| Sign in: |
| Members log in here with your user name and password to access the your admin page and other special features. |
|
|
|
|
|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Sending photos during events
John Fisher, Photographer
 |
Burlington | WI | United States | Posted: 6:53 PM on 05.28.11 |
| ->> I'm looking at buying the 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot - SCH - LC11 from Version. I would like to try and send photos during the game at college and professional stadiums. Most of the time I can only get internet service up by the press box or in the media room. I would like to transmit at the field level. Example from the well at baseball games. I do not have access to an ethernet cable/set up. I did try tethering through my iphone but it took nearly ten minutes to send one picture not including a few that did not go through. My guess is that I'm competing with 30,000 others on their cell phones and I'm to far away from stadium wifi. Any advice on what to use or this product from Version? |
|
Curtis Clegg, Photographer
|
Sycamore | IL | USA | Posted: 7:05 PM on 05.28.11 |
->> John this topic just game up in March:
http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=37916
If you have the option to try the Verizon device on a pay-as-you-go basis that might be the way to go until you know for sure if it will work. |
|
Doug Pizac, Photographer
|
Sandy | UT | USA | Posted: 7:18 PM on 05.28.11 |
->> When looking to buy a tablet I considered both the iPad2 and Xoom with links to either Verizon or AT&T. Both carriers however require a monthly data fee and have caps. The more you pay, the more megabites you get access to. Considering I needed mobile data linkage only a couple times per month, neither plans were attractive financially; in fact, they were costly -- and both only 3G.
Instead, I chose a simple Xoom WiFi with no linked cell service.
For mobile data I upgraded my phone to a Sprint Epic. It's a great phone. Plus, it is 4G capable and can become a WiFi hotspot for up to 5 peripherals at once -- tablet, laptop, etc. And the hotspot is 4G speed too provided you're in a 4G network.
But here's the kicker: there is NO cap on data transmission. AND, you're not tied to a monthly use it or loose it data fee. You only pay for the days you need the hotspot feature at a dollar a day. If you need to have your Sprint phone be a hotspot 20 days in a month, you pay $20; if you need its data link for 3 days in a month, you pay $3 -- not $30-50 with Verizon and AT&T; and if you don't need it at all, you pay nothing while Verizon and AT&T will charge you regardless. And being a WiFi hotspot, it doesn't matter if you're linking to a PC, a Mac, an iPad or a Xoom. They all work. |
|
Chuck Liddy, Photographer
|
Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 8:15 PM on 05.28.11 |
| ->> john, be aware that at most large venues nowadays the service providers WILL NOT tell you their hi-speed devices usually don't work. too many smart phones out there eating up the data....you will be hard pressed to xmit from the field especially at a football game with 20,30, and 40+ thousand fans. basketball venues aren't much better. |
|
Mark Sutton, Photographer
 |
Herndon | VA | USA | Posted: 6:16 PM on 05.29.11 |
| ->> I upgraded my 3G MiFi to the 4G version 2 months ago. I live in the DC area and 4G is very fast, but I travel to the Hampton Roads area (Hampton, VA) a lot and I loose 4G coverage 10 miles out of the area (DC). So, if you are counting on 4G speed, make sure your area has it first. |
|
Dennis Wierzbicki, Photographer
|
Plainfield | IL | USA | Posted: 6:41 PM on 05.29.11 |
->> John, this is not a question of coverage, cost, quoted MBPS, operating system, cell provider, or anything other than this: will it work in a crowded stadium? In my experience 3G, 3G+ and 4G all struggle mightily, if they even work at all. I've personally used Sprint 3G, Verizon 3G and 3G+ with no success whatsover, and have seen a Verizon 4G unit tested in an arena with 22,000+ fans, and it didn't work either.
