Basejumper.com - archive

The question(s) basically is in reference to *generally* BASE jumpers having cell phones when they jump. LET'S ASSUME THAT THE JUMPS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ARE WITHIN CELL RANGE, AND POTENTIALLY NOT LEGAL AND/OR ON THE BLACK DIAMOND SIDE.

You should get the idea.
pope

Chris, you remember the BASE/paraglide rules.

1-phone stays with jumper. (pretty much vital)
2-Keys stay at the car
3-post-jump meetings are met before climb out/downclimb/hike out if cell service is not available.

You should add radio! Motorola USA coding is pretty much standard for most basejumpers now in europe!

A phone got my arse rescued off a ledge where the self-resuce alternatives were.... grim. Carry a phone! Why wouldn't you?

Gus

how about this ? i bought 3 of these and they are great. multi way GPS, radio, maps all....waterproof, shockproof...

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=6405&tab=rino120

After 15 years of boycotting them
on principal, I finally got one...

While it has not yet helped me
during/after a jump it has made
coordinating with others easier.

So incredibly useful is all scenarios from meeting people at site without scaring the crap out of each other, to the obvious rescue issue. If you are a solo jumper, INVALUABLE! I was thinking about how amazing these things are while waiting to get picked up at the airport. That process would take 10x as long.

i need one cuz nobody jumps in my town, so phone groundcrew is pretty necessary.

After destroying 2 cell phones (one on cliffstrike, one on water landing) which cost ~$400 to replace, I jump with a $10 GoPhone. It's tiny, light, rounded and works great. Refill the minutes before the trip (10 cents per minute) - no contract. Anonymous account.

No, that would be YOUR poll. This one is relating to Cell phones...

Until you came back with that statement I was going to participate in your poll but reading this latest entry just shows you don't take B.A.S.E. jumping seriously.

If you are horny to jump and can't find a partner, cyber ground crew (cellphone) seems invaluable. Alot of us have loved ones that would like to know that we are fine and happy or had to climb down or whatever as well. What if you have to run in the opposite direction as the getaway vehicle because of a bust, you can call and arrange a rescue/ride from behind a dumpster or wherever. My vote is totally yes on cellphones and BASE. Good topic!

Keep in mind that the police can very easily check your call history. They can simply check your dialed call list, without even having to contact the phone company to obtain your calling records. And from those records, they can learn the identities of ground crew or your fellow jumpers. Thus, if you call ground crew moments before you are busted, the call may incriminate them (aiding and abetting charge) even if they made an otherwise clean getaway.

I'm all for cell phones, as they allow you to contact rescue if you are stranded (Remember John Agnos?). But if you are going for more "shady" communication that is more difficult to trace, consider two-way radios instead: something like CB, FRS, etc.

you're watching way too many spy movies.

cell phones are a good idea to keep people who need to know within close reach.

Technically he's right but if you're that worried, get an anonymous phone.

I wasn't going to post again but someone corrected me saying pope is serious about B.A.S.E. WELLLL.. yea I know that Sorry if my humor is only funny to me. I'll work on that.

Now to answer the question with another question. How could it not be a valuable tool? Besides being traceable, which I don't think matters, when it matters.

I guess what I meant was, if you are having an emergency and need professional rescue, it is nice to have a phone to call 911 for help. At that point, you would care less about getting busted than about getting down alive (as has been known to happen).

But say you're climbing an A with ground crew waiting below, and you notice a cop car approach, it is probably safer to tell them to get outta there by means of (virtually) untraceable 2-way radio than using a cell phone.

To the paranoid- Anonymous phones are nice, but in some cases they can attract undue (but perhaps not unwarranted) attention. Authorities are well aware that anonymous / prepaid cell phones are a favorite with people who have reasons to stay off the grid (think drug dealers and hit men). I hear from my contacts still in the industry that carriers are insisting more and more that name and contact info are verified before a prepaid cell is activated. I am sure DHS had at least something to do with that one. Just something to be aware of.

My experience has been the opposite. The cop approaching probably doesn't have the technology to listen in on the cell phone call, but I know of at least two cases in which cops told jumpers that they'd heard incriminating chatter on the radios, and one more in which they didn't tell us, but it was obvious when they pulled us over and started looking for drugs (and totally ignored the unpacked BASE rigs in the back seat).

What Hank was reffering to is "Virtual Ground Crew", meaning that you are staying in touch with someone not on site, i.e. "They're at home". While everybody is freaking over Homeland Security, etc., I don't think they will have any grounds for busting someone that you talked on the phone, that isn't anywhere in the vicinity. Remember, technically, Base jumping isn't illegal. Most busts are for tresspassing.

Also, 2-way radios are nothing new. They are often used when you have an actual GC.

Anyone know much about motorola's encrypted 2 way radios - ie how expensive they are and if you need to be anyone special to buy them?

there is scramble mode also

You should look into one of these, pretty good if you are jumping remote areas and need to give a lat/long to rescuers, or if you install oziexplorer on it and the required topo maps it can help you navigate to and from sites.

http://www.htc.com/product/03-product_htctouch_cruise.htm

http://www.oziexplorer.com/

Why bother with encription just use vailed speach
basic codes where anyone listening hears something different but you know what you are talking about.

I'll see you at your house in 30 mins = 30 sec call
is dinner ready = is the landing area clear

anything you want.................

ok, please do tell - why does one boycott cellphones on principal ?

The short answer:

Trying to lead by example.

I am forced to say this :

They ARE out to get ya. Good morning. You won't change what's convenient.

I believe cellphone is a MUST on any BASE jump. I just can't figure out how to climb while texting :(

 
I know one guy who is constantly texting
while I am trying to have a conversation
with him.

Maybe he finds your conversation long winded, pointless and boring.
I don't know what brings me to this conclusion, just a hunch I have.

GreenMachine, I believe the topic is cellphones and weather or not they are an essential item for BASE JUMPING! You seem to have missed that and jumped the train onto a bunch of personal pent up anger towards society in general. Like your quote says, "Take It Light", dude.

simple. find an antenna with an elevator!

You couldn't be more right T. This BASE jumping shit is a total joke. I can't believe I wasted all this time on it. Besides, no one uses cell phones anymore when they jump...

The NSA runs voice recognition and database mining software on every prepaid/anonymous cell phone call placed on this planet.

Exit points...especially solos.

had a cop roll up on my car once while I was on an antenna. (solo). Somebody starts calling my cell phone while I was watching him. Didn't answer cause it was "unknown number". The cop starts leaving me messages about how he found my car and just wanted to make sure I knew where it was. No idea how he got my cell phone number.

climb down number one. hahaha.

why is this even a poll? doesnt really make much sense to me that people are taking this poll seriously i use my phone to call chicks up late night and to BASE jump. that was easy.

my guess... if the car is registered on you ...he take notice of your cars numberplates and tracked it...

We did just fine without cell phones back in the days before they made em, sure they may be useful for some today, but I don't really see a need for them; invaluable, certainly not. I'm hard pressed to think of an example where one might have helped me . . . . I agree with the statement that they are more important for women and dates than jumping . . .

Cell (mobile) phones are an invaluable asset to base jumpers. Here is the one I just recently started using. It is pretty stealthy, fits in the hand comfortably, and will fit in a fanny pack well. If the technology is there, why not use it to our advantage?

cell phone

Rod

. . .touché my friend. But these things I already knew!

Wow Dr. Thrill, I didn't know you were so totally old school. "Back in the day", Oooooohhhh! See ya this weekend.