Electronics & Technology

Spot X 2-way Satellite Messenger: Peace of mind in the backcountry

Anytime you travel to remote areas, communication is often compromised. It’s a concern I have wherever I may be. As a former Ranger, communication was paramount for a successful mission. Nothing has changed since those days except the technology. Even with modern smart phones, travel to countries with a limited network will render them useless. Additionally, in the US, I’ve found myself paddling the Great Lakes, Over-landing or even backcountry skiing outside of cellular coverage. A dangerous proposition should a real emergency occur. A simple and affordable device, the Spot X Messenger is designed to remedy this situation.

This lightweight pocket sized device allows two-way satellite communications with the outside world from those off-the-grid locations. The Spot X allows the user to send text messages to conventional phone numbers. It even generates a phone number for the Spot X device so friends and family can send the user messages as well. Wether it be encouragement for your trek along the Appalachian Trail or just keeping you updated to the outside world, the versatility of the Spot X is obvious.

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2-way satellite communication

In case of an actual; emergency, the Spot X can provide direct communication with emergency responders and a GPS fix for your location. A simple push of the S.O.S. button located under a protective flap will alert the 24/7 Search & Rescue Center of an emergency. At that point, the user can convey the nature of their emergency to rescuers. Finally, you will be notified when help is on the way. Additional helpful features of the Spot X are a built in compass to aid navigation. Various tracking intervals to allow family and friends follow your progress on Google Maps. Or you can even post to social media via the Spot X.

Recent trips to Saint Lucia and Utah provided us with the opportunity to use both the Spot X messenger as well as the Spot Gen3. Saint Lucia is located in the far Eastern Caribbean Islands. A volcanic island with lush interior rain forests, waterfalls and a rugged coastline. On several occasions my wife and I found ourselves outside of the frail cellular service on the island. Fortunately the Spot X was in our pack should something arise while out of touch. I was able to send and receive several “test messages” while hiking. The backlit QWERTY keyboard doesn’t like my fat fingers. And you’ll have to re-train yourself how to use buttons to move a cursor on the display screen as it is not a touch screen. Despite these minor gripes, the functionality of the Spot X was on point.

Spot X Features:

Message: Exchange messages with any cell phone number or email address from virtually anywhere in the world. SPOT My Account comes loaded with 14 predefined messages that you have the ability to customize and sync to your SPOT X device.
Tracking: Select from 2½, 5, 10, 30 or 60 minute tracking intervals, and let family, friends and other adventurers follow your progress with SPOT’s easy-to-use Google Maps™ interface.
Compass: Built-in compass and programmable waypoints to help you navigate.
S.O.S.: Send an S.O.S. to the 24/7 Search & Rescue center, message back and forth about the nature of your emergency, and receive confirmation when help is on the way.
Post to Social: Link your social accounts to keep your friends and family in the know wherever you go.
Check-In: Quickly and easily let everyone know you’re OK.

Our trip to Utah allowed us to ski in the backcountry with peace of mind knowing that either the Spot X or Spot Gen3 would alert the authorities should something happen. It’s not too difficult to get disoriented or hurt while blasting down an unfamiliar slope in the mountains. Especially if you choose to depart the ski area boundaries in search of un-tracked powder. My youngest son had the Gen3 clipped to his Db Explorer pack keeping it within easy reach should something bad happen. While my wife and I carried the Spot X. Fortunately, neither device was needed. But it’s better to have one and not need it than the other way around.

