freeclimb9 Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 Any technophiles out there? I've been tracking a couple expeditions this Spring through their online dispatches. (For example, Ed Viesturs at Annapurna http://www.edviesturs.com/dispatches and a couple hauling to the North Pole http://www.thepoles.com). It seems that they call in their reports which are transcibed and put online. They also send images. I'm curious as to how this is currently done. Who are the main satellite phone carriers? How much does a phone weigh and cost? How much do minutes cost? Is it possible to attach a palmtop and send and receive text on a faster timescale than voice? How are images sent (via FTP?)? What about sending video? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 quote: Originally posted by freeclimb9: Any technophiles out there? I've been tracking a couple expeditions this Spring through their online dispatches. (For example, Ed Viesturs at Annapurna http://www.edviesturs.com/dispatches and a couple hauling to the North Pole http://www.thepoles.com). It seems that they call in their reports which are transcibed and put online. They also send images. I'm curious as to how this is currently done. Who are the main satellite phone carriers? How much does a phone weigh and cost? How much do minutes cost? Is it possible to attach a palmtop and send and receive text on a faster timescale than voice? How are images sent (via FTP?)? What about sending video? http://www.iridium.com/ http://www.globalstar.com/ http://www.inmarsat.com/ The above should answer most of your questions. There are multiple vendors willing to rent you a satelite phone. Tis my understanding that most of the satelite phone systems have poor data transmission rates (they were all designed before the boom in data traffic) As for exact protocols, I don't know. Carl [ 04-23-2002, 11:30 AM: Message edited by: cj001f ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelly Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 We would of killed for a sattelite phone on Mt. Steele in the Canadian Icefields. As it was, the 20 pound brick we rented wasn't worth a damn. The boyz with Sat. Phones were the envy of the range! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishstick Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 Nelly, Assuming you mean Mt. Steele in the Icefield range (Yukon), would you be talking about the 7 pound HF radios rented by Andy Williams, complete with 200' antenna? Sort of Korean war vintage? Ours came complete with dead batteries but it took a while to figure that out. We initially thought it was a geographic issue so we kept moving the damn thing from place to place. GB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fern Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 Iridium phone = paperweight that network is dead, I think they started dropping the satellites out of orbit even. Sound quality wasn't so great and you could only send 150 character e-mails or something. Had a built-in GPS which was kind of neat. The Globalstar phones are still OK. I think CHF (maybe ACC??) now has one for Canadian expeditions to borrow for remote trips ... someone else probably knows more than me about it. Andy is good at renting out useless radios. A sat phone is much more reliable but then you miss out on the 8pm radio chat. People all over the Yukon tune in to hear all the expeditions and field camps call in with weather reports or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 quote: Originally posted by fern: [QB]Iridium phone = paperweight that network is dead, I think they started dropping the satellites out of orbit even. Nope - Wrongo. Iridium Network = your tax dollars at work. The military bailed them out, the company has restructured and is now much smaller, but still offers commercial service including data (up to 64kbps?). They are even replacing the deorbiting birds http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d290/status.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fern Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 your tax dollars maybe, not mine 'cause I am 1) Canadian, 2) poor. nevertheless I stand corrected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 quote: Originally posted by fern: your tax dollars maybe, not mine 'cause I am 1) Canadian, 2) poor. nevertheless I stand corrected. We will assimilate you yet in our quest for Tim Horton's donuts and never ending mountain ranges! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 quote: Originally posted by cj001f: quote:Originally posted by fern: your tax dollars maybe, not mine 'cause I am 1) Canadian, 2) poor. nevertheless I stand corrected. We will assimilate you yet in our quest for Tim Horton's donuts and never ending mountain ranges! i thought if you were a Yank you had to claim to prefer Krispy Kreme over Tim Ho? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 quote: Originally posted by cj001f: quote:Originally posted by fern: your tax dollars maybe, not mine 'cause I am 1) Canadian, 2) poor. nevertheless I stand corrected. We will assimilate you yet in our quest for Tim Horton's donuts and never ending mountain ranges! tim horton and his non cream cheese fawkers can go jump off the chief..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hikerwa Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 actually most data transmission is over 2.4kbps for satellite uplinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 quote: i thought if you were a Yank you had to claim to prefer Krispy Kreme over Tim Ho?[/qb]I suppose I should be patriotic, but Krispy's are only good if you get them hot off the line. Tim's are good all day long - and better on the way to the trailhead. Best ever donuts are at the Laundromat/Indian Crafts/Coffeshop in Tupper Lake, New York though. Donuts are a bit of a fetish. Carl [ 04-23-2002, 05:32 PM: Message edited by: cj001f ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeclimb9 Posted April 24, 2002 Author Share Posted April 24, 2002 quote: cj001f: Thanks for the links. They're very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imorris Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 We rented a satellite phone for a trip up in B.C. Calls were as clear as a land line, but at over $5/min, a little on the expensive side. They are now quite small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelly Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 Fishstick: Yep, we rented a HF radio from Andy Williams. We could receive from time to time, but could never transmit. We dragged it around for awhile then finally reconciled in our minds that we were w/o communications and simply had to wait for Andy to show up on our pre-arranged p/u date. However, that place is way too remote to feel good about being a party of two w/o any means of communication. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeclimb9 Posted April 25, 2002 Author Share Posted April 25, 2002 The skinny: I spent a few minutes on the phone and found out about sending images on a satellite phone. The lightest setup I found is: A Compaq IPAQ that connects to a digital camera through the "CF jacket" (or other connection. there's a lot of options) and to a satellite phone (wt. 13 oz) that is "Hayes Compatible" and connects through the serial port. "Phojo" software on the IPAQ (from http://www.idruna.com/) allows drag and drop transfer. So, in under two pounds (though with extra batteries, it's gotta be more) you can send voice and images anywhere. [ 04-25-2002, 12:12 PM: Message edited by: freeclimb9 ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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