What electronic gear is essential for chasing?

[Steve Peterson]

Originally posted by Rockwell Schrock
I was expecting for people to respond with comments relating to something like: a GPS receiver hooked up to a laptop that superimposes live dopplar radar images on road maps, or somesuch. I'd even begun to plan out programming such an application. That was the picture I'd gotten in my head of modern chasing, but I guess I was mistaken. I realize that regular road maps and common sense are vital, but I had expected techonolgy to have taken a larger role... After reading these responses, now my thoughts seem like overkill. Is this an accurate deduction?

I think you will get various responses from chasers depending on how much they chase, how much they can afford, how far they chase, if they chase with others and how many electronics they can handle at one time while chasing, bascially what they want out of chasing. For me, I started out with absolutely nothing but my car, the AM/FM radio and a simple camera. As the years passed I would gradually add and even remove various electronic devices.

I bought a camcorder and am now on my forth one, each being an upgrade. To me camcorders are pretty high on my "need" list. The great thing about camcorders now vs when I started was how much improvement has been made with battery technololgy, it's great! I think a still camera is pretty essential as well. Two years ago I finally upgraded to a digital camera. Although my digital camera is not top of the line and I do plan to upgrade shortly, it may be my best electronic purchase for chasing to date. I take so many more pictures now with my digital camera because I now have no worries of wasting film which gets costly fast. It's also nice to be able to get pics up on the net instantly instead of waiting for them to be developed.

I have also been using a laptop with cellphone connection for 3 years now. To me this is important as well. To be able to grab radar scans while on the road has improved my success dramatically. It's also great to be able to get sat images, sfc maps, spc products, etc as well. Many people are now upgrading the XM systems to get radar data as well. I do not have one but would really like to. At this point, I am not sure I chase enough to make the cost worth while for me, but it's definately on my wish list.

I do not have GPS, still using the old maps. I would get GPS but my laptop is too old to have two things connected at once. For the most part, everything I have heard is pretty good about GPS. Once in a while you will hear people tell stories about how a road was not on a GPS map, but for the most part they say it makes navigating much easier.

A couple of things I no longer use is a scanner and a portable tv. The portable tv was great to get radar but I didn't really need it anymore since I get my data with the laptop now. My AM/FM radio has the NOAA radio frequencies built in so I no longer need to use the scanner for that. I used to use the scanner to listen to spotters give reports about the storms as well but again with the laptop I can pretty much figure out what is going on myself. I was also getting to the point of information overload with the scanner chatting continously during storms. It's actually been nice not having to listen to that the last few years. Also, I don't use my portable weather station any more. The only reason I ever used it was for dewpoint, nothing like overshooting the dryline while in the air conditioned car and not even knowing it! Again, the laptop with the ability to download sfc maps and radar images to find boundries has let me get rid of this.

Many people also use HAM radios to communicate with local spotter groups and with others they may be chasing with. I do not have one and don't plan to get one but I know many think highly of them. For me, I just use my cell phone to communicate with others.

That's pretty much all I use now. The advancement of technology has helped me and let me get rid of some gadgets in recent years and it has definately made my chasing more enjoyable. Again as I said earlier, it's all about what suits your needs. I am sure you will find others that have much more or less then I do. One thing I have tried to do over the years was try to make one major purchase per year and try to gradually build up to what you think you need. Of course once you do, then some camera or something else better comes out and you think you've got to have it. That's the way it goes with electronics I guess.

Hope that helps

 

[John Diel]

Rockwell,

I think your going to find that technology gadgets help a chaser in getting to the target area more than anything else. Once a chaser is on the storm of choosing, the old fashioned calibrated eyeball is going to reveal more about a storms behavior than a techno marvel will.

Data input is good, but once the storm is in site, looking at it and seeing what the storm's structure says about it will be key in how the chaser pursues the storm. If I'm close enough to see the base of the storm, I won't need a radar to tell me what it's doing.

I'm lucky though, I have a crew that will give me radar observations and guide me into the most potential storms. Nowcasters provide this same function to a lot of chasers on the plains. There are a couple of folks who offer some pretty darn good nowcasting services for a reasonable price as well.

 

[Joe Nield]

If you can, get the "*state name* Atlas and Gazeteers." Very highly detailed, even if they are a little pricey. I believe Delorme makes them.

 

[Rockwell Schrock]

Just to clarify, the AM/FM radio you're referring to is the radio in your car, correct (as opposed to a portable radio)?

What are some common data sources people use for imagery and the like? I know that bandwidth is in high demand and low supply when you're trying to download images over a cell phone.

Thanks to everyone for your feedback so far; it's great reading these replies.

 

[Zach Bailey]

Originally posted by Rockwell Schrock
Just to clarify, the AM/FM radio you're referring to is the radio in your car, correct (as opposed to a portable radio)?

What are some common data sources people use for imagery and the like? I know that bandwidth is in high demand and low supply when you're trying to download images over a cell phone.

Thanks to everyone for your feedback so far; it's great reading these replies.