Plus, it might work one day and then fail the next five…too many variables, IMO, to be reliable enough for deadline transmissions. |
|
Tim Vizer, Photographer
 |
Belleville | IL | USA | Posted: 11:25 AM on 05.30.11 |
| ->> Ditto to all the cautions expressed here.... There's simply too many signals all concentrated in one area and cell service can't cut it for data transmission of large files let alone some regular old telephone calls. Better alternative would be to explore using (with permission, and possibly a fee as discussed above) a venue's proprietary (and thus private) Wi-Fi hotspot or even using a hard-wired Internet connection. Public Wi-Fi offered by a stadium, or a city, or another entity near the venue might sound nice, but by and large isn't going to work for what we are trying to do. |
|
Mark Loundy, Photo Editor
|
San Jose | CA | USA | Posted: 3:13 PM on 05.30.11 |
->> Arrgghh!
Tight/Loose
Win/Lose
I feel better now.
--Mark |
|
Chuck Liddy, Photographer
|
Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 5:13 PM on 05.30.11 |
->> left to loosen
right to titan
I feel worse now. |
|
Philipp Schmidli, Photographer
|
Eric Canha, Photographer
|
Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 7:49 PM on 05.30.11 |
->> Loose..... my first wife.
Lose..... my first divorce.
'nuff said |
|
Stanley Leary, Photographer
|
Roswell | GA | USA | Posted: 7:59 PM on 05.30.11 |
->> Tie a jump drive to a homing pigeon and have someone then take the drive and upload for you at the home base ;-)
Here is a link for that service http://www.birdsnow.com/homingpigeon.htm
Looks like an upfront investment of $10 - 100 and then the monthly meal plan. |
|
Kenny Barto, Photographer, Student/Intern
|
Vernon | CT | USA | Posted: 10:53 PM on 05.30.11 |
->> Although I haven't tried this in an arena with 20,000+ people, it has worked fine for me in hotels, and less crowded areas...
I use my Droid X as removable storage (not sure if you can do this with the iPhone or not) and attach them to an e-mail to get the photos to their destination.
The key to making this work smoothly is to RE-SIZE your photos...assuming you guys are sending them to be used for web only, this should be no problem...I sent a full-sized JPEG (3200x1700 or something like that) but I just simply bumped it down to 72 dpi, which is the standard for web. This brought the image size from something like 5 MB to less than 1 MB. The transmission took probably about 15 seconds in a not so crowded area...I'm guessing if you wanted to send 5-10 of these photos at a time, it would take about 5 minutes.
There are a few explanations that I can think of...The first is, of course, that people on their cell phones may be taking priority in a crowded area. How the companies regulate this, I have no idea, but this is just a guess. The second, is you are basically adding another medium than what is necessary. By just using your smartphone (Blackberry can actually do this too, but it might take a little bit longer just because the e-mail application isn't as efficient) and cutting out more stuff in the middle, you are saving some time.
Next time I go to a big game, be it if I'm shooting or just spectating, I'll be sure to load my Droid with some full-sized JPEGs and give this a shot...Unless someone else has already tried to do it this way. |
|
Nigel Farrow, Photographer
|
Suffolk | UK | United Kingdom | Posted: 5:04 AM on 05.31.11 |
->> => Stanley
This was reported before the football World Cup in South Africa :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6168401/Carrier-pig...
=> Kenny
If you find out the maximum size required for the web use you can cut that file size, and so the transmission time, down even further. I don't think I have ever been asked for an image for web use longer than 1000 pixels and on most occasions the maximum has been 700 pixels. |
|
Mark Smith, Photographer
|
Elk City | OK | USA | Posted: 10:57 PM on 05.31.11 |
->> I was shooting the NCAA MBB Tourney in Kansas City and was told by Sprint, that I'd have great 4G reception in the SPRINT Center. I didn't. I did, however, have great 3G reception. Upon arriving at the venue, I checked it out, transmitted a couple of photos and all went well. That is, all went well until the fans showed up. I learned pretty quickly that if basketball was being played, I could transmit fairly rapidly with 3G. At halftime and between games....not a chance.
I too, purchased a Xoom and have been doing what Doug is doing. I purchased the Nexis S and use it as a hotspot for both my Xoom and my laptop. Nonetheless, it is strictly a last resort/emergency method for transmitting on deadline. |
|
Return to --> Message Board Main Index
|