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Creating A Tiny, Free, Roaming Webcam?
"I thought it would be cool to mount a webcam on my bike when I go this July. I looked around on the web and the only similar implementations I could find included a bike trailer and 20lbs worth of computer parts. I know that a person can do better than that. I'll be at least 5 miles from a support van at any time so short range solutions (Bluetooth, 2.4ghz wireless LAN) isn't an option unfortunately. What I'm looking into is a small webcam linked to a PDA with a cellular modem. The webcam takes pictures every couple of minutes and the PDA takes the image, calls on the cell modem, uploads the pic, and disconnects the call. This saves me cellular charges and conserves power so that I don't have to carry a bunch of batteries with me.
Basically I've gotten to the point that I need a firm set of hardware and a good wireless implementation to get the information to the servers. Below is what I will need for the system. Any suggestions for each piece, or a full working system that could be purchased would be very helpful.
Webcam: the smaller and more power efficient the better, something all weather, the size and shape of a pen would be optimal since aerodynamics play a part in this piece and I don't want something like a Logitech QuickCam stuck to my helmet.
Computer: PDA sized or smaller if possible. Needs to be able to connect to both a Webcam and a Cellular Modem and be able to do the work explained above. As power efficient as possible, the longest lasting batteries possible. Needs to fit in bicycling jersey pocket (about 4 inches wide and 8 inches deep).
Modem: this is problematic as not all of Iowa is covered for digital cellular service but all of Iowa IS covered for analog at least. Another option may be the recently reinstated Iridium system (I read somewhere they allowed data transfers)."
All you really need to pull this off is a really long piece of Cat-5 (and given that this is going to be in Iowa, you may need to bribe the Cat-5 so it doesn't crimp itself to death out of sheer boredome).
... Check out Axis. They don't exactly offer tiny cameras, but they *do* meet most of the other criteria. (Not sure how they're powered; I'd guess it's AC...)
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suwain_2
Sounds like you may want to talk to visor about it. They make the handspring PDA. They don't have what you speak of, but they may be able to make it for you.
I'm assuming you have a large budget, btw.
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Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Okay, I can't find the information right now, but I know that best buy used to sell a Palm Pilot camera, maybe something like that, on a palm VIIx would provide the solution. As for the aerodynamics of it, I would suggest strapping it to your chest w/ the lens tilted upwards. Now then, for the calling and disconnecting you might need to do a bit of search for software that can do it, or even possibly writing it yourself if you know how. Sorry I can't be more discreptive.
/* Of course I'm real, but can you prove it? */
You should look into PC/104 and other miniaturized PC systems for this. All you'll end up needing is USB support for a D-Link camera, and PCMCIA for your modem (only 1 type II if you use the Merlin or Sierra AirCard).
That's only two modules, perhaps just one. There may be other solutions as well that you can look into. Since you don't seem to need video output as well for this, a serial console would be ideal, and you wouldn't need it to be hooked up all the time anyway.
Finally, the disconnect for CDPD will only be needed to save battery power. Most service plans are unlimited service, not per kilobyte, unless you're roaming.
Here's your USB cam:
http://www.dlink.com/products/usb/dsbc300/
With proper mounting (think about shockmounting and using a flash chip for storage, it'll be a lot more durable) on the bike frame, the profile will be fairly small.
For even more insanity, you can use an ultralight subnote like a Libretto (with a USB card) or a VAIO PictureBook, depending on OS support. This would be easier to get on short notice, of course, but you'd need someone to supply you with batteries.
Best of luck!
Raptor
Raptor
"Procrastination is great. It gives me a lot more time to do things that I'm never going to do."
I've seen bike lights that are powered by the motion of some part of the bike (ie. the wheel, or collecting wind motion maybe) so the light is actually being powered by the person, no batteries required. Of course, a PDA and cell phone are going to require a lot more electricty.
