I was amused that communication between Earth and Mars was so reliable in The Martian. For the past two days Andy’s texts to me wouldn’t send — even though one day he tried four different times. My texts to him had no problems, but that’s not the backup system we were hoping for.
October 24, 2015
WOW.
the whole point was so that HE could contact YOU in case of emergency.
actually or vice versa really.
although you have quicker access to emergency assistance being there in town.
DARN! i hope it gets better. maybe a good ole walkie talkie would be better.
at least he could contact tim and beate that way!
i don’t even know if they still make walkie talkies though.
Beate and Tim are living down here in town during the week now. They’re on sabbatical this year, but mostly they’re only here for a few months during the summer. When they are up on the land they check to make sure Andy’s car leaves on time. Otherwise they would check on him.
He says radio communication wouldn’t work up there, so our backup if something happens and the phone doesn’t work will still be having Greg drive me up there to see if the porch light is on. That would presumably mean Andy couldn’t get home because of road conditions, but is safe in the house. It pays to be resourceful.
I certainly hope it works if it is ever needed.
We were less than happy with the communications during our recent trip, though I guess we shouldn’t have had such high expectations. When we were at campgrounds with NO service, it wasn’t a problem. At places where there was wifi and/or cell service, too often it was so marginal, it would have been better if there wasn’t any.
Yes. How true that is.
Time perhaps for Andy to build another home in Mars?
I’m afraid we’ve probably built our last home. 🙂
I don’t know much about this but kinda sounds like a carrier problem.
Does your carrier have a tower in Andy’s vicinity?
Maybe you need to switch carriers?
I researched online which carrier had best reception in the places I would be before choosing who to go with, since I live in Illinois but my job is across the river in Iowa,
I wanted to make sure there was good reception in both areas.
My friend who lives way out in the country on the Illinois side had similar problems as you until she changed carriers.
Good Luck!
xo
Our carrier is the best one available. The land is about 30 miles from the nearest tower that isn’t behind a mountain. At least we can get reception part of the time now. That’s a big improvement. The past couple of days he has managed to get through, sometimes with a bit of persistence.