Being a professional nomad in the second decade of the 21st Century sure is different then at any time in the past. Read John Steinbeck’s, Travels with Charley: In Search of America. Steinbeck made his nomadic trip in 1960. The differences are pretty astounding over this 53 year period.
I am a “tech-nomad.” In other words, I travel with a state-of-the-art technology that allows me to plan, navigate, communicate, take care of my small business, pay my bills, receive income, record audio (anything from a cricket chirping, my own or other people’s spoken word information and music, then edit and produce finished professional products) and record reasonably high-quality, high-definition video and edit it into finished products.
So, for those interested in my current technology, here is what may or may not be on board my rolling office/home on wheels at one time or another. Since technology is always changing, so will parts of this list as I upgrade from time to time.
Navigation:
*Magellan GPS (the current unit is about 10 years old and is back-up to the Motorola Atrix 2 Smart Phone GPS)
*Motorola Atrix 2 Smart Phone GPS
Communication:
*Motorola Atrix 2 Smart Phone on Android 4.0 O/S with service provided by AT&T for both wireless telephone service and handheld, portable email, texting and 4G Internet connection
*Kenwood TS-430 high frequency (1.8MHz – 30MHz) amateur radio transceiver providing CW (Morse code), Single Sideband (SSB), AM and FM (FM only on the 10 meter band) communication rated at 250 watts PEP SSB, 200 watts CW and 60 watts AM.
*Uniden 2510 low power ten meter amateur radio transceiver that operates on CW, SSB, AM and FM providing nominally 25 watts SSB and 10 watts CW, AM and FM.
*2 meter and either 220 MHz or 440 MHz VHF/UHF transceiver (new rig to be acquired)
*40 Channel CB transceiver (new rig to be acquired)
*Motorola GPRS/FRS handheld transceivers (2 units)
This array of communication equipment assures that my rolling home/office will always have worldwide communication capability. It can also be placed into service as a communications command post in the event of natural or human caused emergencies.
Computers:
*Dell N411Z Ultrabook with 14" screen and Intel i5 dual core processor operating at 2.5 GHz turbo boosted to 3.0 GHz. Unit has a built in CD Drive, 6 MB RAM and 500 GB hard drive. It is used for all business, Internet, audio and video production requirements.
*Tablet (to be acquired) most likely with a 7" screen and Android operating system.
*Motorola Atrix 2 Smart Phone with AT&T 4G data package providing tethering and wifi hotspot for Internet connection of computer (and tablet when acquired)
*HP Scanjet 4600 desktop scanner
*Samsung ML1740 laser printer & HP Photosmart 7350 inkjet printer
*Calvary Hard Drive Docking Station capable of handling two external hard drives simultaneously, either 3.5" or 2.5"
*Portable Hard Drives 2.5” and 3.5” for back-up and storage of work in process files (several)
*Primera Signature Z1 CD-DVD disk imprinter
*Software: Microsoft Word, Excel and Access, Intuit QuickBooks, and other business software
Audio & Video Digital Recording Equipment:
*Zoom H4n portable, two or four channel, handheld, digital audio recorder
*Zoom H2n portable, two or four channel, handheld, digital audio recorder
*Sandisk Sansa portable mp3 player and wav digital audio voice recorder
*Kodak Zi8 High Definition, handheld digital video and still camcorder
*Motorola Atrix 2 Smart Phone handheld, voice recorder and digital video & still camcorder
*Konica/Minolta Dimage Z6 6.3 MP digital still camera with SD video capability 12X optical and 4X digital allowing usable zoom range of between 34 mm to 1,600 mm, plus a macro range. Has a through the lens electronic viewfinder and rear mounted LCD screen.
*Samson C-control audio monitor system
*Microsoft monitor speaker system with sub-woofer
*Sony MDR-V6 studio monitor headphones
*Shure VP88 MS studio and field stereo condenser microphone
*Rode NT4 XY studio and field stereo condenser microphone
*EV RE27 studio dynamic microphone
*(2) AudioTechnica AT4050 multi pattern studio condenser microphones
*(2) Audio Technica AT4033 cardioid studio condenser microphones
*Audio Technica AT835 line gradient, shot gun microphone
*PZM condenser microphone
*(2) wireless microphone systems, make and model vary based on the specific project requirements
*Misc. other microphones depending on the job requirements
*fishpole microphone boom
*various windscreens for outdoor recording
*15’ tall microphone stand
*Software: Sony Sound Forge 8.0, Adobe Audition 1.5, Source Forge Audacity 2.0.3 audio recording, editing and production software, Pinnacle Studio 11, Microsoft MovieMaker and Adobe Premier Elements 9.0 video editing and production software, Photoshop 7.0 and Photoshop Elements 9.0 photo editing software. Roxio CD-DVD Creator XE 8.2 and Sony Sound Forge CD Architect 5.2 CD mastering software
*Variety of SDHC flash memory cards for audio/video/still capture and storage
*Misc. desk and floor microphone stands, cables, adapters, tripods, video lights and other peripheral support items.
This equipment may be USB powered, battery powered by self-contained batteries, AC powered by a DC to AC inverter connected to a high-capacity 12 volt battery bank or from 110 AC shore power.
