A few weeks back I managed a search for two people lost near Buntzen Lake. After we rescued them, I learned that one of them had a smart phone with a GPS (in this case, an iPhone), but neither subject…
Blog Archives
Locating lost people using smart phones
Tagged with: emergency, GPS, map, project, rescue, smart phone, SMS, technology, YourLo.ca/tion
Posted in Blog Entry
Posted in Blog Entry
Vancouver Island Comms Workshop
Coquitlam SAR member Jordan and I attended the VI Region Communications Workshop in Parksville yesterday, with 45 representatives from 10 VI SAR Teams, amateur radio clubs, and EMBC. I presented my talk from SARScene 2012 (for those who attended, this…
TrueNorth is in beta testing
I’ll let you in on a secret. I’ve been working on my side project, TrueNorth, for a long time. A really loooong time. I started it in 2005 when I worked out the math behind second-order georeferencing, and had something…
Confusing an estimate with reality
This post at kottke.org illustrates a problem with the user interface on many mapping applications. The application is supposed to show you where your phone is, but when it can’t determine the position accurately, it attempts to find a general…
GPS Dilution of Error Notice
In awesome space news, SAR Teams throughout southwestern BC were notified today that a known GPS dilution of error event will occur tomorrow (January 16th) between 2215Z and 2245Z. Converting Zulu (UTC) to normal time means that’s from 14:15 (2:15 PM) and…
Are GoPro Cameras correlated with accidents?
A friend emailed me the other day with the following question. Some friends and I were wondering if there’s a connection between people getting into difficulties in the back country, and the wearing of GoPro helmet or ski cams. The idea…
The SpareOne Emergency Cell Phone
Readers of the blog know that I’ve said before that you shouldn’t use a smart phone for backcountry travel. The most important reason for this is that you’re using battery life which will make it hard to use the phone to…
Tagged with: communications, emergency, gear, how-to, review, smart phone, technology
Posted in Blog Entry
Posted in Blog Entry
Stop with the Smart Phones already
Last year I wrote about how you should stop using Smart Phones for backcountry navigation. News outlets continue to post comments from local SAR teams highlighting what I wrote about; people using their phones as navigation devices are running the…
Tagged with: backcountry, communications, gear, GPS, opinion, rant, safety, smart phone, social media, technology
Posted in Blog Entry
Posted in Blog Entry
SARScene 2012 Presentation
I attended SARScene again this year (see here for last year’s presentation), and gave a presentation titled “Best Practices in Managing Geospatial Data for SAR Teams”. The idea was to present practical tips on managing “geospatial data” which is a…
Tagged with: communications, GPS, how-to, mapping, OpenStreetMap, SAR, technology
Posted in Blog Entry
Posted in Blog Entry
Canadian Avalanche Air Bag study
Avalanche Balloon packs, or “Air Bags” (see WildSnow.com for an excellent overview of the current offerings) have been out for a few years, and other than anecdotal evidence, or data compiled by the manufacturers, there hasn’t been a lot of independent and peer reviewed study…
BlueToque Software
Software Design, Architecture and Consulting
TrueNorth Geospatial
Mapping Software for Backcountry Professionals
YourLo.ca/tion
Locate people using their SmartPhones