But what if the telecom/webcam was working off of a rechargeable battery, that while being drained is also being fed by the motion of the bike, and perhaps also solar power (because any energy collected off of the biker's effort will slow them down I guess).
Realistically, the solar/kinetic battery recharging won't be enough, but it could be enough to keep it running all day until nighttime (or whenever the biker is resting) when it could be plugged into the wall for a complete charge?
Alternative energy rocks!
Jeremy McNaughton
------ Live simply so that others may simply live.
(Damn, she just took the cam out of her pants!!)
Sean
There's always ham radio... This, of course, requires that you obtain a valid license. But in the ham community, your request wouldn't be at all unusual.
However, another problem is that if you plan on mass-producing this, you'd need to force everyone who will use it to get a license before they can legally use it.
Here's another solution. Put a fairly good amount of storage capacity in it. If the cellular modem is out of range, it will save the image, and try again in a couple minutes. It will continue this until it can transmit the saved images. In the event that it runs out of space, it will delete every other one, or something to that effect. (Doing every other image ensures that the timing is consistent between pictures.)
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suwain_2
The Cassio PocketPC comes with a optional flash camera.
:)
A small GSM cell phone with IR modem (like Nokia 8260) could do the communication and happy coding because I'm not aware of any software that can do the whole thing you are looking for without user input.
MS Embedded tools (Visual Basic and Visual C) can be downloaded for free from Microsoft.
P.S.: When you're done coding send me the program
Why not? put some bikes on the track, take some pictures previously (storing localy), and then, during the event, say that they are live! Don't forget to use small, blury images or else it won't work so nice. It is also wise to say that you use a patented technoloy when asked, to justify the fact that you can't explain the technical aspects :)
As a former Register employee, and knowing the way they're crazy about drumming up RAGBRAI press, I'm sure you might get some interest.
tcd004
The Pentium 4 Revealed!
Don't click here unless you need Stock photos
Okay, granted the iPAQ is a CE device...BUT:
Compaq iPaq H3600 with PC Card Pack and the Sierra Wireless AirCard 300. This solution offers you everything you need except the camera.
Now, the iPAQ has a communications port with serial and USB connectivity. I do not know if this would work with a camera but it may...
Well, I'm thinking, everyone that I see so far has wanted to put a small computer on your bike.
But I think it would be more efficient, since like you say, to have just a small wireless camera and leave the PC equipment and the web page uploading and whatnot on your support vehicle.
A quick web search on wireless cameras turned up this:
http://www.x10.com/products/x10_vk45a.htm
I don't know if this works (its 2.4ghz, I don't know what your problem is with bluelan), but I'm sure that there are similar products out there.
Just a thought.
You've got three resources you need to be carrying with you on the bike: network connectivity, processing (CPU) power and electrical power.
b le/install.html. The advantages of an iPAQ are that it's small, very light, and has a comparatively long battery life. If you shut the display off, a single battery charge should last you 24 hours.
The network connectivity is the easiest: get a cellular phone with CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) or GSM data service. Most cell phones come equipped with an IR port or a serial port attachment so you can connect the phone to an IrDA or serial-capable device and use it as a wireless modem. GSM phones are probably your best bet, since they're most standardized. Check with different cellular service providers to see if any of them cover the entire state of Iowa. I know AT&T does, but they use TDMA which isn't as good as GSM.
Next, you'll need a computer, with webcam, to hook this phone to. Your options here are: buy an iPAQ handheld for $500 (if you can get your hands on one!), or buy a Sony Vaio mini-notebook for $2500 (weighs less than a pound, about the size of a portable CD player)
If you can get hold of an iPAQ, it should suffice nicely. Your challenge will then be to connect a webcam to the iPAQ. The iPAQ has a USB port, so any USB webcam will do; the problem will be finding Windows CE drivers for the webcam. You can install an experimental version of Linux on your iPAQ, courtesy of the Compaq research team. Under Linux it should be a snap to use one of the Linux video APIs to capture frames from the webcam. Your cell phone's data link will also work under Linux, via the iPAQ's IrDA port. To find out how to install Linux on an iPAQ, check out the howto: ftp://ftp.handhelds.org/pub/linux/compaq/ipaq/sta
The Sony Vaio is an x86 machine AND it has a camera built into the case, so it's a no-brainer to get a webcam working with it, out of the box. The problems with it are its price and its battery life: even with the display off, the battery isn't going to last longer than six hours. If you buy a VAIO, you'll either need to carry along some spare batteries, rig some sort of generator for it, or stop frequently for recharges.
