Video Conferencing From Everest

MountEverest.net has posted Part 4 of Human Edge Tech’s series on video techonogy on Everest. This article focuses on video conferencing, which has become increasingly popular on Everest in recent years as more people bring laptops, and satellite Internet, to Base Camp.

The most popular form of video conferencing, which is cheap and easy, is using a webcam on your computer, and a chat program of your choice. Most of them, such as Yahoo Instant Messenger or AOL IM have integrated video these days, but they also tend to ahve rather small images, and poor quality. You can also use dedicated video conferencing hardware, but as the quality increases, so does the cost.

Probably the most important element to it all is the Immersat BGAN hardware that allows you to get a satellite Internet uplink connection, which makes everything possible. Just take note to the tip in the article that recommends you turn off your video and IM when not in use, or your bandwidth bill at the end of the month could be very expensive.

Kraig Becker

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