You Are Here

happybuddha

00:05

@MarkMayo one big explosion, where, on the plane ?

That cannot be 100% correct. What if I am one of the survivors ? What could I do to be better prepared - carry distress flares ? Or a Sat phone ? or what else ?

Mark Mayo

I'm not aware of an planes that have had explosions midair AND had survivors...?

although I could be wrong, of course

happybuddha

I have to say I dont understand the downvotes.. how can a question asking how to be prepared on a travel plan be not constructive.

Mark Mayo

Maybe because it's speculative / not entirely answerable? It's still not entirely clear to me, which is why I only commented and mentioned it in here, haven't voted or close voted either way yet

happybuddha

I think @Flimzy thinks its answerable, in his own way

:)

dlanod

@happybuddha IMO in its current state it's not answerable, which would be worth a downvote. There are precautions you can take in very specific circumstances, but "never being lost" is practically impossible.

Even with your edit - "Travelling within Australia by road" (assuming you mean you will be driving) would be answerable and reasonable IMO. "Travelling between the USA and Australia on a direct flight" would also be answerable and reasonable. Including the two requires two very different and separate answers.

Example: Changing your question to "What should I factor in preparations so that when I drive within Australia, I am never lost?"

A: Rent/buy a GPS. Obtain a credible Australia-wide road map. Have a mobile phone with access to Google Maps.

Mark Mayo

00:22

and even that isn't 100% guaranteed

happybuddha

@dlanod I am stunned to read this in today's technologically advanced world : but "never being lost" is practically impossible

Mark Mayo

GPS could fail

map could be wrong

@happybuddha yep, and many newssites are saying the same thing, it's amazing that it's hard to get lost and yet we lost an entire plane with hundreds of people

happybuddha

exactly. That means there have to be other less than obvious ways

guess its time for an iPlane :P

Mark Mayo

no it doesn't, it means that even our best ways aren't good enough :)

happybuddha

yeah.. I believe out of the limited few who do not know the answer (and is probably the reason for the downvotes) I still feel someone will have an answer for this

dlanod

00:24

In Australia there's a very strong chance that somewhere will be a GPS dead zone and/or a mobile phone dead zone, which leaves map reading and plenty of people are outright incompetent at that.

happybuddha

I wonder if can put up a bounty on this question. With the current news items, this is important to me.

Mark Mayo

nope. all the ways we know of, at the least require you to be aware - eg read GPS, read map

and then of the ones that don't - eg a tracker, they don't work trhough say, large amounts of water, or will disintegrate in a large enough explosion

what you're basically asking for is a black blox

box

happybuddha

@dlanod You are probably talking about anywhere in NT. I think there are stores on the Stuart highway that offer rental satellite phones for driving on that road

Mark Mayo

like they have on airplanes

meant to be indestructable

and yet, they can't trace the current one from that flight

happybuddha

@MarkMayo yes. May be there are better black boxes ? I am fine with buying one for whatever it costs and traveling with it. Even ready to pay the extra damn luggage fee for it

Mark Mayo

00:26

Flight data recorder

A flight data recorder (FDR) (also ADR, for accident data recorder) is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters. Another kind of flight recorder is the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), which records conversation in the cockpit, radio communications between the cockpit crew and others (including conversation with air traffic control personnel), as well as ambient sounds. In this both functions have been combined into a single unit. The current applicable FAA ...

dlanod

@happybuddha Is your concern you knowing where you are, or others knowing where you are/were?

Mark Mayo

if there were "better" black boxes, airlines would use them.

you're at the point where you're practically asking for sci-fi :)

happybuddha

@dlanod To know where I am. And to be able to communicate to others - my location.

Mark Mayo

FDRs are usually located in the rear of the aircraft, typically in the tail. In this position, the entire front of the aircraft is expected to act as a "crush zone" to reduce the shock that reaches the recorder. Also, modern FDRs are typically double wrapped, in strong corrosion-resistant stainless steel or titanium, with high-temperature insulation inside. They are usually bright orange.

They are designed to emit an underwater locator beacon for up to 30 days and can operate immersed to a depth of up to 6,000 meters (20,000 ft)

and yet, they can't hear the one from that flight :(

happybuddha

I have a basic understanding of how a sat phone is different from cellular phone.

dlanod

00:28

Then nope, you're limited by technology (GPS, maps) and communication (mobile phone, satellites). If you're down a cave and lose your bearings, you can be completely screwed.

happybuddha

I think I am looking for an answer where someone knows of a cell phone which can double up as a sat phone and is fire/water resistant

dlanod

Now that's an answerable question! :)

happybuddha

we already got the water resistant phones (which was a joke/sci fi at some point in time).

