What's your equipment philosophy?

[Tim Vasquez]

What's your equipment philosophy? Just checking to see where we all stand.

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

My camera is my pride and joy. I would say 80% of my equipment funds have gone to lenses, bags, filters, tripods,and of course my body. Besides chasing, photography is a hobby of mine, and even when there is a bust, I usually come home with a photographic non-bust.

Aaron

 

[Dan Cook]

Once I get a digital camera/video camera, they'll be my baby. My laptop is a POS as it is, so I don't really care much about it.

 

[Leesa Terry]

When I chase alone it is pretty much just me and my camcorder, maybe a 35mm if I feel like it. I tend to go pretty visual when I chase alone as well. I do not like to be overly dependent on tech stuff. Plus college students don't make much money so I can't buy all the toys I want. :cry:

However, when I chase with my buddy we have quite a few toys from radios, to cameras, to a DirectTV set up. So that is when I chase all tech. It makes it more fun then just watching the sky all the time. But then you learn what the computer says and not the clouds. :roll:

 

[mikedeason]

Just the basics for me.

The aspect of chasing I have enjoyed most over the years is the challenge of determing rather early in the day where I need to be by mid afternoon and then adjust by visual clues (and a little help from NWR or local radio stations.) Since I chase alone most of the time, more gadgetry would simply take my eyes away from where I want them to be most of the time (the sky) and put them on dials, knobs and displays. I can set right here at a computer desk and do that.

That being said, this year I am finally dragging myself kicking and screaming into the 21st century by using GPS. I do think it's a valuable tool when reporting storms, either in situ or post event. It also beats trying to thumb your way to the right Delorme map while trying to drive and observe a storm at the same time.

Regards,

Mike

 

[Jay Barnes]

Don't forget the paper towels for when someone spits coffee all over your windshield... :shock:

I have a GPS, wx scanner and small TV that I use on a chase. I like to try to have some sort of still camera and my dv cam. I've tried using other things like a weather station but it wasn't worth the trouble to me.

 

[Chris Hayes]

Don't forget the paper towels for when someone spits coffee all over your windshield... :lol: :lol:

My pride and joy is my digital camera, as well. I have the Canon EOS10D with 3 lenses. I also carry my Sony TRV-900, two ham radios, CB, weather radio, ruler-for when i'm lucky enough to get a good hailstone, reference materials, and a host of other goodies. 8)

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

I don't like to be overwhelmed with gadgets, but I voted for a "fair amount". I had to, I've got plenty of radio equipment that stays with me year round since ham radio is a big hobby of mine. I like to leave computers and other things at home if I can.

Like Aaron and many others, photography is a hobby also so I carry the camera and film when I travel most of the time anyway. Always looking for that perfect shot

Like Mike, I like to look more for visual clues and what's going on around me than to try and check the computers every 30 minutes. Just makes it seem more like me against nature I guess, more rewarding for me. Of course my accuracy probably suffers more because of this :lol:

Tim

 

[mikedeason]

Don't forget the paper towels for when someone spits coffee all over your windshield...

Hey, I forgot about "The Cup" back in 98. Remember that one? We got it from that rest area near Wichita Falls and it rode the bumper from there to Lubbock and eastern NM, all the way back up to Quincy, IL and beyond? Don't you have some footage of that?

If the cup was still around it would be a valuable piece of equipment: Squeeze the coffee from the paper towels into the cup and "WHAMO!" instant recycled caffeineted beverage!

Regards,

Mike

 

[Chris Sokol]

My philosophy is quite simple....if I think that it is a piece of equipment that I may need at some point during chase season...even rarely or just once... it goes in the truck. Better to carry extra items that might not get used, than to be in a situation that it's needed in, but not available.

Chris Sokol/KD5ILI
Mobile Weather Concepts
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

 

[Amos Magliocco]

how much is too much

I have 2 radios, a still camera, a video camera, cell phone, and a laptop, which I think is about average. I know many chasers with less gear and plenty with more. I enjoy toying around with this stuff; it's good SDS relief to think about wiring radios to batteries and mounting detachable faces in clever locations. I like sitting in my truck and thinking about how it will look all decked out with the dashcam mount deployed and the wires tucked away. I wonder what the season will be like and what I'll see.

Yet I get too distracted by it all while in the field. My second biggest goal this chase season, behind taking full advatange of June and northern / high plains chasing, is to spend less time looking at my laptop screen or watching weather phenomena through a viewfinder. I don't want to find myself listening to 2 ham radios, a local AM station, and talking on the cell phone all at the same time ever again.

My philosophy is that I need to press the OFF button more.

Amos

 

[Ryan Trullinger]

Simply put, the minimum required to complete the required task.
in my case a 2 meter rig, a WXrx, scanner (for monitoring local authorities) and a digital camera.

 

[Ben Pinette]

Ryan said it well, the minimum required to complete the task. Being a ham and an EMA volunteer, the radios, scanners, and switchbox I have mounted in the truck are basically a neccessity. Laptop, GPS, data connection aren't neccessarily required for chasing, but as a newbie I could use all the help I can get finding the right storm, and keeping safe at the same time. Video cam to document everything.

This will be the first year that I've used all of the above at the same time, so we'll see how it goes. I think it might become a burden if everything is on at once, only because I chase solo and that's just too much to absorb sometimes!

 

[Jeff Wear]

as long as I have a good vehicle to get me to the storms and a good camera to help document them I'm good to go.

 

[Stuart Robinson]

Having to factor in how much equipment I can realistically carry on a plane I am very critical as to what I take with me. Apart from the camera stuff I would be lost with out my cellphone/laptop/GPS - I am a weather data fiend and part of chasing for me is to see the situation unfold on my laptop. Of course computers are my living so I am naturally a nerdy gadget type of person.

Interesting the discussion on the HAM side of things - I use a scanner for NOAA radio and this can be tuned in to listen to the HAM conversations - but I feel bad about doing this as I feel that I am snooping!