{"id":6564,"date":"2013-05-23T16:31:14","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T20:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=6564"},"modified":"2013-05-23T17:18:26","modified_gmt":"2013-05-23T21:18:26","slug":"introducing-earl-a-rugged-solar-powered-gps-and-android-tablet-with-built-in-shortwave-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/introducing-earl-a-rugged-solar-powered-gps-and-android-tablet-with-built-in-shortwave-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing EARL: a rugged, solar-powered GPS and Android tablet with built-in shortwave radio"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_6565\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlFront.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6565\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6565\" alt=\"Earl \" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlFront-300x231.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlFront-300x231.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlFront-100x77.jpg 100w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlFront.jpg 523w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6565\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Earl Backcountry Survival Tablet<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A good friend recently introduced me to the <a title=\"Earl\" href=\"http:\/\/www.meetearl.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Earl Backcountry Survival Tablet<\/a>; a <a title=\"What is crowdfunding?\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Crowd_funding\" target=\"_blank\">crowd-funded<\/a>\u00a0project that may very well come to fruition.<\/p>\n<p>What makes this tablet really stand out are its impressive list of features which are all based on outdoor survival\/adventure. Features include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A rugged, waterproof\/weatherproof body; IP67 rated!<\/li>\n<li>Built-in solar panel<\/li>\n<li>20 hour battery life<\/li>\n<li>An E-Ink, touch sensitive display screen<\/li>\n<li>An excellent GPS chipset<\/li>\n<li>ANT+ and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity for devices to measure heart rate, pace and cadence<\/li>\n<li>Android Beam technology<\/li>\n<li>Built-in thermometer for measuring temperature, hygrometer for measuring the water density of air (humidity) with dew point, barometer for measuring air pressure and altitude and an anemometer (micro hot-wire) for measuring wind speed<\/li>\n<li>A two-way radio featuring a FRS, GMRS and MURS transceiver. Earl can send secure text or voice messages via Walkie-Talkie; transmit weather, location, and route information<\/li>\n<li>An eReader<\/li>\n<li>A radio receiver that covers AM (medium wave), FM, LW, NOAA weather radio (North America) and Shortwave<\/li>\n<li>Much more:\u00a0<a title=\"Meet Earl\" href=\"http:\/\/www.meetearl.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">check out the Earl project page<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlRadio.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-6566\" alt=\"EarlRadio\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlRadio-300x111.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"111\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlRadio-300x111.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlRadio-100x37.jpg 100w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlRadio.jpg 505w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Of course, I&#8217;m very interested in Earl&#8217;s receiver. Not only does it cover shortwave, but it covers a <em>very wide<\/em> frequency range (2.3 &#8211; 21.85 MHz)! Most impressive.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t expect Earl to be a fantastic performer on the shortwave and medium wave bands&#8211;I doubt it&#8217;ll compare to the PL-390, for example&#8211; but perhaps it will be good enough to hear the major broadcasters. An inductively coupled loop antenna may help on AM (medium-wave). A port for an external SW antenna, would be a major plus.<\/p>\n<p>Better yet, with the right Android app, I bet Earl could decode <a title=\"VOA Radiogram\" href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/tag\/voa-radiogram\/\" target=\"_blank\">VOA Radiograms<\/a> on the fly. Imagine being miles away from civilization, far out of reach of 3G\/4G mobile systems, yet you&#8217;d be able to receive your news on your eReader over the shortwaves.<\/p>\n<p>A dream? Perhaps, but one that&#8217;s <em>well<\/em> within grasp.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pre-ordering\/Backing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlRadio2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-6567\" alt=\"EarlRadio2\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlRadio2-300x155.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"155\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlRadio2-300x155.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlRadio2-100x51.jpg 100w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/EarlRadio2.jpg 928w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>At time of posting, Earl is 90% funded. You can pre-order Earl for $249 US&#8211;a 30% discount from projected retail. (A price that is only $100 more than a Sony ICF-SW7600GR.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>I just pre-ordered an Earl.<\/strong> I will plan to give a full review here on the SWLing Post. They expect to ship production units in August 2013. If they don&#8217;t receive funding, all pre-sales purchases will be refunded in full.<\/p>\n<p>If you would like to back this project, check out Earl&#8217;s full list of features and pre-order on their website:\u00a0<a title=\"Meet Earl\" href=\"http:\/\/www.meetearl.