My team recently had a field training
in the Anza Borrego desert and we got some good experience with Mission Manager. Our command post was a good spot for communications with field teams, but was way out on the edge of 3G coverage. We made a stop in town on our way out to download maps for use with the offline version. We had some problems with the connection, and eventually ended up de-selecting the maps and just downloading the mission data. Once we did that everything worked fine.
Field teams arrived just as we were finishing setting up base camp. We got their assignments printed and sent them out with no issues. Check in took some time, and since we were offline, the plans section had to stop while they were completed.
Once field teams were out we set up the
cellular amplifier and got back online so we were able to get the field team assignments drawn up on the map. Unfortunately, with a evening ambient temperature in the high 90's, and 3 people working with the maps, I learned that my phone has a thermal protection circuit which shuts off power at 150 F. For the remainder of the weekend we had a game of juggling internet connections trying to keep them from overheating.
After the weekend I tried to collect some recommendations. Here they are:
- Set the "Editable Objects" in maps to false by default. It seems like a cookie is keeping track of this for me, but we had two people learn the hard way that you can mess up your work if you don't use it right.
- Several computers got the "This app is not available" when trying to use the offline version. I don't know if you have any control over this, but if you do a reminder that you need to sync missions once while online could help.
- It turned out to be really hard to get rid of the map selection for the offline mission download when we were pressed for time. A "De-select Map Region" button would be really handy in these situations.
- We had some more UTM complaints. Getting the map grids to land at round numbers came up more than once. I know it's on your list, but wanted to let you know it is probably the most frequent complaint I get from field teams.
- There is a spelling error in the calendar reminders. "...and send them every day until the member reponds"
- It would be nice to pan and zoom beyond the downloaded maps for an offline mission. We were tracking an ELT signal, and being able to use the line tool to figure out coordinates outside of the downloaded maps region would have been a huge time saver.
All in all, the weekend was a great success. We had some awfully fatigued field teams, but everyone stayed safe. There was a great example of spotting early signs of heat stress and taking preventive action. In base camp we got to try out our new solar radio power supply and Mission Manager Offline. Next month I expect to be able to try out our new base camp computers and network (I'll let you all know when I get it all put together).
Thanks Mike for all the hard work in putting this software together.