Spot Gen3 Features:

Tracking: SPOT Gen3’s customized tracking features takes your SPOT experience to the next level. Only with SPOT Gen3, is tracking motion-activated regardless of the level of tracking you choose (Basic or Extreme). A vibration sensor tells your SPOT to send track updates when you are moving and to stop when you do.
S.O.S.: With the push of a button, GEOS International Emergency Response Coordination Center provides your GPS coordinates and information to local response teams – for example contacting 9-1-1 responders in North America and 1-1-2 responders in Europe The S.O.S. button is for emergencies only.
Check-In: Let family and friends know you’re ok when you’re out of cell phone range. Send a pre-programmed text message with GPS coordinates or an email with a link to Google Maps^™ to your contacts with your location. With a push of a button, a message is sent via email or SMS to up to 10
pre-determined contacts and your waypoint is stored in your SPOT account for later reference. Your stored waypoints can be easily integrated into a SPOT Shared Page or SPOT Adventure account.
Help/Spot S.O.V. (Save Our Vehicle): Alert your personal contacts that you need help in non-life-threatening situations. Or, use SPOT S.O.V. for professional services on land. (Additional service required).
Custom Message: Stay in touch while off the grid by sending your custom message. Set up a message before leaving to send to contacts with your GPS location. Use this feature as a secondary OK message or transfer your personal help alert to this message function if you are using a SPOT S.O.V. service on your Help button.

findmespot.com

Spot offers the adventurer several options for GPS based tracking and communications. Last fall, I reviewed the Spot Trace while traveling to Overland Expo in North Carolina. The Gen3 is a simple to use and more affordable option while the Spot X is the fully loaded Cadillac. However, all devices will require the user to choose one of several subscription rates for functionality. A small price to pay for a potentially life saving device.

“SPOT X offers two different service subscription options. Choose either a monthly Flex Plan or annual contract plan. Flex Plans are best for seasonal use and only require a one-month subscription. Annual plans are perfect for get-up-and-go year ’round use with an added benefit of monthly payment. Annual contract plans also have the option for you to pay upfront and get all allotted messages in advance.” ~findmespot.com

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It’s Tesla versus China in the new era of electric vehicles

The Tesla Roadster, the world’s first highway-capable all-electric car available in the United States, is displayed on its production debut in the Tesla Flagship Store on May 1, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images)

Do you subscribe to the notion that the internal combustion engine/fossil fuel will soon be replaced as the prevailing means of ground transportation? If you do, we are already in agreement. Electrons are the new hydrocarbons. Electricity is the new program to get with, one that, if your country doesn’t get with it soon, will relegate you and your countrymen to technological obscurity.

Tesla is the leading manufacturer of electric vehicles (EV) in the U.S. today by leaps and bounds, having produced some 361,000 units in 2018 alone. (Don’t worry: This is not a techno-economic paper, and I’m not about to start slinging market percentages and other soporific statistics.) Tesla is the EV market leader in America: American cars, built in America, by Americans, for America. Before you start pulling out your flags and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, though, the second biggest market for Tesla is none other than our political and economic rival, China! Learning that probably stung a little, but business is business and Tesla is no more concerned about the American people’s well-being than China is about preserving the environment.

China has never been a team player on a global scale. Concern for the environment is a global, collective issue, therefore not at all a thing China has felt the need to worry about. China is concerned about China, what China wants, and what is out there to make China both feel good and look good. Heck, China puts itself at the center of all things in the universe. It did, after all, name itself the “Middle Kingdom” (中國 Zhōng Gúo). How positively ethnocentric of them.

China has feeble emission control standards as is obvious from these scenes of smoggy Beijing. (courtesy Wikipedia Commons)

Tesla has already initiated a groundbreaking on their first Gigafactory in Shanghai. China has the goal of producing 500,000 EVs per year there for the Chinese market. China already boasts production numbers of nearly 1.26 million of their own EVs built for the Chinese market, to include the world’s most extensive fleet of electric buses on the planet.

Oh sure, that displaces a massive amount of fossil fuel requirement for China, and a massive amount of hydrocarbon pollution to the environment, but not because China bleeds for the health of the Big Blue Marble. Rather, the growing global EV market appeals to the Chinese, who view it as an opportunity to pursue a potentially valuable economic boon while feigning the nobility of intent to protect Mother Nature.

