You could always apply the 70's solution to this problem and get CB radios. Of course, this would require considerable training in obscure CB jargon. "What's your 20?"<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 12:55 PM, Thompson Freeman <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tfreeman@intel.digichem.net">tfreeman@intel.digichem.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">I hadn't thought of motorcycles.<br>
<br>
Hmmm. Yet another option.<br>
<br>
On 07/21/2009 12:25:40 PM, Richard Bronosky wrote:<br>
> I used to use 2 cell phones (free minutes within same<br>
> network) as a<br>
> baby monitor so that I could work in the garden while the<br>
> baby naps.<br>
> Then I realized that walkie talkies would be better. They<br>
> now have<br>
> Duplex and VOX walkie talkies. I think that motorcyclists<br>
> use these<br>
> for "interbike" communications also. Having to push the<br>
> button on a<br>
> half duplex system would be a deal breaker.<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5">><br>
> On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 11:51 AM,<br>
> tom<<a href="mailto:tfreeman@intel.digichem.net">tfreeman@intel.digichem.net</a>> wrote:<br>
> ><br>
> > I'm back from a road trip to see grandchildren and<br>
> children. Too much time<br>
> > spent driving means too much time for the mind to wander<br>
> into ideas and<br>
> > questions. This being one of the more intellegent groups<br>
> of people<br>
> > around...<br>
> ><br>
> > Due to vehicle size, there were a couple of times when<br>
> we needed to convoy<br>
> > rather than ride the same bus. While cell phones have<br>
> some use here,<br>
> > answering the "Is anybody as hungry as I am?" type<br>
> questions, lets face<br>
> > the fact that they are expensive to use for much longer<br>
> conversations<br>
> > while traveling, increase the risk of accident for their<br>
> management when<br>
> > there is a single person in the car, and are not really<br>
> a general<br>
> > solution despite being in almost every pocket/pocketbook<br>
> around. I have<br>
> > seen a hacks book suggest setting up a two car<br>
> communications system with<br>
> > laptops and ad hoc settings on the wireless setups, but<br>
> I don't think that<br>
> > the setup would scale at all well to a three or four<br>
> vehicle convoy of<br>
> > family/friends/what have you. At least the hardware<br>
> would be frequently<br>
> > available.<br>
> ><br>
> > With a family reunion coming up in December, having a<br>
> nice multi-vehicle<br>
> > convoy voice-com system with moderate range, decient<br>
> privacy settings,<br>
> > and ease of use, would be an interesting item to have.<br>
> Two approaches have<br>
> > occured to me, but neither feels quite right.<br>
> ><br>
> > First one would be something setup with an Arduino type<br>
> controller using<br>
> > XBEE mesh networking type connections. Of course, I'm in<br>
> over my head at<br>
> > this point, and would probably need to hire somebody to<br>
> design and<br>
> > implement if I _needed_ it. Or turn it over to the<br>
> general public (like<br>
> > ALE) and see if anything turned up if I don't _need_.<br>
> It's an idea but<br>
> > poorly concieved at the moment.<br>
> ><br>
> > Second would be to do mesh networking with Linux and<br>
> VOIP technology. Put<br>
> > things on a thumb drive, tell people to bring lappies<br>
> and possibly USB<br>
> > style networking equipment, and go nuts. 'Course I don't<br>
> know much of<br>
> > anything about getting mesh networking going, and even<br>
> less about things<br>
> > like security and range so...<br>
> ><br>
> > Off the top of my head, I suspect I'd like to shoot for<br>
> the ability to<br>
> > have ranges of near a mile over the highway between any<br>
> two vehicles,<br>
> > automatic reconnection, voice level bandwidths with a<br>
> little extra for<br>
> > comfort or expansion, encrypted links for privacy since<br>
> this isn't CB, and<br>
> > the ability to automatically scale up to multiple (shoot<br>
> for 20?)<br>
> > vehicles.<br>
> ><br>
> > Anybody here find either idea amusing enough to make a<br>
> useful comment?<br>
> > A ticket for the Clue Train? Even a snide comment?<br>
> ><br>
> > As usual, thanks to all members of the list for the use<br>
> of their<br>
> > bandwidth. I do appreciate it.<br>
> > _______________________________________________<br>
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> ><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
</div></div>> --<br>
> .!# RichardBronosky #!.<br>
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