A final note: a continuous cellular data connection can be pretty durned expensive. Expect $0.15 per minute of use; even if you only connect when you're using the service, you'll be spending at least $5 / day on webcam updates.
Use a wheel dynamo, and a smallish solar panel while you're at it. It would alleviate the problem of carrying spare or high capacity batteries. Just one set being continually replenished should work just fine. Put the solar panels on your cycling cap!
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Lots of digital camera manufacturers are adding modem interfaces and TCP/IP support to their cameras. Try Polaroid or Ricoh, or go to Google and search for "digital modem camera".
---- "If we have to go on with these damned quantum jumps, then I'm sorry that I ever got involved" - Erwin Schrodinger
I'm working on something vaguely similar to this as part of my Embedded Linux Challenge entry...
Using a PC-104 device, supplied by ELJ, I'm making use of two radio transceivers... They have a data rate of 56k (though I believe you can purchace higher-data-rate modules) and range of, get this, 40 km, line-of-sight. We're currently doing testing to ascertain the range without line-of-sight in various situations (city, suburbs, woods, etc) so I can't comment on how well they do, though 5 miles should be plenty close to maintain the full data rate...
They can connect using a "developers'" board that contains an RS-232 chip, and some status LEDs... quite cool, all told. They run on 5-12 VDC, so batteries are certainly an option.
They're made by World Wireless Communications. IIRC, they cost us something like $400/piece. Look into 'em.
TheNewWazoo
First, perhaps instead of making use of the batteries exclusively, you could hook a generator to the bike. The generator could be used to charge the batteries where you have 2 sets and you alternate between charge and use/expend.
Secondly, I would refer you to all of the embedded linux solutions: check out:
http://www.linux-embedded.com/
A lot of manufacturers make PC compatible single board computers (some very small) that will run Linux. The Basic STAMP micro-controllers might not be a bad choice either, they come with a lot of accessories (such as a mini-webserver) and a lot of hobbyist work with them: check out:
http://www.parallaxinc.com/
Lastly, I would refer you to Information Unlimited at:
http://www.amazing1.com
to get a small, low cost CCD camera, assuming that you didn't want to go with one of the cheapy webcams out there.
As you might be able to surmise, I have given thought to the kind of project you describe (hobbyist robotics actually). I don't really have THE answer for you, but these are some good places to look. I hope this helps.
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http://navasgrp.home.att.net/tech/sch-8500/
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http://www.interpug.com/npug/articles/sprint2.htm
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http://store.yahoo.com/cellularaccessorycom/datca
b samsch.html
A samsung sprint pcs modem has a serial port and is a modem; just put a modem where you want to connect to (or use a more costly ISP) and dial up. Then transfer the file and disconnect. The samsung 8500 has a special serial cable just for hooking directly up to a palm V. no costly PDA modem needed. This is also largly true of GSM modems (the omnipoint ones here, like that nokia dual band thing).I was told once, and I now think it a lie, that GSM worked by communicating to low orbit satellites and hence was global. I don't know if that's true, but I'd hope that either sprint pcs, or GSM would be widely available over the entirety of your course.
Don't ask about the camera, I wouldn't really suggest that sony picture book. But the cam for the clie is no longer an option it seems; and things like this never seem to be real. Although the visor eye module may be what you'd want in that case.
