW to NE plane can you guess how often one might pass by? That's the problem for me, with over a kilometer or more of open water all round I still get nothing repeatedly. Thanks!
With open sky, there should always be at least one in view. To put that another way, you should have pretty much continuous coverage with a good sky view. This does not mean that your device will instantly connect. For example, some portion of your body might be in the way for part of the transit. Or the visible satellite might be low to the horizon in your location for part of the transit.
Thanks for your reply. They call the mountains where I was "The seven sisters", but it's a huge lake, I can't believe 1km+ of open water in all directions isn't enough, I tried well over a dozen times, never worked in camp at all. I wonder if mine is faulty. Much obliged
