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Oplopanax Horridus

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Home › Posts tagged how-to

Tag: how-to

The SpareOne Emergency Cell Phone

By Michael Coyle Posted on 10/12/2012 Posted in Blog Entry 2 Comments Tagged with communications, emergency, gear, how-to, review, smart phone, technology
The SpareOne Emergency Cell Phone

The SpareOne: a simple, voice-only 2G phone powered by 1 “AA” battery, but DOES NOT WORK on the Telus (3G) network. Otherwise perfect for emergencies

SARScene 2012 Presentation

By Michael Coyle Posted on 22/11/2012 Posted in Blog Entry 1 Comment Tagged with communications, GPS, how-to, mapping, OpenStreetMap, SAR, smart phone, technology

This year I gave a presentation titled “Best Practices in Managing Geospatial Data for SAR Teams”

Calculating your own GPS accuracy

By Michael Coyle Posted on 07/11/2012 Posted in Blog Entry 30 Comments Tagged with gear, GPS, how-to, numbers, smart phone, technology
Calculating your own GPS accuracy

How to calculate the accuracy of your own GPS

Why you shouldn’t use Smart Phones for Backcountry Navigation

By Michael Coyle Posted on 23/05/2011 Posted in Blog Entry, Essay 15 Comments Tagged with communications, gear, GPS, how-to, map, smart phone, technology
Why you shouldn’t use Smart Phones for Backcountry Navigation

Smart phones are problematic for backcountry navigation; they are fagile, have terrible battery life, and are less accurate than a wilderness GPS unit.

Snowmobiles and Avalanches

By Michael Coyle Posted on 25/02/2011 Posted in Blog Entry No Comments Tagged with avalanche, how-to, snow, snowmobile
Snowmobiles and Avalanches

It’s not often that one single piece of information can save your life. Most of the time, especially in the backcountry, it takes years of training and experience to evaluate conditions, your ability and the technique necessary to take on …

Snowmobiles and Avalanches Read more »

On Getting Lost (Part 2): Corner and Edge Cases

By Michael Coyle Posted on 28/10/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, Essay No Comments Tagged with how-to, lost, rescue, safety
On Getting Lost (Part 2): Corner and Edge Cases

Corner and edge cases for how people get lost, based on personal experience.

Maps vs. Air Photos

By Michael Coyle Posted on 02/05/2010 Posted in Blog Entry 4 Comments Tagged with how-to, map, opinion

Now that everyone with an internet connection has access to Google Earth and Google Maps, we all have access to some fairly high quality air photo imagery. This might seem to be a good thing, but there are problems with …

Maps vs. Air Photos Read more »

SAR Day 8: GPS Navigation

By Michael Coyle Posted on 10/04/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, SAR Day No Comments Tagged with GPS, how-to, map, navigation, SAR, SARDay, training
SAR Day 8: GPS Navigation

GPS Navigation training

How to get up in deep powder

By Michael Coyle Posted on 22/11/2009 Posted in Blog Entry No Comments Tagged with backcountry, how-to, photo, ski, snow

I’m a Telemark skier. I started in university because the gear was cheap, and I was poor. Also, being poor, I did not have enough money for a ski pass, so I learned to ski in the backcountry. For me it …

How to get up in deep powder Read more »

How to Convert PDF files to images

By Michael Coyle Posted on 20/01/2009 Posted in Blog Entry No Comments Tagged with how-to, technology

Let’s say that someone has provided you with some highly detailed maps, these maps are in PDF format. Our mapping application needs them to be images. There are about 150 of these files. How do I convert PDFs to images? …

How to Convert PDF files to images Read more »

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The mapping software I designed for SAR
Mapping Software for Backcountry Professionals

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  • Backcountry Safety is a Shared Responsibility
  • Are “selfies” hazardous?
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Blogroll

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  • Outdoor Vancouver
  • Roland Web Memorial
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Older stuff

Recent

  • Backcountry Safety is a Shared Responsibility
  • Are “selfies” hazardous?
  • “Dog Walker” Behaviour Profile
  • Reflections on 2017
  • Accidental Triggering of SPOT device

Blogroll

  • AdventureSmart
  • Coquitlam SAR
  • North Shore Hikers
  • North Shore Outdoor
  • Outdoor Vancouver
  • Roland Web Memorial
  • SARBayes
  • TrueNorth Geospatial
  • Wayne Flann's Avalanche Blog

Projects

  • BlueToque Software
  • Missing Poster Generator
  • TrueNorth Geospatial
  • YourLo.ca/tion

Resource

  • AdventureSmart
  • Canadian Avalanche Association
  • Canadian Avalanche Centre
  • TrueNorth Geospatial

Projects

  • BlueToque Software Software architecture, design and build BlueToque Software Software architecture, design and build
  • Missing Poster Generator Easy generation, printing and sharing of missing posters Missing Poster Generator Easy generation, printing and sharing of missing posters
  • TrueNorth Geospatial Mapping software for backcountry professionals TrueNorth Geospatial Mapping software for backcountry professionals
  • YourLo.ca/tion A simple location finding, sharing and tracking service for SAR teams YourLo.ca/tion A simple location finding, sharing and tracking service for SAR teams
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Oplopanax Horridus Copyright © 2013 by Michael Coyle
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Read about what that means, and contact the author for commercial licenses if necessary.

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