It's quite small -- it looks like an overgrown hand-held radio microphone and the picture quality is "decent" but not spectacular. It costs somewhere between $200 and $300.
Depending on the system used the range could be in several ten's of miles (particularly if there's a "repeater" on the radio system).
Have you ever thought about using a radio modem to a chase vehicle? When I was working on my school's solar car project in 1995, we had a van loaded with various telemetry equiptment, including a radio modem connection to the car, so that we could get speed, battery consumption, etc.
I don't know enough about your race, but with a power inverter, a few space car batteries, and someone willing to follow you in a car, this wouldn't be that hard to pull off.
[If, however, the race route is completely closed off to vehicles, this would be more difficult].
You might also look into other forms of communication. Check to see if Metricom has access in our area, or someone like them. [I haven't had one of their modems since '97, but the modem at that time had a battery which lasted me a good 3-4 hrs of constant use.]
With the chase vehicle concept, you might also try looking at X10 gear, but I don't know what their power consumption is.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
First, "HAM" doens't have to be in all caps. This is a common misconception, I guess... I don't know any hams who capitalize it "HAM". (A similar phenomonen occurs with people who don't use Linux, and label it as "LINUX") It's not really *wrong*, it's just a pet peeve of mine.
Anyway, another misconception is that ham radio always goes around the world. It depends on a number of factors, but the fact is that a common ham radio handheld will not go around the world. However, "repeater" sites are very common -- they repeat your signal at a much higher power, from a great location. Thus, a user on a low-powered "HT" (handheld) could still have his voice heard for hundreds of miles.
I have never actually used packet, but it is possible to achieve great distances with this, also.
One additional note... You will, of course, need a license to transmit. And you can't use it for commercial purposes.
Yaesu has just come out with nifty new "rig", the FT-817. This little radio transmits on the "HF" ('shortwave') bands, and can, theoretically, be heard anywhere in the world.
Also, PSK31 is extremely popular. I don't know about using it for images; I'm not in a position to comment on it. I don't know if they have an official site, but PSK31.com is a very informative site.
For those interested, here are a few additional ham-radio related links.
ARRL: excellent resources for those interested in ham radio
Kantronics, one of the larger makers of TNCs ['packet modems']
"73" (Ham term for 'best regards')
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suwain_2
Get an ordinary digital camera that takes pictures onto removable media, such as CF or memory sticks. Get a couple of these media. Every once in a while have your support people drive up and hand you one CF/stick while you hand them back the one you've just filled up with pictures. Let them worry about uploading the pictures to the web.
This solution means that you no longer have size/weight/power restraints on the computer and communications equipment doing the uploading to the net, which should make things cheaper and easier.
If you've got the budget for it, you might prefer two cameras to swap back and forth rather than trying to fiddle with CF cards while riding at high speed.
The next Cmdr Taco duplicate will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
I'd first like to thank the slashdot guys for posting this. Here are some of the things I've done since I sent them the original message. Second of all I work for the Register, so if this goes through hopefully I'll be able to ride RAGBRAI and not take vacation time for it. :)
:)
I actually haven't found a digital camera that'll fit my requirements so I'm looking into an analog camera with an analog-USB adapter.
I'm looking at the:
SuperCircuits pc75wr analog camera --> http://www.supercircuits.com/
and the Belkin analog -> USB converter --> http://www.usbstuff.com/capture.html
Computer:
I'll admit it and get flamed here, but I haven't looked through the embedded Linux stuff on the web, but from looking at Palms, Handsprings, IPaqs, and Casio's line I haven't been able to find a handheld that will do both a USB connection and a PCMCIA cellular modem connection at the same time. I think I found my computer base unit. It also includes a built in GPS system so if things go right there might be a map beside the picture with a big star that shows where the rider currently is on the route.
http://corp.intermec.com/products/6640.htm
Modem: I recently found out that one of the cell phone companies also helps to sponsor RAGBRAI so I might be able to swing a sponsorship for this portion.
