2-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION only $32.95!
† THE WORLD’S BEST PADDLING MAGAZINES
Fl &Jetsam otsam
WISH YOU WERE HERE. PHOTO: SCOTT MACGREGOR
TECHNOLOGY BY SCOTT MACGREGOR Messages from Space GET A FREE HAT
subscription at any time and we will refund you the full subscription price. † Plus applicable taxes.
SUBSCRIBE AT
www.rapidmedia.com/subscribe or (613) 758-2119 FOLDING KAYAKS THAT TRAVEL THE WORLD
WITH EACH SUBSCRIPTION! 100% GUARANTEE: If you’re not 100% satisfi ed for any reason, cancel your
and two stickers!
HOW TWO-WAY SATELLITE COMMUNICATORS ARE CHANGING OUR CONNECTION TO WILD PLACES
When Adrian Meissner, the operations manager at Boundless Adven- tures, an outdoor adventure center located across the river from the Ad- venture Kayak magazine office, sends a group into the backcountry, he does so with both a GPS satellite communicator and a satellite phone. “For one season a few years ago while we were waiting for sketchy
the new Kurrent fi nd lightness
Globalstar satellite phone service to improve, we purchased a couple SPOT satellite messengers for back up,” Meissner says. “Even after we switched to Iridium phones with a stable voice connection, we still use both technologies together.” The four-button simplicity of the early satellite message devices
turns out to be their most limiting factor. Users are given only three options, two of which you pre-program in advance and one is a direct line to the cavalry via the GEOS international search and rescue center. The challenge is the one-way nature of these devices. You must think
of all possible situations in advance and create a plan for what each pre- determined message might mean in order to use them effectively. Meissner’s staff team have agreed that the OK button and its mes-
sage means the group needs logistical help. “If we get this message and we see the location of the group is on a shuttle road, we know the situation is not personal injury or illness and we’d suspect van trouble and begin to react accordingly.” Meissner uses the Help button for personal injury or illness situa-
tions, setting into action a different response protocol. In either case, Meissner’s staff then turn to their satellite phones to further trouble- shoot the problem and formulate a plan. Global two-way satellite communicators, like the DeLorme in-
Reach, do on their own what the magic orange boxes have always done—send preplanned messages, coordinates and tracking. How- ever, when you sync the inReach via Bluetooth to either an Android or Apple mobile device running DeLorme’s free Earthmate App you have so much more. You can write 160-character messages and send them to anyone in your phone’s contact list and receive their replies just like regular texting, except via satellite rather than a cellular network. The app also allows you to post to Facebook and Twitter and you can install DeLorme’s terrain maps and downloadable NOAA nautical charts. For Meissner, two-way messaging is a game-changer. “This may
The all-new Feathercraft Kurrent. Weighing just 21lbs, it’s a whole new kind of freedom.
FEATHERCRAFT.COM MADE IN CANADA 20 ADVENTURE KAYAK | SUMMER/FALL 2012 PADDLED WORLDWIDE
prove even better than our satellite phones. With texts you have a record of the conversation, you’re not scribbling things down and you have time to think and plan your response, rather than rushing to reply because you’re worried that your call may be dropped.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64