I don't chase myself, but I know many chasers rely on WiFi hotspots across the plains. I've seen some pretty good maps produced (with GPS coords and all) that contain resutls from WarDriving (looking for accessible WiFi access points), and it seems to me that there's usually one or two that are "chaser-friendly" in most towns. Also, there's truckstop.net which offers WiFi for about 10 bucks a month...however at the moment it looks like it's fallen into some legal trouble, so that might not be available anymore.

With the abundance of Wireless networking and broadband internet connectivity these days, it's not uncommon to drive through a subdivision and be able to connect to the internet via someone's wireless access point that they've left unsecured and have a quick, speedy connection to the internet. Of course the legality of this is probably not sound...however, it is not an unfrequent occurance.

To that end, I'd say that a laptop with good battery life and wireless (802.11b/g) connectivity would be a great investment for the field.

 

[Joe Nield]

Originally posted by Joe Nield
If you can, get the \"*state name* Atlas and Gazeteers.\" Very highly detailed, even if they are a little pricey. I believe Delorme makes them.

Of course, were I smart, I would have realized that this thread was about ELECTRONIC gear. :lol:

 

[George Flickinger]

For me, a GPS is my #1 equipment choice!

All other equipment is secondary as I make my forecast before I leave town, and after I hit the road, the chase is all visual. A scanner is nice to have, though it tells you what you already know.

I run a $100 Delorme GPS on my old laptop as I have a larger screen to view it as opposed to a handheld unit.

With the GPS, I can pick out dirt roads on the run, and be more aggresive in cheating death!

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

If I had to pick one thing to take electronics wise(other then camera equipment as there is no way I'd even go then, lol) I would take the GPS and laptop. I'd rather have it then any scanning device, any weather radio, anyway to connect to the internet. GPS and Libraries and I'm a happy camper. That is all I really ever use. Next year will be different as I will at least have a second USB to Serial converter so I don't have to restart GPS anytime I want to try to connect digitally.

 

[Rockwell Schrock]

We have a Garmin iQue and it has worked unbelievably well for planning out road trips. Every attempt to stray from its directions have only proven the driver wrong. It sounds like that is going to be my companion, but I'm afraid that the small screen will leave out some small details (as compared to a full laptop screen).

 

[George Flickinger]

And I will add that the growing WiFi popularity makes mobile Internet access possible on the laptop. You can drive to your target area and hopefully be able to pull up a visible image, model run or whatever you need.

 

[Mike Sharp]

My other thoughts include spare batteries for enything that needs to have then replaced - the alternator and lighter socket can only take so much load. I am unfortunate that my transport has those tiny japanese terminal posts on the battery so have to be careful about connecting extras direct to it. I already have my ham tranceiver hard wired and am thinking about running wires thro from the Mains inverter but that will be the lot. Every thing else must take its chance and if the battery dies on the motor you don't get home or out of trouble. The motor comes first that is your lifeline.

 

[Rockwell Schrock]

By "spare batteries" do you mean a spare car battery? I've played music (with my 150 watt subwoofer wired directly to the battery) for two straight hours with no problems, though I guess that doesn't mean it won't die at the worst opportune time.

I've read that it's actually better to leave the car running when stopping for photo/video opportunities. I'm sure it depends on the situation, but is this true for the majority of the time?

 

[John Diel]

I have a surprising amount of equipment wired via the bettery. So far I haven't had any issues. Possibly a plus is that I have one large cable running from the battery to a power distribution block behind my seat. From this, I run a three outlet lighter plug, a 1000/1800 watt inverter, 50 watt HAM Radio. Maybe not too much then.

As far as not shutting down my truck for photos, well that depends on what I'm doing. If I'm outside the truck getting the photos, the truck stays running. If I'm inside the truck and using it window or door to help stabilize the camera, the truck gets shut down. Everything else, It stays running.

 

[Mike Sharp]

No - I was thinking Camera, GPS, etc.
As my motor is an Auto, I tend to err on the side of caution, plus I don't like leaving the motor running when parked up. especially if I get out. Have seen an Auto get knocked into drive as it's owner got out. Damage was quite extensive- BTW the car in question was a Merc.

 

[Morgan Palmer]

GPS is quite valuable, however for some chases in the past (when my laptop was on the fritz)... The Roads Of Texas (with handy county maps) did the job just the same.

That made me think that GPS being one of the most important things isn't quite the case. It's handy, but not essential. In event of failure, use you brain.

A scanner is also handy, but it seems like as my chasing skills grew, the more I doubted some of the reports I heard over volunteer fire departments and the like.

That leads to Ham Radio. I have been licensed since the early 90s when I was in high school and about to get my drivers license. I listened before I got my ham license (back then it was six months from passage of the ham test to getting the ticket in the mail. That was the chase season of 1993. :x ).

Anyway, Ham radio is most valuable in the field. From the RACES and ARES spotter networks in the larger cities, to the Skywarn nets in smaller counties to... most importantly... the informal simplex (car-to-car) communications within the spotter caravan, having Ham radio is a tool that can really pay off. It's also never been easier to pass the test to get a license, and the basic equipment to get started has never been more space-efficient and cheaper.

MP