I talked with a gentleman at MIT in the wearable computer club and the consensus is to be careful and get shock-resistant parts since I'll be on the bike.
Keep the suggestions coming, the more the better. (I don't want to use up my vacation to go on RAGBRAI!!)
Come on. Since when have webcams ever been about necessity? Webcams exist because of the "hey, neat" factor. It's not necessary to see live pictures on Jennicam, either, but I doubt it'd get the same audience if the pictures were taken ahead of time and presented in a big lump at the first of every month.
This is a really cool idea for a webcam, just because it's something different, and in the world of webcams, different means interesting. (I've watched webcams for fifteen minutes straight, amazed that anybody thought someone would sit down and watch them for fifteen minutes straight. I'm pretty sure that's the *POINT* of them.)
I don't know why I'm responding to an obvious troll, but I think he was actually complaining about the fact that the store bought solutions he saw were 20 lbs and required attaching a trailer to his bike. This seems like an obvious problem since he's going to be on a long distance bike ride.
Also, price doesn't seem like too much of a problem for the poster, since his request for advice mentions he wants as small of a webcam as possible, as well as a small computer that can connect to a webcam and a pda AND a cellular modem. None of these items are free, or even cheap. It seems the reason he wants to develop his own solution to his problem is that the current solutions are not good enough.
You decry this person attempting to create their own solution, rather than throwing money away by purchasing a solution that is not up to their needs. Whatever happened to good ol' fashioned ingenuity? The Do It Yourself ethic? What in the world is wrong with him finding a way to do something on his own? Do you also think it's crazy to work on your own car, rather than overpay a mechanic to work on it for you?
I don't understand your position. What in the world is wrong with figuring something out for yourself and implementing it, as opposed to paying someone to do it for you? What is wrong with him asking for advice on how to solve his problem?
I think you are just using this topic as an inappropriate excuse to sound off about one of your pet peeves. It is inappropriate since this post has little to do with Open Source. He has a hardware problem and is trying to solve it in the best way he can. His solution seems to involve quite a bit of non-Open Source hardware (pda's, cell phones, webcams). If his question was "I need to hook two of my computers together, how do I do it?" would you tell him how to plug the cables in, or use that as another excuse to vent?
Josh Sisk
- Visor Deluxe or Platinum ($250 / $300, 8MB of memory, runs for about 2-6 weeks off a pair of AA batteries) The Prism would let you look at your pictures in color, but has rechargeable batteries, so probably wouldn't work for you. The greyscale Visors seem to be able to store color pictures, though.
- Eyemodule2 ($200 , you can download the picture emailer program from Palmgear.com or freewarepalm.com there's also the greyscale eyemodule1 for cheaper some places)
- cell phone with a modem (~$170 for my little Nokia phone with IRDA. There are Visorphones ($300) and wireless modules for the Visor, but then you'd have to swap modules all the time. For service, I have Voicestream GSM, but that's limited to 9600baud digital service right now... I think TDMA (AT&T, Verizon) networks might let you connect up to 14400baud and have more complete analog roaming).
- if you want to get fancy, you could spend maybe $100 or so on phone-Visor serial cables so you don't have to hold them together to use the lame IRDA link, so you can keep pedalling while you're connected. Then again, it might be cheaper and more convenient to just duct tape both of them to your handlebars so the IRDA links always work... that way you could use the phone's serial port for a handsfree kit so you can talk to people when you aren't dialed in. A pet peeve of mine with the Nokia phone is that the IRDA port is on the wrong side of the phone, so I have to hold it upside down to use my Visor. But you could probably get creative with a mirror.)
- you might want to program a script (or get someone else to program a script
:) ) to automate the picture grabbing/uploading tasks with one button. I don't think I've seen anything like that yet...
Good luck! Sounds like you're going to have a lot of fun!So here's my specs for a cam setup that could get reasonably interesting pictures:
- Vibrational stability. No use getting jittery, blurred pix, right?