@MarkMayo may be a whale digested it :P .. did they make those boxes resistant to water animals digestive juices ?

dlanod

@happybuddha I was actually thinking about the Blue Mountains - ravines up there can be GPS dead zones because of insufficient sky to get a connection, and there's negligible mobile phone reception through them.

happybuddha

How does GPS affect a satellite phone. Arent these independent of each other ?

*GPS dead zone

dlanod

00:31

GPS lets you know where you are.

Satellite phones are indeed independant.

happybuddha

there we go. Lets forget about GPS then

:)

I am guessing a sat phone will also have location coordinates

dlanod

Except satellite phones have dead spots too.

Again, if they can't see the sections of the sky that contain the satellites - same as GPS.

Article mentioning satellite phone dead spots exist on Everest: mounteverest.net/story/…

happybuddha

From here :en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_phone Depending on the architecture of a particular system, coverage may include the entire Earth, or only specific regions.

dlanod

So using my example of Blue Mountains ravines, unless you happened to have a Iridium/other satellite in the sky above you can easily be out of luck for their reception too.

happybuddha

The site says : The Iridium network covers the entire globe through a series of low earth orbit satellites.

so bottom line sat phones are a very good option - to not get lost

*bottom line : sat

dlanod

00:36

They are a very good option, but can't stop you "never" being lost.

Mark Mayo

one other option, but also not 100% guaranteed:

Distress radiobeacon

Distress radio beacons, also known as emergency beacons, PLB (Personal Locator Beacon), ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) or EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon), are tracking transmitters which aid in the detection and location of boats, aircraft, and people in distress. Strictly, they are radiobeacons that interface with worldwide offered service of Cospas-Sarsat, the international satellite system for search and rescue (SAR). When manually activated, or automatically activated upon immersion, such beacons send out a distress signal. The signals are monitored worldwide ...

Doc

01:56

they dont work in space tho, which just further backs my alien abduction theory

Mark Mayo

@Dirty-flow added a bounty :)

and answered an unanswered question too

so I feel that's like 2 for the price of one.

@Doc, wormholes explain everything.

Maybe the Bermuda triangle has a twin?

Mark Mayo

02:48

Upload a bounty, and see the result immediately in our new dynamic counter advert

Bounty advert which will appear occasionally on front page

Mark Mayo

03:09

0

Q: 15 day backpacking itinerary for Europe

Need : A backpacking itinerary. Where : Europe. Could be Western Europe or Scandanavian/Nordic countries or Mediterranean Europe. Number of Days : 15-17 When - Between April - June Number of People : 2. Me and my wife(age ~30). Budget : ~$7K (including air tickets from San Diego, USA) This wou...

Karlson

Sad part is we are very likely to get an answer...

Mark Mayo

I like this (above) - not for the question, which is very off-topic, but the speed at which 3 polite comments explained why it wasn't suitable, all within seconds of each other. I posted mine and the other two appeared as well

Karlson

I know

Mark Mayo

I'm almost inclined to vote down people who answer such off-topic questions; it's only encouraging it :/

he's been on the site for 7 months :/

Karlson

But not participating

Mark Mayo

03:16

true

happybuddha

10:57

@Karlson Yo. What do you mean morbid ?

Is it morbid to you based on your belief systems ? either way, what is the point of that comment ? I dont understand what you are asking

Wordweb says morbid : Suggesting an unhealthy mental state. Hmm.. though I would love to leave you what you believe in.. just a FYI.. It is a meditative technique in Buddhism where in Gautama regularly instructed his disciples to meditate in cemeteries. I reckon you read about Buddhism before you go about commenting what is morbid or what is not based on your limited understanding.

Mark Mayo

14:53

can someone else check this for me? When I click my name next to a message in the chat, the little profile thing pops up, whereupon it says "Moderator for Travel SE". I assume this is a bug of sorts, given that this hasn't been the case for almost a year?

Karlson

I can't see it

Doc

i can

Karlson

Oh. You mean the text

It's coming from you About field on the chat user site.

Now it says that I am God!

Mark Mayo

aha, located. Totally don't remember ever editing that, but fixing now.

now I can sleep :)

Doc

i can't sleep now - not with Karlson being God

plus, i have to go to work in 6 minutes!

Transcript for