From: Ed Kummel (tech_ed_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Tue Jun 01 2004 - 19:08:14 PDT
OK. Here is my own personal experience with traveling
with my Newt.
The archives probably have this well archived, but
just incase..
A few years ago, I spent 2 weeks in Hawaii. I flew
from Dulles on the east coast, to Dallas, to San Fran,
to Oahu. Then later the next week to Kauai, then a
week later, the whole thing in reverse.
My problem came at the end of my journey. Leaving
Kauai, after my Newt went through the scanner, I had
to turn it on. When I did, it failed. Thinking that
the battery was dead, I pulled out the wall plug
(lesson 1; carry the ac adapter with you in your carry
on just incase the batterys are dead) Plugged it in
and it failed.
I blamed the scanner for the failure. I filled out an
insurance form (luckily for me, I arrived waaaaay
early for my flight!) and continued home without the
presence of my Newt to keep me company (lucky for me,
my wife was there ;-)
When I got home, I found two issues with my Newt.
1) The spring that kept pressure on the battery
contact was no longer pressing against the battery.
Seems that the constant vibration of the multitude
flights and x-ray machines had vibrated the spring to
the point where it reached its fatigue point and was
no longer springy. I took the spring out and sproinged
it out some to make it more springy. (lesson number 2:
travel with the battery pack out)
2) the other problem manifested its self in my own
modification. If you saw my page,
http://newton.tek-ed.com/newtspeed, you know I boosted
my Newton's speed using a technique to switch between
crystal speeds. Aparently, the huge 5mhz crystal
caused a weight issue and broke off one of the solder
joints (I would say it was my soldering job, but I'm
much too vain to admit that something I did was
anything less than perfect)
(lesson number 3: anchor the crystal assembly using
hot-melt glue)
The good thing is that once I fixed both problems, the
newt was as good as new...didn't loose a single note,
or anything! Which is good because I kept all my notes
about Hawaii on my Newt...Here is what I did to
prepare for the trip.
Before I left home, I made a backup. I backup on ram
cards, but it doesn't matter where you backup...make
one.
then every day, I made a second backup on two
different cards that I swapped out every other day.
Plus, my 20mb card had enough room for a final backup
prior to my going home.
Seems that the vibration of that final belt (those
belts are murder!) Watch one next time you're at the
airport! was the final straw to cause the Newt to no
longer function! Because it's a Newt, it doesn't look
like anything the examiner has ever seen so they
always stop the belt while the newt is inside the
machine. That stop probably exerts 3-5 G's on the
Newt. Then they reverse the belt (another 3-5 g's)
then they zig-zag it back and forth several times
because they can't figure out what it is they are
looking at...hmmm, electronics, cylinder things,
microcircuits...what is that thing? each time exerting
3-5 g's on the newt. Then finally it comes bouncing
out (yes, bouncing! Those rollers are spaced too far
apart and if you watch the Newt inside the basket, you
will see it actually catch air as it is bounced from
roller to roller!) Until finally, it comes out the
other end...meanwhile, someone it trying to stick a
magic-wand between your legs and you're trying to
reach for the Newt before someone else does. If you're
lucky, all you need to do then is find your shoes and
get on the plane...otherwise, the next item (it's
usually an over stuffed carryon bag) tumbles out of
the x-ray machine and lands squarely on the Newt,
burrieing it. And you still can't find your shoes! You
run to retreive the Newt and trip over the guy with
the wand...what the heck is he doing down there
anyway? By the time you reach your Newt, you find out
that your shoes are being wiped down for bomb residue
by someone wearing gloves and using what looks to be
an acne pad on your shoes...Hey! Those are Ostrich
quill marks...not pimples! Then while you're watching
your shoes, another person wants you to turn on the
Newt to "prove" it's not contraband. And of course it
won't turn on...I mean, after all that, would you? So,
the guy then takes the Newt and proceeds to determine
that it too has acne and rubs it down with the Stridex
pad looking thing. After everything has been proven to
not be a bomb, "no, I swear, that steal shank in my
boot set off the metal detector" you are allowed to
go...hopping on one foot, dragging your carryon (it
never lands on it's wheels) trying to stuff your Newt
in your bag while trying to not loose your jacket and
you have less than 20 minutes to make it to your
gate...which you just found out was moved to the other
end of the airport....where the fastest method of
getting there is to leave the secured area and cut
across the main terminal and go through the whole
thing again when you get to the other side....
sheesh!
Ed
web/gadget guru
http://newton.tek-ed.com (download Newton packages)
--- Matthew Middlebrooke
<machead_at_harvestministries.net> wrote:
<snip>
> Any tips, suggestions, warnings, y'know whatever is
> greatly appreciated,
>
> Matt
> MP2100
> Guam USA
=====
"A democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding on what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the results of the decision."
- Benjamin Franklin
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