- Aimability. What if the most interesting pic of the moment isn't directly ahead? This might include lens with a moderate amount of wide angle/zoom capability. This could probably be accomplished with a semi-custom tripod head fitting.
- To go with aimability, etc. I would add detachability -- in case the bicyle it is mounted on were damaged, the setup could be moved. Secondarily there are many more interesting pix to be had when the riders aren't actually in motion, and finally
- Reasonably high resolution and color depth, because even if you are transmitting images live, how many people can watch the whole seven day race? So back at the web server end, and after the race is finished, you want to have better than average pix as a result of all the effort.
All of this says that what you probably want on the handlebars is a fairly decent megapixel camera, probably the one that uses an IBM microdrive -- one I have heard of can store 1500 pictures. (Which would be about one a minute for 12 hours), assuming that the cam uses AA batteries, so that a recharger can takes care of the continued power requirements. Nearly all the good digital cams have USB, so you have an easy connection to the device which will be responsible for image collection and transmission.Then we have to consider the other end: transmitting the image without a high speed data link. Since high res, high color pix require major bandwidth, the collector has to be able to compress the incoming images, probably resized for web page formatting, and perhaps tagged so that the high res pix from the camera can later be uploaded and replace the lower res image or be available from a thumbnail.
Probably requires more than a PDA. So my vote goes to the smallest Transmeta-powered device capable of the image processing, equipped with a wireless PC-MIA modem of some type. (Clueless about the best communication option here, fellow /.'ers, help me out!) Finally, I would think that a person would need a small solar panel to keep all of the devices and batteries charged, so the Transmeta device would rest just under the solar panel probably on a cushioned rack above the back wheel.
Still weighs alot less than 20 lbs, I would think, and positioned properly shouldn't add that much drag. Best I can do but fellow readers, what do you think?
...Open Source isn't the only answer -- but it's almost always a better value than the alternatives...
The 2120 looks like it's almost what you need. It can talk to a modem for incoming or outgoing calls, it can take a picture based on either time or alarm (push a button to take a picture).
But its power is 12VAC, 9.6A. You'll have to tinker to give it AC.
I own a Dolphin Pencam FastUSB007, whick is approximately as long as a ballpoint pen and about as wide as 2 AA batteries side-by-side. It is USB (you might have to duct-tape the USB plug into the side to keep it attached on a bicycle). The cool thing about it is it functions both as a digital camera (when disattached) and as a webcam (when attached to a computer). It takes 2 AAA batteries and is extremely light (it wouldn't be hard to mount on a bike).
AFAIK, the software only works in Windows, and I had a bit of trouble getting it working. You can use whatever free Webcam software you want (I use ConquerCam I found somewhere - it uploads to a FTP site every 5 seconds or so). The image quality isn't that great - The resolution is very small, in camera mode it needs a substantial amount f light to take the picture, and the videos are rather grainy.
You should be able to find it for around $80. The site I bought it from no longer sells it, but I'm sure it's available elsewhere.
-3Suns
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The Revolution will be Slashdotted
My wireless Web setup is:
This stuff allows me to browse the web wirelessly. I'm not actually sure how you'd upload starting with this setup; I suspect that's a software problem, and I'm hoping it's solved elsewhere in this thread.
That said, I'll throw out some other notes on systems like this. First, they are flaky, and don't like you moving, so when you get a connection, stop moving. A modem connection seems to be much more fragile when switching between network cells than a phone call is. Second, think redundant. Get multiple paths of connection, because there are so many places where the connection can break down, and you'll go crazy if you absolutely depend on any of them. Lastly, forget about sending up pictures and enjoy the ride. Experiences like that aren't for sharing with other people over the web, they are for experiencing first hand, while it's going on. The 3rd California AIDS Ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles changed my life, but it wouldn't have if I'd been fretting over hardware the whole time.
mahlen
See how today's achievement is only tomorrow's confusion; see how possession always cheapens the thing that was precious. --William Dean Howells (1837-1920)
Other people might find a use.