China is the leading global producer of EVs in the world today, but like Tesla, they want more. China wants in on America’s market for EVs as well as their own, and they intend to compete in the American EV market by way of the Qián Tú (前途 “Future”) K50 luxury sports car, the first of which is projected to sell in the year 2020.

I would feel like a despicable human being if I did not include this fun fact about China’s EV production: Manufacturers program all of their EVs to automatically transmit “performance” data back the manufacturer. The manufacturer, in turn, transmits that same data to—you guessed it—the one-party Chinese government.

PALO ALTO, CA – NOVEMBER 05: A Tesla Model S car is displayed at a Tesla showroom on November 5, 2013 in Palo Alto, California. Tesla will report third quarter earnings today after the closing bell. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

I’m not suggesting that Qián Tú’s K50 is designed to be technologically invasive, but I ask you, would you feel at ease driving to your crack dealer in a Chinese car that informs “The Man” back in the motherland that your ass temperature in your sporty bucket seat is a tenth of a degree higher than normal, setting off alarms at FBI headquarters?

I, for one, welcome our new Chinese EV overlords. Go to the Oprah show and maybe you can win a free K50; everyone else there will. Enjoy your ride home while serenaded by the down-home country voice of Roger Miller as he croons “King of the Road,” but for the love of Odin and all things you hold dear do not deviate one-tenth of a millimeter from your intended route! Don’t look left or right, just go straight home and double lock your door!

Tesla is no slouch in the realm of EV technology in the world today, least of all in the eyes of the Chinese. The affluent Chinese business class admires the quality and creativity of Tesla products, as well as the sharp business acumen of CEO Elon Musk. They especially admire his penchant for timely business decisions and bold risk assumption.

I’m a patriotic man—that I fancy true. I would like little else than to own a quality American EV. I like to keep my money in America, and with Tesla, that is a hood that is very likely (a likelihood, get it?). Recall, if you will, the glut of Toyotas in America in the 1970s, and then the Hyundai hoards of the ’80s. Things sure got tough when inexpensive quality cars started showing up in the U.S. during those two decades.

Other Tesla EV products: lorries and cargo trucks (courtesy Wikipedia Commons)

I will tell you that I once owned a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. My God, it was absolutely stunning in every way. I just loved it to pieces…up until I tried to jump it over a light pole but never even got it off the ground. Woe was me. The next vehicle I got was a new Ford truck. The engine blew after only 68,000 miles. I’m sorry, for a second there I thought I said 68,000. Surely I must be mistaken.

Ford didn’t care at all and really did not appreciate me telling them about my silly-assed problem. There is such a thing in the world today as being too big to care. Ford is too big to care about me; China is too big to care about, well, the world.

The prospect of owning an EV utterly fascinates me. Can you imagine how much quieter Times Square would be with only EVs swishing by? Well, it truly is just a matter of what a person is accustomed to as a baseline, after all. There will always still be that one hind orifice who whines, “I just can’t concentrate with all that EV whooshing sound going on behind me!”

Well that, mes amis, is just one snot bubble that is going to have to be promptly popped as we move on with our lives in our new EV-powered economy. I do lament a couple of things bound to accompany this transition. For example: How many more animals are going to get run over because they don’t hear the cars coming?

One of the nearly 300,000 EV buses in service in China. This one was seen in Shanghai.

To advance that worry up a notch, what about people getting hit who do not hear the vehicle approaching? Ah, you see, Tesla’s smart EVs of the future are autonomous to the point of being just shy of being legally hands-off in operation. That is, they can drive themselves quite efficiently, though it is not legal to allow them to operate in such fashion. Have a look at this video of a Tesla driving itself through a city and then even parking itself in a parallel parking situation:

I’m sold. I’m down to adopt the Tesla smart EV. I’m on board with my car dropping me off at, say, the opera, then coming to pick me up at the opera when I send for it using my smartphone. THAT. WOULD. BE. SOOO. COOL. (Other than the opera part!)

