Establishing
Stable Internet Connection For Field Work In REMOTE AREAS OF
Jaime R. Marso
Department of Earth Sciences
jmarso@geology110.com
Updates coming in December 2007 when Remote testing of Sprints EVDO Broadband Internet Service will be combined with Acrobat Connect for live audio/video transmission from Fossil Canyon, Imperial, California via the internet to an audience of students from Grossmont College in the Distance Learning Course, Geology 110 - section 5515. This broadcast will be a virtual live field trip from within Fossil Canyon on December 1, 2007.The broadcast will be bi-directional and recorded for review. More Info on Updated work
Fossil Canyon Testing site:
Background
Taking a closer look at the canyon walls, you will see shell fossils embedded in the sandstone. Layers of sandstone and mudstone are exposed, revealing veins composed of white shell fossils and coral pieces, each representing part of the 50-million year geologic history contained within the canyon walls.
In 1916, a study called "The Reef-Coral Fauna of Carrizo Creek Imperial County, California, and Its Significance" was published by Thomas Wayland Vaughn. The study was based on fossils found in Fossil Canyon by Dr. Stephen Bowers which he had sent to Washington for identification. The study revealed that "The Carrizo Creek reef-coral fauna is Atlantic, not Pacific, in its affinities." During Eocene and Oligocene time the Atlantic and Pacific were connected by a passage way somewhere in the region of Central America. After the passage closed the Atlantic coral left in the Pacific became extinct. The fossil remains found in Carrizo Mountain are the only evidence that this coral once existed in the Pacific.
Map:
Location of Fossil Canyon is off Interstate 8 at Imperial Hwy. North on Shell Canyon Road and then off road 2 miles into the canyon area.
Equipment:
I will be using a web-based virtual meeting program. Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional consists of the core Communication Server and applications for real-time and on-demand communication and collaboration. Together, the server and applications provide a virtual bi-directional meeting environmant.
GPS: Garmin
Webcam: Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP (camera) -- plugged
into a seperate USB port
Mic: Audio-technica: MT830cW-TH Omnidirectional Condenser Lavalier Microphone w/ Freeways: 700 Series Professional UHF Wireless System
Connection equipment: a performer 500 monster cable connects the microphone system to a Tascam US-122 (USB Audio/MIDI interface) with a USB cable that is plugged into the notebook computer
Notebook compuer: Dell Inspiron 1501
Internet Connection: Sprint EVDO high-speed broadband wireless
SERVICES:
Acrobat Connect Professional: Hosting server for the live broadcast/virtual classroom
Sprint: ISP EVDO highspeed wireless
Caption Colorado: Rapid Text Captioning service providing real-time voice translation to text on screen through Acrobat Connect.
TEST DATES
Dates: Test 1, November 17, Test 2, November 25, Field Trip, December 1, 2007
PROJECT OVERVIEW
