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Ed Hansberry
03-26-2003, 09:00 PM
<a href="http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/21497-1.html">http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/21497-1.html</a><br /><br />I am sure <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9776">Tacfire</a> is in here somewhere. :wink: <br /><br />"Troops on the ground in Iraq are using ruggedized portable PCs and personal digital assistants to support operational and logistical applications. "Equipped with a Global Positioning System receiver and a tactical military modem, and coupled with a laser range finder, PCs and PDAs can be used to transmit firing coordinates to artillery on the ground or to aircraft overhead. They supply maps and personnel information for medical evacuations and carry maintenance manuals for military vehicles."<br /><br />Right now, many of these devices are PC based with 500MHz Pentium processors, etc. However, the R-PDA based on the iPAQ is gaining popularity among soldiers. <br /><br />“It’s basically a Compaq iPaq on steroids,” Tallahassee spokesman Jim English said. “It’s becoming the platform of choice because of the convenience.” The ruggedized PDA can fit in the cargo pocket of a military uniform and has nearly twice the battery life of the larger 31A, without any boot-up or shutdown time. The Tacter RPDA has been adopted for the Army’s Commander’s Digital Assistant and the Pocket Forward Entry Device for fire control."<br /><br />Wouldn't it be cool if we could email those guys some patriotic and spirit lifting Today themes? :)

MasterOfMoo
03-26-2003, 09:05 PM
Sadly, if we could e-mail them such patriotic messages, etc. then we'd see a follow-up headline about troops receiving SPAM in the desert... :|

bdegroodt
03-26-2003, 09:18 PM
Yes it would Ed. I've changed my Today theme to an American flag theme to stay there until the war is resolved.

Sean Murphy
03-26-2003, 09:20 PM
Here is a picture of what they are using...

http://www.army-technology.com/contractors/navigation/talla_com/talla_com2.html

bdegroodt
03-26-2003, 09:23 PM
With those sand storms over there, I sure do hope the "dust under the screen" thing is solved. :lol: This should be a real test of it. Not that I've had any dust since my 36xx, but it just came to mind as I watch yesterday's reports on that wicked sand. I thought the wind sucked here in the city...That's nothing.

pocketpcdude1024
03-26-2003, 09:32 PM
Yes it would Ed. I've changed my Today theme to an American flag theme to stay there until the war is resolved.

I've taken the opposite approach and tried to ignore the war because what I do has no bearing over the outcome of the war. Also, it seems to me that our soldiers in Iraq are there because that's the carreer they have chosen.

The intent of this post isn't anti-patriotism nor flame baiting. It's simply my view on the current circumstances. Feel free to express yours. :)

Ed Hansberry
03-26-2003, 09:35 PM
Here is a picture of what they are using...

http://www.army-technology.com/contractors/navigation/talla_com/talla_com2.html
That is the old 3600 model. The new 3900 based model is in my "tacfire" link above. I don't know if the 3900 based unit has been deployed or not though.

Ed Hansberry
03-26-2003, 09:36 PM
It's simply my view on the current circumstances. Feel free to express yours. :)
Uhm... no. THis isn't the place for it. If you want to do that, create an off topic thread in the OT forum. Thanks.

pocketpcdude1024
03-26-2003, 09:43 PM
It's simply my view on the current circumstances. Feel free to express yours. :)
Uhm... no. THis isn't the place for it. If you want to do that, create an off topic thread in the OT forum. Thanks.
Ok. However, since you replied, I can no longer delete my post. :?

Pony99CA
03-26-2003, 09:46 PM
Wouldn't it be cool if we could email those guys some patriotic and spirit lifting Today themes? :)
Yes, but just make sure there aren't any scantily-clad leprechauns. :lol:

Steve

bdegroodt
03-26-2003, 10:03 PM
Wouldn't it be cool if we could email those guys some patriotic and spirit lifting Today themes? :)
Yes, but just make sure there aren't any scantily-clad leprechauns. :lol:

Steve

Hey! I licked...er...liked her!

Ed Hansberry
03-26-2003, 10:05 PM
Wouldn't it be cool if we could email those guys some patriotic and spirit lifting Today themes? :)
Yes, but just make sure there aren't any scantily-clad leprechauns. :lol:

:bangin:

cherring
03-26-2003, 10:15 PM
I don't get it...

Pony99CA
03-26-2003, 10:38 PM
I don't get it...
See the "Happy St. Patrick's Day! Put on Some Green..." thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10207), which made the Hall of Flame & Shame.

Steve

P.S. I didn't have a problem with it.

bdegroodt
03-26-2003, 10:47 PM
I don't get it...
See the "Happy St. Patrick's Day! Put on Some Green..." thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10207), which made the Hall of Flame & Shame.