Inspecting the specifications of both the Chinese and the Tesla EVs, I’m seeing that the features as they would concern me are impressive: Both appear to have decent rates of acceleration, power, and range. Regarding EV range, a typical EV may have a range of between 300-400 miles per charge, with a recharging time of about 75 minutes at a public charging station. Tesla proprietary charging stations offer a station time that is 16 times faster than public charging stations—good and gooder.

RIEDEN, GERMANY – JUNE 11: A Tesla electric-powered sedan stands at a Tesla charging staiton at a highway reststop along the A7 highway on June 11, 2015 near Rieden, Germany. Tesla has introduced a limited network of charging stations along the German highway grid in an effort to raise the viability for consumers to use the cars for longer journeys. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Finally, what is on all of our minds: How much does it cost to recharge your EV at a public charging station? It costs just as much at a public station as it would at your home. Typically, electricity from the grid costs about 13 cents per kWh. A typical battery configuration for an EV is approximately 100kWh, so a full “tank” will cost you about $13.00. Oh, the humanity!

Electrons are the plan to get with. Embrace the technology. The greedy we shall always have with us, the Teslas and the Chinas of the world tapping into each other’s markets because billions simply won’t do when there are trillions out there to be had. We regular Joe Schmos, we just plod along, rolling with punches, feinting and throwing our own when we can. I only hope that when “Pop Goes the Weasel” stops playing we are all sitting in an EV. Above all, buy American!

By almighty God and with honor,

Geo sends

About George E. Hand IV

Master Sergeant US Army (ret) from the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, The Delta Force. Post military I worked for 16 years as a subcontract to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on the nation’s nuclear test site north of Las Vegas Nevada. Currently, I am working for DeliverFund llc as an Intelligence Analyst and street operative in the fight against human trafficking. I’m a master cabinet-grade woodworker and master photographer. I have high military ratings in six foreign languages.

Photo of the day: Changing the way you hear music

The time came for me to look for another option outside of the standard Apple earbuds. One of my close friends was the co-founder of LifeProof phone cases and is more pretentious about his audio than anyone I knew. So when we sat down for lunch and I asked him what model he was using, he very quickly told me he was using Bowers and Wilkins. Now, this caught me off guard because up until that point I had never heard of B&W.

In 1966, when people were just really starting to give a shit about sound quality, John Bowers and his lifelong friend Peter Hayward founded a manufacturing company originally called B&W on the South coast of England. John served in World War Two as a special operations executive in clandestine radio contact for the allies. Between this specialty and his love for classical music, Bowers and Wilkins became his lifelong passion.

Read our full review

Marines test rig that makes any helicopter into a resupply drone

Marines test rig that turns any helicopter into a resupply drone

The introduction of drones has, in many ways, changed the face of warfare. Between long duration loitering, reconnaissance and even direct fire support, drones have already proven their value on the battlefield. It seems likely that, in the years to come, we’ll only see more autonomous aircraft in the skies above our war fighters.

However, one of the most significant hurdles drone developers need to overcome is the inherent complexity of developing both the command and control functions of an autonomous aircraft and new air platforms to house that marriage of hardware and software. The result has been some incredible flying machines, but is it truly that cost-effective to reinvent the wheel, when the U.S. military already has thousands of combat-ready aircraft sitting on runways all over the world?

Enter the Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (AACUS) from Aurora Flight Sciences. This suite of hardware can be installed in any of the three primary Marine Corps rotary wing aircraft, the CH-53E Super Stallion heavy transport helicopter, the AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopter, and the UH-1Y utility/light attack helicopter, and once installed, the helicopters become fully capable of autonomous, unmanned flight.

This is more than just an unmanned helicopter,” said Walter Jones, executive director at the Office of Naval Research. “AACUS is an autonomy kit that can be placed on any rotary-wing platform and provide it with an autonomous capability. Imagine a Marine Corps unit deployed in a remote location, in rough terrain, needing ammunition, water, batteries or even blood.”