You sound like the IBM guy in the 1950s who
could figure out why the world would ever
need more than seven computers.
"Ham" (amateur) radio groups provide communications support for the ride. This may include ATV (amateur television) and definietly includes APRS (amatuer position reporting system). ATV can send live NTSC-quality video and audio at least from near cities on the route. APRS has an add-on protocol for sending still images and supports links to internet feeds. The hams have already figured out solutions to power, equipment, safety, and operating procedures.
Another approach might be to use a CPDP modem with a laptop. I do not think there is an easy way to do it with a Palm or Visor, although there is a simple httpd server for the palm that works fine with the omnisky modem. Coverage outside of cities may be a problem.
Yes, the digital computer was invented in Iowa. See: http://www.cs.iastate.edu/jva/jva-archive.shtml
Send lawyers, guns, and money. Dad, get me out of this.
Gateway once was based in Iowa
Since when? I thought it's always been in N Sioux City, South Dakota. I mean, why live or base a business that could be anywhere in Sioux City, when you can go a few miles north and not have to pay state income tax & lower property tax? When I was in college, I know that some of Gateway's machines were made in Rapid City, SD because for an EE class, we toured a custom electronics assembly plant in town. We watched them make Gateways and some other stuff.
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
I beleive a visor hand held devise, along with the appropriet handspring modules will suffice.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
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I went to their site to see if they had any company history online. It only says that it was started in 1985 and by two guys in an Iowa farm house. I do know that by 87 or 88, they were in N Sioux City, because one of my classmates in college worked there during the summers. I can't remember when they moved the headquarters to San Diego. I believe it was to be closer to Silicon Valley and Waite liked the climate better (wimp!).
I can believe the state not giving them a tax break. My roommate from college lives in IA City now and when it comes to taxes, hates the IA state income tax.
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
The July 2000 issue of Linux Journal had a story about a prof at the University of Tornoto had created a watch in 1998 running linux that has a video camera. Here's the article: http://www2.linuxjournal.com/lj-issues/issue75/399 3.html.
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
In case you have trouble with that link... go here
GSM is simply a set of frequencies & protocols. It's a European standard that's been extremely succesful, there's some of it on the NA coasts in dense areas but not much outside them. It's digital, uses towers like everyone else, nothing particularly exotic except for it being common most everywhere else and often using a small card for transferring the users network identity between phones. The only provider I can think of off-hand was Voicestream (who knows what brand they are this week.)
PCS is slightly more likely to be availaible but not much. Also primarily availiable in metropolitan areas it's a digital format that does oftentimes have provisions for reasonably fast data transmission (depends on the local service provider.) Generally this simply requires an overpriced serial-to-phone cable or in some cases an infrared link.
The third option would be of course good ole analog cellphone service. This has the widest distribution, the greatest range, and although it's slower then the other options it'll get through more of the time. Here you really are using a modem and it's just like plugging into a landline, albeit a very poor quality one.
Since most long-distance races take place away from metropolitan areas and since it's unlikely that a racer can stop to transmit when conditions are best it looks like analog is a must. It has the greatest chance of getting through when the racers are having a break and are free to mess about with this sort of stuff.
Of course there are many dual and tri mode phones so it's not an either/or proposition (my Motorola 7868W is 2 analog / 1 PCS channel.) If you're really interested in doing this then cut a deal with a provider with good local coverage and ask for a phone, airtime, & tech support in return for putting a link to them on the website.
Finally many companies have mobile relays for deployment at events like fairs, sports events, etc. where there will be lots of customers but only intermittantly and not worth a permanent relay. You may well be able to get the provider to shadow the race with their mobile realy truck providing service to all of the riders & support folks.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
Tape a camcorder onto one handlebar, and hang a bang of blank video tapes on the other. When the film runs out, remove the video tape and toss it over your shoulder. Have a friend collect them.
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