Category: Blog

Living with Wolves and Remote Communication

They’re back. The wolves. During breakfast one morning this past week, we heard a chorus of howling. Racing down to the shoreline, we saw 3 wolves in the center of the lake about a mile away.

Through the years we’ve seen wolf tracks on numerous occasions and have even seen the occasional lone wolf, but last fall, we became aware of their presence when a pack of seven emerged from the shelter of the woods into our clearing to the north of the house.

They seemed just as curious about us as we were of them. They hung around all through the evening and at one point assembled below the hill behind the house and serenaded us with howling, yipping and barking. We didn’t see them all winter but their return this week told us at least 3 survived.

Read the rest of Ron Melchiore’s story here……

Polar Explorer gives an update via satellite phone during the last 50 kilometres to the North Pole.

The North Pole is 10,000km away from the equator. Literally. The hardest part of that trip? The last 50. It is from those last 50 gruelling kilometres that the following satellite phone call comes, as explorers Eric Larsen and Ryan Waters trudge through snow, ice and water in hopes of being maybe the last humans to ever walk to the North Pole. At this point, they had been on the ice for 53 days, travelling some 775 kilometres from their start in Cape Discovery.

Larsen’s update is as honest and genuine as it gets. We sat down with him to learn a little more about what its like to fall through ice when the air temperature is hovering around -25 degrees Celsius.

Continue reading and listen this emotional call here…..

Stein Hoff thinks you waste too much time watching ‘Game of Thrones’

Norwegian doctor Stein Hoff is no stranger to challenges. The avid rower crossed the Atlantic with a partner in 1997, and in 2002 he rowed solo and unsupported from Lisbon, Portugal, to the coast of the South American country of Guyana. But now the 70-year-old who says people “spend too much time at their desk and wasting their lives watching Game of Thrones” is hoping to become the oldest person to row across the Atlantic, reports the Telegraph. Hoff will be unsupported and unfollowed (a satellite phone can summon help if needed).

Read Full Story Here……

This Hiker was more hungry than hurt

Cody Michael, 23, and his German Shepherd, Bauer, were spotted about 10 a.m. on May 19th in Tahoe National Forest by a Black Hawk helicopter pilot and its crew.

“Words don’t describe it, emotions do,” Michael’s father, Howard, told KCRA. “(I) spent a good amount of time with him. It was an incredible father-son moment.”

In an unbelievable coincidence, Cody was found 72 hours to the minute after sending his last text to his family

I bet Cody wished he had brought his satellite phone.

Read Full Story Here……

Earthquake didn’t stop Bart Williams from pursuing his dream

The first time Bart Williams made his attempt at the summit of the world’s highest peak, he and his group were forced to turn back after an earthquake rocked Nepal.

A year later, he returned to the base of Mt. Everest with his sights set on the top.

“There was that feeling in the air, let’s get it done, let’s make this year be a successful year,” Williams said.

On his return trip to Nepal, he could not forget the images of the aftermath of the earthquake in 2015.

“It was always in the back of my mind, and anytime somebody would rattle the tent just to get snow off of it or whatever it made me jump a bit,” Williams said.

The second attempt was a success. After a grueling and at times dangerous hike, his group reached the summit just before dawn on May 22.

The shadow of Everest loomed onto a surrounding peak as Williams and his group gazed around at the view they had come short of last year.

“The summit was everything I dreamed it would be,” Williams said. “I had a satellite phone and I called the family, said “I’m on the top of the world, I love you!”

It was a drastically different phone call than the one he made last year when he informed his family that there had been an earthquake and they were being evacuated off the mountain in helicopters.

Check out the rest of the story here……

A massive, four-day earthquake drill kicks off today June 7th 2016, in the Pacific Northwest.  The region is ripe for what officials say could be the biggest natural disaster the nation has ever seen. The exercise, called ‘Cascadia Rising,’ will test the readiness of responders at all levels of government.

Check out full story here…..

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee used a satellite phone to help kick off the Cascadia Rising megaquake and tsunami drill on Tuesday

CAMP MURRAY — Even as soldiers and emergency responders teamed up for a massive megaquake and tsunami response drill, Gov. Jay Inslee stressed that Washingtonians must also prepare.

When the megaquake hits, “hundreds of thousands of people will have to wait days, weeks and months for their electricity to be restored,” Inslee said in a news conference to kick off Cascadia Rising.

“They will have to wait a considerable period of time to have water service to their homes,” he added. “So having a basic emergency kit in homes, in cars, in offices, is absolutely essential for everybody who lives in our great state.”

Check out the full story here….

“Because we were able to get that information (via GSP-1700 Sat Phone), we moved our boat and ended up catching our limit of four giant Bluefin tuna valued at about $20,000.”

When it comes to fishing, Captain Dave Carraro of FV Tuna.com knows a thing or two, having run a successful charter business for the past 37 years, and is now a leading competitor and previous winner of the television show Wicked Tuna

Carraro keeps a busy schedule off land, even flying as a pilot for JetBlue when he isn’t fishing.

“Sometimes we are out on the water for four to five days in a row, fishing around the clock, which can be very strenuous, both physically and mentally. Not to mention the weather can be unpredictable and we can be fighting fish in very, very rough seas,” Carraro said.

While there may be unknowns relative to weather and fish cooperating, one thing Carraro doesn’t worry about is reliable communication: “As a commercial tuna fisherman, I’m constantly in competition with the other fishing captains in trying to find the best spot to catch large Bluefin Tuna,” he said. “Recently, I was 180 miles off the coast of Gloucester at a place called George’s Bank and was out of the reach of cell phone coverage. I was able to use my Globalstar GSP-1700 satellite phone to communicate with other fishermen inshore that were catching. Because we were able to get that information, we moved our boat and ended up catching our limit of four giant Bluefin tuna valued at about $20,000.”

While Carraro used to rely on a single side band radio, he lets his colleagues know that not only is it outdated, but also difficult to use in comparison to Globalstar products and services.

“Communication offshore used to be distorted and difficult to understand. Now we can rely on Globalstar for reliability and crystal-clear call quality at an extremely affordable price point. In addition, the small mobile handset can be taken in a life raft if the need arises – very comforting to say the least.”

Carraro, who has been a fisherman his whole life, describes himself not only as competitive when it comes to reeling in the biggest tuna, but also safety-conscious.

“I now require my whole crew to keep a SPOT Gen3 satellite messenger and tracking device on their primary survival suits. I also keep three SPOT Trace satellite tracking units on our secondary inflatables so we can be easily located in case of emergency.”

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