“With AACUS, an unmanned helicopter takes the supplies from the base, picks out the optimal route and best landing site closest to the warfighters, lands, and returns to base once the resupply is complete — all with the single touch of a hand-held tablet.”

The setup, which uses light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors for ranging and terrain mapping, and cameras for obstacle avoidance and route planning. It is comprised entirely of commercially available, off the shelf components, making it an extremely cost-effective rig, though the magic that makes it all function comes from the programming wizardry of Aurora Flight Sciences.

In the video below, you can see the AACUS system in action, as it controls an unmanned UH-1H “Huey” helicopter. Even more impressive? The rig was installed in the Huey by the Marines after receiving only a few hours of instruction from the Aurora staff, proving that the platform is not only cost-effective, but easy to use – a significant concern if it’s intended to be used in combat theaters to supplement ground forces with air support and supplies. Its price and ease of installation means aircraft will not have to be relegated to “drone duty” but rather can be quickly switched in and out of autonomous service based on the availability of pilots and mission parameters.

In the test, the Huey, which Marines interacted with via an interconnected laptop and tablet, successfully completed three mock resupply missions to “remote” outposts and back.

AACUS gives revolutionary capability to our fleet and force,” said Dennis Baker, AACUS program manager. “It can be used as a pilot aid to operate in GPS- and communications-denied arenas, or allow fully autonomous flights in contested environments — keeping our pilots and crews out of harm’s way.”

Watch and AACUS in action below:

Image courtesy of the DoD

Originally published on Fighter Sweep

This new technology may be the future of close air support

U.S. Air Force Tactical Air Control Party Airmen with the New Jersey Air National Guard’s 227th Air Support Operations Squadron coordinate close air support with U.S. Marine Corps aircraft during joint training on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., Dec. 6, 2018. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Matt Hecht). DVIDS.

Could small, loitering munitions be the future of close air support (CAS)? The U.S. military has been experimenting with the notion for some time.

The first-ever loitering munition to enter the U.S. military’s arsenal was the AeroVironment Switchblade in 2012. The Switchblade is a small and light unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can be launched from a tube and can accomplish a variety of tasks. It has the capability of conducting short-range tactical reconnaissance and surveillance missions. Furthermore, it can act as a loitering munition—essentially a kamikaze drone—by locking onto a target and destroying it. Although the Switchblade homes in on the target, its operator can abort and redirect it if needed (if civilians suddenly appear next to a target, for instance).

All in all, the small drone weighs less than six pounds (that weight includes the drone, its launcher, and transportation case). Its warhead is comparable to a 40mm grenade. For navigation and target acquisition, the Switchblade uses a GPS and has the same ground control station (the control facility and software that guides a UAV) as the larger RQ-11 Raven and RQ-20 Puma drones. It also has a compact video camera to provide direct footage to its operator. It only has a 10- to 15-minute flight time, a speed of 55 to 85 knots, and a maximum effective range of six miles.

It has been used in Afghanistan to support combat operations, usually targeting either high-value targets (HVTs) or critical enemy battlefield targets (fortified positions, mortar teams, spotters, and even improvised explosive device planters). The Switchblade is being used by both the Army and the Marine Corps and provides platoon-sized elements with organic CAS and tactical recon capabilities.

The conceptualization and development of the Switchblade came after concerns over the high costs of the Javelin shoulder-fired missile system. Although an accurate and effective weapon, the Javelin comes with a hefty price tag—between $75,000 and $100,000 per missile. This means that live-fire training on the weapons system is limited and virtual-reality (VR) software is used instead to train war-fighters.

Recognizing the operational benefits of the concept, the USMC is looking to make its units more independent in terms of fire support. In 2018, it launched a theoretical weapons system called Organic Precision Fire (OPF), which, according to the USMC, aims to “enhance the range, precision and/or lethality of Marine Corps munitions against stationary and/or mobile land and/or sea targets in all operating environments.”

