Blackberry?

[David Williams]

Has anyone been using a Blackberry or similar device for data retrieval in the field? I thought I would give it a try and invested in a Blackberry 8300 (Curve), and so far, so good. It loads graphics such as the "current" plot from Oklahoma Mesonet, HPC surface analysis, static NEXRAD images (WSI), soundings (NCAR), etc. with much success. I am still searching for satellite images of a manageable size, as there is a limit (i.e. high res images are too large to load). I've had the most success directly linking these on a text only html page since each homepage is otherwise resized to fit, which is both bulky and time consuming.

Anyway, would like to hear from anyone else using one of these devices to retrieve met. data - thumbs up or thumbs down? Have you found the AT&T EDGE coverage to be as robust in KS, OK as the coverage map indicates?

 

[Steve Miller]

I have the same blackberry (AT&T) and have found it to be very useful in the field. In fact, we ran out of Sprint coverage on my chase partner's data card around Stillwater, OK in October while chasing and I was able to use KFOR's mobile news/weather page (k4togo.com) to access animated radar in a pinch.

Bob Hall, a member of this board, has one on AT&T as well and he has a way of tethering it without getting charged. He can use it for EDGE coverage on his laptop while mobile. He might chime in on this - or burn down my house for mentioning that he's getting it for free...

I recommend setting up a stormnow.com account for weather e-mail alerts to your phone. If you use your blackberry address the e-mails get there a split second faster than a yahoo/gmail/hotmail account forwarded to your phone (if that makes sense).

Another neat feature is mobile blogging. Anyone who reads my blog regularly will see a post every now and then from my phone. I can send a picture and text in an email to my blogger account from anywhere and it be there in seconds. This is especially nice during a chase. Of course other phones do this but the ease of having the full keyboard is essential.

One last thing the blackberry is good for is instant messaging with other blackberry users. The IM function is built in to the data plan and most of my chase friends have blackberries so we use this often.

Hope this helps give you some ideas you didn’t already have!

 

[James Siler]

Bob Hall, a member of this board, has one on AT&T as well and he has a way of tethering it without getting charged. He can use it for EDGE coverage on his laptop while mobile. He might chime in on this - or burn down my house for mentioning that he's getting it for free...

He did tell I read this thread. And since I work for AT&T I shall have to turn him in. j/k Seriously what do I care. I am trying to save money to chase so I cut corners with things to. Anywho, a large part of the coverage in Kansas is nothing but partner coverage so as far as EDGE is concerned. There are gaps. HUGE GAPS! BUt that is where a cell amp will come in handy! Oklahoma's is pretty dead on. Like everyone there are holes but over all it is pretty consistent. If you really want to see coverage in Kansas goto the http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/
I don't know if I should be mentioning this but we bought Dobson Cellular which is a partner with AT&T and I am thinking we get to keep there network on this deal unlike with Cingular and AT&T Wireless merger were here in Oklahoma we had to sell the AT&T network. But anyway if we do get to keep the Dobson network then we gained SW, W, NW Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle from i-40 north and the Oklahoma Panhandle as AT&T network. And Dobson has EDGE and they run Class 10, I think, which is pretty good. I have an air card and with just an external antenna on the car have done really well in these area's so I can only imagine what an amp would do. I am just rambaling. Sorry. Orgianlly just wanted to advise about Kansas's coverage. Have a good evening guys.

Just found this on a site about which countys we WILL have to give up with the merging of Dobson.
Local territory

The area of wireless operations in Oklahoma that AT&T will be required to sell is an area just north of I-40 in the far western part of the state that includes parts or all of the counties of Roger Mills, Custer, Dewey and Ellis, said Warren Henry, vice president for investor relations at Dobson

 

[David Williams]

Thanks for your thoughts about this phone and data service. It looks like a decided advantage of using the Blackberry as a data source "on the go" comes with the ability to link to actual image files, hence the "full image" option to zoom in and look at satellite, radar, surface plots, etc. without losing image quality. Plus, as you noted about blogging, the keyboard makes it pretty nice...