Information Technology

Phone Carrier
Sprint
SERO 500 Plan, $40/mo
Costs in Canada are 60c a minute and $2/mb. 20/c minute with $3 Canada plan. Unlimited text messages.

Phone Device
Used Sprint HTC Touch Pro 2, $200
T7380/Rhodium 400/Qualcomm chipset
CDMA-native/GSM-capable (GSM unlocker at http://rhodium.htc-unlocks.com/)
16GB SD card, $30
3 OEM batteries, $30

Windows Mobile 6.5 NEODIUM ROM (http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/cdma-tp2-development/106231-rom-plutonium-neodium-titanium-21916-28244-a.html)
Garmin Mobile XT

Android Version 2.2.2 FRX06 (http://xdandroid.com) on SD card
US SIM card must be removed to get service. I taped it to the battery cover.
Experimental Bluetooth patch, BT works but no audio for me (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=13986332&postcount=136)
Spot Connect application from Android Market

Radio
Used Yaesa VX-2 w/ VX-2 programming cable, $100, (www.ebay.com)
Freeband mod available (http://www.kc8unj.com/vx2.html)

The Yaesu VX-2 is a highly compact radio with "weather alert" capability. The stock SMA rubber duck antenna is very weak but I have not been able to find a good replacement for use on weather band in time for my trip. I do not intend to use the radio for transmit, but only to pick up weather band and listen to random shortwave chatter or otherwise. It could be used in an emergency situation in transmit mode, however the Spot Connect device is intended for that.

Camera
Pentax K10D w/ 18-55mm kit lens, $300, (www.pentaxforums.com)
Pentax SMCP-DA 18-135/3.5-5.6 AL (IF) DC WR Lens, $460, (www.ebay.com)
Hoya 62mm Hoya UV Optical Filter, $10, (www.ebay.com)

The Pentax K10D is an entry-level DSLR camera that is highly weather-resistant. The kit lens is not weather resistant, and has limited zoom, so a weather resistant zoom lens was purchased. The Hoya filter was purchased to protect the lens glass.

Portable Computer
Lenovo ThinkPad x120e w/ E-350 AMD 2GB RAM 320GB HDD, $450, (http://www.lenovo.com/ibmspp). No CD-ROM.
Lenovo Thinkpad External Battery Charger 40Y7625, $50, (www.ebay.com)
Lenovo Ultraslim AC/DC Combo Adapter 41R4493, $100, (www.ebay.com)

The Lenovo x120e is more of an ultraportable laptop than a netbook, with enough processing power to play 720p video smoothly and run any productivity applications I need. It can function both as a travel laptop and as a business laptop if one already owns a desktop. Battery life is well over 5 hours. The AC/DC adapter replaces the AC power brick and allows me to also power off of a DC power source. The external battery charger allows me to stow the laptop away securely and charge the battery while under way.

Other
Plantronics CS50-USB (www.ebay.com) runs and charges off of a USB power supply
Shure E2C Earbuds for computer and phone audio
Zoom H2 Audio Recorder, $150, (www.amazon.com).

This audio recorder can capture stereo surround sound and has better acuity than my own ears. Capturing audio is a great way to capture ambient sound and add sense of place to a still picture.

Computer Software - General
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 with Cleartype fully disabled (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-desktop/get-rid-of-blurry-fonts-in-win7-office-2007/081fe793-0b34-4389-ba9c-56ed683f6072)
Comodo Internet Security Antivirus and Firewall (http://www.comodo.com/home/download/download.php?prod=cis). Do not enable SecureDNS, use Google DNS at 8.8.8.8 or Level 3's 4.2.2.2 if you are travelling and need reliable DNS.
LibreOffice 3.3. Open source Microsoft Office alternative, said to be better than OpenOffice.
Notepad++ is a good tool for writing minimally formatted drafts and lists and notes. Can keep multiple document tabs open within the app.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 allows tendonitis suffers to write without pain
Audacity 1.3 Beta (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) is an audio editing software
GIMP GNU Image Manipulation Program (http://www.gimp.org/)
FastCopy (http://ipmsg.org/tools/fastcopy.html.en) allows copying for backup much more quickly than Windows can
Pidgin (http://www.pidgin.im/) is a multi-protocol instant messaging client
foobar2000 (http://www.foobar2000.org/) is a powerful audio library & playlist
ACDSee 4.0 for processing images and drafting image-based blog posts in IPTC Comments metadata.

Computer Software - Mapping
Garmin MapSource
Garmin West 24K Topo Mapset
Garmin City Navigator NA 2011 Mapset
Alaska Topo Map (http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/302/)
GMapTool 0.6.0 (http://www.anpo.republika.pl/files/GmapToolSetup060.exe) mapset splitter
MapSetToolKit v1.77 (http://sites.google.com/site/cypherman1/) mapset builder software
cGPSmapper v0.96 free (http://cgpsmapper.com/buy.htm) mapset builder tool

Emergency Beacon
Spot Connect, $149.95
1 Year Subscription, $99.99
Track Progress, $49.99
Type and Send 500 Msg Pack, $49.99
Spot Connect tethers to Android and Apple phones via Bluetooth to allow text messages of up to 40 characters along with other functions. Only SOS button remains on device. Spot Connect uses GlobalStar network, be aware of degraded service: http://calltimes.globalstar.com/ and http://calltimes.globalstar.com/ for satphone.