Steve

P.S. I didn't have a problem with it.

Speaking of which...how come my "cell phone in the toilet" story didn't make it into the HOF? I feel like the editors are against me. I should have been honored and added to the hall. :devilboy: I demand entry!

Ed Hansberry
03-26-2003, 11:20 PM
Speaking of which...how come my "cell phone in the toilet" story didn't make it into the HOF? I feel like the editors are against me. I should have been honored and added to the hall. :devilboy: I demand entry!
Don't get me started. :onfire: :worried: :wink:

lurch
03-26-2003, 11:24 PM
"Troops on the ground in Iraq are using ruggedized portable PCs and personal digital assistants to support operational and logistical applications."
...
The Tacter RPDA has been adopted for the Army’s Commander’s Digital Assistant and the Pocket Forward Entry Device for fire control.

Thanks for this post Ed! As someone who writes fire-control software for the handheld for military use, it's nice to see a report about the use of it in real battle (i.e. PFED)
Thanks! :way to go:

Joff
03-27-2003, 12:27 AM
It's simply my view on the current circumstances. Feel free to express yours. :)
Uhm... no. THis isn't the place for it. If you want to do that, create an off topic thread in the OT forum. Thanks.

[edited by Ed] I told you, OT, not here.

I wish you a peaceful Pocket PC day. :wink:

bdegroodt
03-27-2003, 03:39 AM
I had to laugh today when I saw this on TechTV-TechLive. The segment footage of the unit showed it just completing a soft-reset. Great concept, but if the OS still needs regular resets, I'm not so sure how battle ready it is.

st63z
03-27-2003, 05:11 AM
'twas kinda funny how no one seemed to care about Canada's passive stance but made a big deal about Mexico (or just about any other country, really) :mrgreen:

I did see a couple of reporters asking but they were all met w/ blank stares ("Canada, where's that?")...

OK, I'll stop now

Ed Hansberry
03-27-2003, 05:23 AM
I had to laugh today when I saw this on TechTV-TechLive. The segment footage of the unit showed it just completing a soft-reset. Great concept, but if the OS still needs regular resets, I'm not so sure how battle ready it is.

:confused totally:

When doing that kind of thing, just about any OS is going to need a reset/reboot occassionally. Remember, these OSs are general purpose and you are pretty much limited by your imagination, which is why I suppose it was selected for the field as opposed to that other handheld OS. :wink: :lol:

bdegroodt
03-27-2003, 03:05 PM
:confused totally:

When doing that kind of thing, just about any OS is going to need a reset/reboot occassionally. Remember, these OSs are general purpose and you are pretty much limited by your imagination, which is why I suppose it was selected for the field as opposed to that other handheld OS. :wink: :lol:

I know. But it's still funny that it was coming off a reset. Not having put my mits on one for any period of time, I can't comment on the stability, but if this isn't a "mission critical" scenario, I don't know what is. And soft reset doesn't seem to be a good feature for a mission critical application...Of course, at least it can be soft reset.

Other OS? Linux??? :D

kzemach
03-28-2003, 01:38 PM
Wish I could give you guys details, but can say that I just got back from a 9 day mission in Afghanistan (contractor supporting the troops in the field), and we rigged up a 3800 series iPaq for a mission critical application and it worked great.

While, once we work out the details of the whole device, we'll have to move to a ruggedized version, the iPaq worked great. Charging sucked though; didn't have a 12 V lighter adapter out here, so we charged by cutting the regular charging tip off the wall charger, and hooking that to a pack of 4 NiMH AAs (~5V). That charged the iPaq, and then took a MAHA 401FS NiMH AA charger and hooked rigged THAT to power off a 5590 (military battery, 12V) as it takes 12V in, so that we effectively shuttled power from the mil battery to the iPaq through a 2-step process at night.

The thing I love about the iPaq concept is that it can be leveraged for a LOT of different field tasks, from translating (have it speak in Pashtu around here) when searching villages), to controlling robots (the next task we're going to use it for) to the use we're currently working on (which I can't talk about) to GPS stuff to situational awareness to.... Basically, once we finish a mission critical application, all else falls out as a bonus, with no weight penalty. It's beautiful.

ctmagnus
03-28-2003, 10:07 PM
The thing I love about the iPaq concept is that it can be leveraged for a LOT of different field tasks, from translating (have it speak in Pashtu around here) when searching villages), to controlling robots (the next task we're going to use it for) to the use we're currently working on (which I can't talk about) to GPS stuff to situational awareness to.... Basically, once we finish a mission critical application, all else falls out as a bonus, with no weight penalty. It's beautiful.

And people wonder why I love my iPaq... It does more than my desktop can, fer cryin' out loud!