Must have technology

[Tyler Allison]

Hey everyone,

Take a second to look in your "kit" for storm chasing and post what your "must have" technology is. Yes yes...I know..your brain and your eyes are most important. I've been tasked with doing a 20 minute talk on "must have technology" and before I go off on my own tangents I figured I'd query the rest of you.

My thoughts of the major areas:

Something to capture the event:
- Camera of some kind (video or still..personal choice)

Know where you are:
- GPS with mapping (either stand alone or with your laptop)

Have reliable info:
- Laptop or "netbook"...maybe iPhone or Android as a replacement
- Internet access (cell phone, mobile base stations [eg wifi hub with a datacard in it])
- cellphone booster / antenna
- Software (Gibson Ridge, StormLab, etc...personal choice)

Be able to report what you see:
- Spotter Network

Any other major areas or sub-areas you can think of?

-Tyler

 

[Greg Stumpf]

Any other major areas or sub-areas you can think of?

A means of transportation. ;-)

 

[Richard Dickson]

It will seem pretty basic, but I think the most important 'must haves' would be the basic knowledge of the subject you are pursuing, in this case, storms and how they form. The next most important would be confidence in using your knowledge and the third would be having a plan that would utilize your knowledge and confidence.

Maybe I missed the real objective you were looking for with this, but I think there are too many folks with a load of nice stuff that are missing the knowledge of how to use it. I think back about what I've read of the 'old timers' in this sport who just had a basic knowledge of storm structure, a road map from the gas station and the family Buick.

Good luck with the talk as twenty minutes can go by all to quickly with an exciting subject like this.

 

[Adam Ball]

Good set of paper maps (that you know how to read) just in case something happens to your gps/laptop.

 

[David Mikulec]

A good basic knowledge of storm structure, my county road atlases (Delorme, by the state), camera bags (with fully charged batteries, new tapes, fresh memory cards), scanners and a full tank of gas.

I would think a good talk on this subject would include the fact that you can still do it the "old fashioned way".

 

[Tyler Allison]

It will seem pretty basic, but I think the most important 'must haves' would be the basic knowledge of the subject you are pursuing, in this case, storms and how they form. The next most important would be confidence in using your knowledge and the third would be having a plan that would utilize your knowledge and confidence.

Yes...this is must have "technology". This is only 20min of a 2 days weather conference...I presume the other 20 presentations are covering the "basic knowledge" part

 

[David Mikulec]

Tyler,

Is your focus going to strictly be on the "high tech" aspect, as opposed to the lo-tech lo-budget approach?

 

[Tyler Allison]

lo-tech , lo-budget is a legit option. What where your thoughts?

Essentially this is a group of chasers/spotters and I'm suppose to cover "the latest and greatest", but it can't hurt to cover the basics.

 

[David Mikulec]

I was just curious as to whether or not it was going to be discussed. It seems many discussions focus on electronics and their roles in chasing and I wasn't sure if anyone still considered going out "naked" (sans laptop, gps, ect, etc) to be "real" chasing.

Thanks.

 

[Christopher E. Kincaid]

Handheld weather instruments... I have a wind device (lol can't spell what its called), digital hygrometer and barometer. A scanner or weather radio would be nice too.

EDIT: your service is a must have too Tyler...

 

[Tyler Allison]

I'm sure I'll have a few slides at the beginning about..."technology can fail, don't be a jackass" and "the best technology is an education"...but I do have to cover the jee wiz stuff too

 

[David Mikulec]

Dag, almost forgot about that. I never go out without my trusty old Kestrel (4000). A really necessary piece of gear. I carry an old Maximum hand-held anemometer too.

Handheld weather instruments... I have a wind device (lol can't spell what its called), digital hygrometer and barometer. A scanner or weather radio would be nice too.

EDIT: your service is a must have too Tyler...

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

LED Lightbar? Sorry, couldn't help it!

You could discuss the latest tools of the trade available to most anyone via cell phone......ie - warning info via txt msg, Twitter, etc, as well as some of the basic weather applications which can help the average Joe/Jane.

Certainly don't forget ham radio..It might not be the latest, but in some places it's the greatest (APRS)

 

[Skip Talbot]

I don't know how you are planning to layout your presentation, but as far as must have technology, I would probably divide that into three parts: recording, navigation, and data. I might also add communications, but its not entirely necessary if you are going out solo and don't plan on doing any reporting. Each of these categories has analog and digital options. For recording you could certainly use a film camera, but personally I wouldn't leave without a digital camera and digital camcorder. I'd say weather instrumentation would also fall into the recording category, but again its not necessary unless your purpose for chasing is to gather data. For navigation, the analog option is obviously paper maps, but I would say GPS and moving maps, whether its on a laptop with a puck or standalone unit is "must have technology." Data could be a nowcaster, printed bulletins, library, but right behind GPS moving maps in terms of importance, I'd say cellular or satellite radar and internet connectivity are also must haves. For communications, a cell phone works best, but radios are also nice in certain applications. I'd say you could hit all the categories with a well equipped phone, but for ease of use and functionality a laptop with GPS and data card is your best technology suite.

 

[Jason Foster]

Yeah...a vehicle would be the essential piece of technology for me.....

At this point a laptop is the one technology I can't do without. Sure I chased my first year basically without one (the 386 was only for logging the days thoughts each night....and logging mileage, etc.). But there is so many things I can combine into the laptop like nav, radar, etc. in just on piece, it is the essential KISS technology I won't go without. I'd even leave my cameras at home because cameras can't tell you were the storms are whereas the laptop certainly can do that.