And, of course, the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) isn’t far behind. In 2018, the spec ops command launched the Maritime Precision Engagement (MPE) program. The MPE seeks to integrate loitering munitions into the stealthy boats of the Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen (SWCC), which, among other tasks, provide fire support and infiltration/exfiltration methods for Navy SEALs and other maritime SOF elements.

All of the above are fine, promising weapon systems. They don’t, however, pack the lethality and destructive capabilities of an aircraft’s payload, and their utility as a psychological weapon on the battlefield is lesser than, for example, a low pass by an A-10 Thunderbolt.

Originally published on NEWSREP

SPOT Trace | High value asset tracking

Owning a boat, ATV or RV can be fun. Recreational items are a great way to unwind and spend time with family and friends. Downsides to these items are the frequency of use and storage. Oh yeah, and cost. Unlike your daily driver that fits in the garage, recreational items often need to be stored off-site. And doing so means less oversight by the owner. Theft of recreational items and tool trailers often occur while being stored on a job site or in a storage lot. An easy way to keep tabs on your asset is the SPOT Trace.

Using satellite technology, the SPOT Trace allows you to track an asset virtually anywhere in the world. You will be notified in the event of detected movement or if the unit is powered off. If the asset is physically moving, like someone is driving off with your boat, SPOT Trace will track the location of the asset at one of several user-defined intervals. View your asset’s GPS coordinates on the SPOT shared page or the SPOT App. Additionally, a notification will be sent when a low battery is detected as well as daily updates when your asset is safe and secure.

SPOT Trace would have saved Tom

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine had his snowmobile trailer along with three sleds stolen from a secured storage lot. The same lot he had stored his RV for years. A padlocked chain link fence was all that surrounded the lot. Unattended at night, the perps cut the lock to the gate and drove off with his trailer. He was only aware of the theft when the police notified him that they had recovered his property. He never even knew it was stolen. His new trailer was forcefully opened and all three sleds were damaged or dismantled for parts. A SPOT Trace located in the trailer would have immediately notified him and drastically changed the outcome.

A recent road trip to North Carolina found my wife and I staying at several different overnight accommodations. With our Toyota Tundra fully loaded and kitted out for Overland travel, the value of the asset was a bit elevated to say the least. Busy hotel parking lots make me nervous because they’re an easy target for the seasoned auto thief. However, placing the SPOT Trace on the truck offered us peace of mind that it was at least traceable. In the event someone stole the vehicle, I would immediately be notified and the authorities would be able to follow the breadcrumbs left by the Trace. For only $99 plus a small service plan fee, the SPOT Trace is an inexpensive solution to an expensive problem.

SPOT App:

Below are a pair of screen grabs from the SPOT App for iPhone. I recently test tracked an asset of mine as it drove from our home to Rogers City, MI 80 miles away. With the SPOT Trace set to update at a 5 minute interval, you can clearly see the path taken as well as the destination. Additionally, each tracking update can be pressed for more information including date, time and LAT/LONG.

SPOT Trace Specs courtesy of findmespot.com:

Height:		2.69 in (6.83 cm)
Width:		2.02in (5.13 cm)
Thickness:		.95 in (2.14 cm)
Lightweight:		3.1 oz (87.9 g)
Operating Temp:		-22 F to 140 F (-30 C to 60 C)
Operating Altitude:		-328 ft to 21,320 ft (-100 m to 6,500 m)
Humidity Rated:		MIL-STD-810F, Method 507.3, 95% to 100% cond.
Impact, Dust and Water Resistant:		IP67 (Submersible up to 1m for 30 minutes)
Vibration Rated:		per SAE J1455

SPOT Trace is perfect for cars, boats, tool trailers, motorcycles, toys and even snowmobile trailers.