Sending E-mails/photos home ??

Hi all,
We're figuring out what's the most cost effective and reliable way to send emails and images back home from K2 basecamp. Radio station KSL in Salt Lake City has generously provided us with a satellite phone, and that should provide for some great voice messages, but that is really only what it's useful for. It sounds like the best way to send data back is with something called a BGAN unit, which sends data much more quickly and reliably via satellite.
We're expecting to take a laptop computer or two, but it's also the case that we need to be worried about the stability of hard drives at high elevations. Regular, spinning hard drives are designed for the air pressure at 10,000 feet and below, but K2 basecamp is above 17,000 feet, so the chance of hard drive failure is very real. It sounds like we should shop for a laptop with a solid-state "flash" drive, which doesn't depend on any particular air pressure. We'll be depending on solar panels to charge our various batteries too.
If anyone has any advice on these things, send an email to me at info@andyselters.com.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008