[tccrockets] Re: Sat Phone and Blackrock Launches
- From: Cliff Sojourner <cls@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: tccrockets@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,James Dougherty <jafrado@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 03 Mar 2015 12:37:21 -0800
I think the killer app on the playa would be to get the weather forecast and
jet stream situation from the morning NWS balloons.
The text page is a few kB so $2 to download.
That and FAA phone, should be enough.
On March 3, 2015 12:13:54 PM PST, James Dougherty <jafrado@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>Killer!
>
>Yes, that's all true Cliff. I got the rare benefit of testing this out
>the
>other day and gmail is wayyyyyy slow.
>And, as you said, not all the apps work.
>
>But for email, it would be great!
>
>
>
>On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 9:12 AM, Cliff Sojourner <cls@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>wrote:
>
>> Iridium runs at about 2400 baud so internet access is basically
>> unavailable. They advertise faster rates but that is just for highly
>> compressed email. So don't count on using it for that.
>>
>> If you really need internet access then Inmarsat is the right choice
>but
>> it is expensive and the antennas are bulkier.
>>
>> For me part of the charm of going out to black rock is getting off
>the
>> grid. Or at least telling the world they're on hold for a while.
>>
>> James, I'm in too. You might talk with Dick Hagen about his
>experience
>> with Iridium.
>>
>> Cliff
>>
>>
>> On March 3, 2015 8:32:10 AM PST, Airobert <airobert@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>wrote:
>>>
>>> In for penny, in for a pounding....
>>>
>>> I assume the internet access is though the sat phone and costs $1 a
>>> minute? Or did I miss something?
>>>
>>> Rz
>>>
>>> Hey Richard does Paypal work for you?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------
>>>
>>> *From:* tccrockets-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:
>>> tccrockets-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On Behalf Of *James Dougherty
>>> *Sent:* Monday, March 2, 2015 11:17 PM
>>> *To:* TCC chat
>>> *Subject:* [tccrockets] Re: Sat Phone and Blackrock Launches
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Did I also mention the first 9 people who donate will be the ones
>>> making the designs/plans on the Blackrock launches?
>>>
>>> Hurry - act fast :-)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Mar 2, 2015 at 11:09 PM, James Dougherty
><jafrado@xxxxxxxxx>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Folks,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> In order to file the Waiver for Blackrock, we need to be able to
>>>
>>> contact the FAA with 100% certainty at all times. The problem is
>that
>>>
>>> cell service still is not 100% guaranteed on the playa (yes, there
>are
>>>
>>> lingering base-stations and service on the playa for Burning man
>but
>>>
>>> that is not guaranteed).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm looking for nine (9) volunteers who will donate $120 to the
>club
>>>
>>> with me so that we may invest in proper satellite gear so and we
>may
>>>
>>> do our own Blackrock launches.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The plan is to get an Iridium Extreme 9575 Satellite phone and
>>>
>>> AxcessPoint Wi-Fi Accessory so that we can conduct operations with
>the
>>>
>>> FAA (and have email/Internet access) on the playa (independent of
>any
>>>
>>> basestations that may be in a transient operational state as
>leftovers
>>>
>>> from Burning man).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I've researched this heavily on price/performance and talked to
>some
>>>
>>> experts (including one of the original Motorola comms guys who did
>>>
>>> Iridium early architecture and deployment). This is probably a good
>>>
>>> post you may want to share with friends, but here's the current
>state
>>>
>>> of the art for consumers under $2K (not geek gear).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Satphone - two competing real services for consumers
>>>
>>> - Inmarsat
>>>
>>> - Iridium
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Inmarsat - Current issue is the high satellite orbit and only 3
>active
>>>
>>> satellites. plus side is that they are low cost, minus side is that
>>>
>>> you need to be stationary to use it. Good service if you're not
>moving
>>>
>>> - but what if you are in a car? Or an Airplane? what's the point of
>>>
>>> having a sat-phone if you can't use it as intended? If you're
>sitting
>>>
>>> and not at the nnorth/south poles - it will work and entry cost ~
>$700
>>>
>>> for the phone.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Iridium - their service and history has been rocky, but from a
>>>
>>> technical perspective, their solutions are the best and will scale
>for
>>>
>>> the long run. 11 satellites are in geosynchonous (and lower)
>orbit.
>>>
>>> Will work at any location and any time and service will even work
>at
>>>
>>> the poles (truly global coverage). Guaranteed (by design) to work
>>>
>>> almost anytime. Entry cost higher - $1000 for the basic phone.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Wi-Fi and Internet
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The other aspect is Internet usage, we would like to have a system
>>>
>>> that supports reasonable (e.g. circa 90's 56k dial-up) so we can
>surf
>>>
>>> and/or read email or send important updates out to the chat as the
>>>
>>> launch progresses.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Pricing
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> All of the units use SIM cards (like an existing smartphone). The
>SIM
>>>
>>> card comes with a number, and you can keep that number and recharge
>as
>>>
>>> you go (or change the plan to be a fixed price servcie contract).
>For
>>>
>>> example, and this is what TCC would do - you can buy 100 minutes
>for
>>>
>>> $100 so it's about $1/minute. For a big event like our own
>Blackrock
>>>
>>> event, we could load it up with $200 and have a solid 3+hrs of
>usage.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The Plan
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The plan is simple - we get 10 people - well make that nine (i'm in
>of
>>>
>>> course) who can donate $120 to the club for the Satphone gear -
>this
>>>
>>> would be the high end extreme edition with the Wi-Fi accespoint -
>it's
>>>
>>> a special pricing and deal so we have to act fast (within 1 month).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Notes
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> - If you're worried about the cost - look at it this way - you're
>>>
>>> not going to fly a motor for one launch :-)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> - Club will own the phone
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> - added benefit for the first lucky 9 - off-season we'll let you
>use
>>>
>>> the phone for some number of minutes that you can re-imburse :-)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> - We can add minutes as we go
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> - No charge for inbound calls first minute
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> - GUARANTEED ACCESS
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Actions
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Anyhow, who's in with me? This is everyone's chance to step up on
>the
>>> club
>>>
>>> in a big way - we can run our own serious EX launches at Blackrock
>and
>>> have
>>>
>>> a really great and fun time. Most importantly (and this is the real
>>> goal),
>>>
>>> we can have a dedicated 100% guaranteed way to contact the FAA and
>>> conduct
>>>
>>> flight operations.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Send email and ACK this message, more importantly send check to
>>>
>>> Richard or bring $120 to the next launch.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Based on the response, we'll plan for the Blackrock launches.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thank you
>>>
>>> -James
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> --
>> Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
>>
--
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
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