After giving a number of talks to outdoor and expedition societies around the country, including Edinburgh, St Andrews and Oxford University’s I would like to write a number of reviews on expedition kit that I have or will be using.

I would like to start off with explaining how to send back photographs from your Satellite Phone. I am not the best person when it comes to technology and have problems working my new mobile phone let alone getting involved with configuring programs or writing coding for websites. Cedric my web designer has put up with many hours of teaching me how to write and post simple blog and post photographs, for which I am eternally grateful. With this in mind I would like to offer two sources of solutions to this technical challenge.

“How do you send back a picture from your Sat Phone?”

Remember, the most expensive piece of this kit will always be the “Iridium”:http://www.iridium.com/ 9505a Satellite Phone. Iridium can be used all over the world and is the expedition satellite phone. You can buy them new at around £1000 or second hand via “ebay”:http://www.ebay.co.uk/ for around £400. Either route you’ll then have to buy minutes just like a top up mobile phone, which again can also be expensive. Something to point out with Iridium is that people at home can text an Iridium phone from the website for free. This is a great service so that people can ask questions or simply send encouragement.

Another option which I tend to use is to rent a phone from “Satcomms.com”:http://www.satcomms.com/. Here you can get a phone and use it on a contract basis, so when you come back you just pay for the units used.

Next I would like to point out an extremely useful article written by Richard from “Icetent expeditions”:http://www.iridium.icetent.com/. Richard has explained in great detail how you can set up a working system to send back blog and pictures. He has done such a fantastic job in this I certainly wouldn’t be able to even come close to explaining what you need to do. Its clearly explained and shows how you can achieve this at little cost.

The route I have gone down is with a company called “Human Edge Technology”:http://www.humanedgetech.com/shop/product.php?productid=78&cat=10&page=1. The reason I’ve gone with this company is simply because it is a tried and tested way of sending back data. Your PDA comes configured and already to use with “Connect 4.0″:http://www.humanedgetech.com/shop/product.php?productid=70&cat=2&page=1 software, a program which is simple to use which even I can use. They also have a tach team that can help integrate the software with your website and answer questions whilst your away. The down side is that it comes at a price and you have to weigh up if your budget will allow for this.

I hope that this will help point out some useful sources of information and help with your expeditions budget and planning. Each way has pro’s and con’s and I have gone down the more expensive route because making my expeditions interactive is key to my school outreach project. I needed to know that the kit has the best chance of being successful. Human Edge Technology should help make my next expedition achieve that goal.