Thursday, July 24, 2008

Halfway Party on Cirrus on Video

It was a challenge to reduce the video to a format, which could be transmitted through the airwaves. Our main data connection is the short wave, SSB (Single Side Band) radio, which is connected to a special modem. It is similar to a connection via telephone modem on land, only that it is about 50 times slower, transmitting at about 1000 baud, and oftentimes less. The information we can transfer is therefore very limited. We also have a satellite phone, which can be used in a similar way, but it isn't much faster either. And I tried very hard to use the sat phone so to not hog the airwaves, but it wouldn't work. Finally the video made it through the short wave radio. I believe Cirrus during the Transpac 2007 race (Los Angeles to Hawaii) was the first sailing vessel to have transmitted a video in this kind, and let me know, but I believe this is unique in the Pacific Cup 2008? The video compression technology is similar to what is used e.g. in Youtube.
Enjoy.

Aloha, Ulli

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Way to go Cirrus!!

:-)

Anonymous said...

Great job guys! Love that you were able to post a short clip! Keep up the good work.

Bellavia said...

the clip came across nicely and so I opened the Boxbeutel (thank you Ulli) and toasted to the crew! Staying tuned for more ....
Eva a. Milton

Anonymous said...

There once was a ship out at sea
Afraid of Klabautermann's glee
But the crew made a charm
Letting nobody harm
'Cept a small fish with too much esprit.

Sorry for the silly limerick. I just could not resist!
Good luck for the rest of the race!

The Vogels

Anonymous said...

Another special 'hello' to my dad, Larry! It's been great fun checking in each day to find out how you're all doing. And now to actually see you all on the clip... that's GREAT! We're rooting for you all!
Sarah Killingsworth

Anonymous said...

Yea Cirrus! Thanks for all your posts. It is great to keep up with you, and especially to see the video. Keep up the great work. Hi to Howard.
Maile

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the postings guys. It is great to follow you. I am just coming back to sailing after several years away and appreciate the blogs and stories. Happy sailing.