Finding a signal in a dead zone

[McWatt]

There was a Dateline episode last night about a couple that got stranded in Burnside Lake in a snowstorm. One of them survived, the other died, basically because they couldn't make a phone call and the guy didn't have a crystal ball to tell him which way to walk to find cell service.

Since no one carries satellite phones there's not really a way to make a call at will, and finding a place where you'll have a signal is basically an educated guess, but it looks like http://dots911.com/ is trying to be that crystal ball and let you make a call instead of starving or freezing in your car.

Through heavy extrapolation they guess that about a hundred thousand people die from that sort of thing every year. Long story short: I finally found something to get me to spend money on Kickstarter and I hope it also fixes my bad reception problem in my house.

 

[notposting]

I just pay for Verizon.

 

[vshah]

or how about...know where you are and download some offline maps when you venture into the wilderness.

also don't be high and on meth:
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20130221/NEWS/130229977

 

[podspi]

I just pay for Verizon.

:thumbsup:

 

[Red Storm]

I just don't do drugs.

 

[corkyg]

If I am near my car I just go to it and use OnStar. Otherwise, all of the above apply.

 

[vshah]

If I am near my car I just go to it and use OnStar. Otherwise, all of the above apply.

what network does onstar use? satellite?

 

[pm]

what network does onstar use? satellite?

Mostly Verizon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnStar

 

[McWatt]

or how about...know where you are and download some offline maps when you venture into the wilderness.

also don't be high and on meth:
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20130221/NEWS/130229977

Offline maps don't show you where you can make a cell phone call. For a more complete description than mine, read this:

http://www.fastcolabs.com/3026060/m...-fix-your-crappy-no-bars-cell-signal#comments

I get terrible reception in my house (like -103 dB half the time) - +15 dB with one of these dishes means I should stop dropping calls and asking people to repeat themselves.

Onstar also seems like something that depends on this rather than something that replaces it. As pm pointed out, it depends on Verizon's network.

 

[Thegonagle]

Through heavy extrapolation they guess that about a hundred thousand people die from that sort of thing every year.

I'll say... It must be really heavy extrapolation...