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.meetearl.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A good friend recently introduced me to the Earl Backcountry Survival Tablet; a crowd-funded\u00a0project that may very well come to fruition. What makes this tablet really stand out are its impressive list of features which are all based on outdoor survival\/adventure. Features include: A rugged, waterproof\/weatherproof body; IP67 rated! Built-in solar panel 20 hour battery [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[836,3,26,43],"tags":[1941,1942,1939,1943,1940,4082],"class_list":["post-6564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-products","category-news","category-radios","category-shortwave-radio","tag-earl","tag-earl-android","tag-earl-backcountry-survival-tablet","tag-earl-radio","tag-earl-shortwave","tag-shortwave-radio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-1HS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47093,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/01\/reviving-a-kindle-hacking-a-nook-and-more-e-ink-please\/","url_meta":{"origin":6564,"position":0},"title":"Reviving a Kindle, hacking a Nook, and more E-Ink, please?","author":"Thomas","date":"January 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I remember back in 2007 when Amazon announced their first Kindle E-Ink portable reader, I honestly couldn't imagine how it could be useful. Why in the world would I abandon print books and stare at yet another screen? A couple years later, I sat next to a (rather talkative) passenger\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Accessories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/landing-feature-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/landing-feature-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/landing-feature-5.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/landing-feature-5.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57776,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/09\/youd-have-to-be-a-moranian-to-not-love-polka\/","url_meta":{"origin":6564,"position":1},"title":"You&#8217;d have to be a Moranian to not love Polka","author":"Fastradioburst23","date":"September 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi SWLing Post Community, FastRadioBurst 23 bringing you news of this Sunday 24th September 2023 broadcasts. At 2000 hrs UTC on 3975 & 6160 kHz we have a link up with the hardest to catch radio station on the shortwaves, Radio Morania. Some very interesting content is promised. While at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Guest Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Guest Posts","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/guest-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/The-imaginary-polka-party.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/The-imaginary-polka-party.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/The-imaginary-polka-party.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/The-imaginary-polka-party.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/The-imaginary-polka-party.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/The-imaginary-polka-party.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24929,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/hemingway-and-a-zenith-tranoceanic\/","url_meta":{"origin":6564,"position":2},"title":"Hemingway and a Zenith Tranoceanic?","author":"Thomas","date":"March 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In a Twitter exchange yesterday\u00a0@dean_frey\u00a0shared the photo above of Ernest Hemingway on Safari in Kenya in 1952. I believe this may be a Zenith Transcoceanic model H500. Could a Transoceanic expert in the Post community confirm of correct me? Please comment! I know this: I love Earl Thiesen\u00a0photos. Thanks for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Hemingway-Transoceanic.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14458,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/android-tablet-sdrs\/","url_meta":{"origin":6564,"position":3},"title":"Android tablet SDRs?","author":"Thomas","date":"August 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"SWLing Post reader, Philip, writes with the following question: \"I want to know if you are aware of any good shortwave receivers\u00a0that can be used on an Android tablet.\" I am aware of the Android SDR application, SDR Touch\u00a0(see image above), but have never used it so I can't comment\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Image: screen grab from SDRtouch video","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/SDRtouch.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/SDRtouch.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/SDRtouch.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10135,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/running-sdr-on-a-toshiba-encore-tablet-pc\/","url_meta":{"origin":6564,"position":4},"title":"SDR# on a Toshiba Encore tablet PC","author":"Thomas","date":"July 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"SWLing Post reader London Shortwave recently moved\u00a0the Software Defined Radio (SDR) application\u00a0SDR#\u00a0(\"SDR Sharp\")\u00a0off of his MacBook Pro and onto a Toshiba Encore 8\" tablet PC. He recently posted this video\u00a0of SDR#\u00a0running his\u00a0FunCube Dongle Pro+ on the Toshiba Encore tablet: His reception of the Voice of Korea's Spanish service is most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SDRSharp-ToshibaEncore-LondonShortwave","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/SDRSharp-ToshibaEncore-LondonShortwave.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/SDRSharp-ToshibaEncore-LondonShortwave.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/SDRSharp-ToshibaEncore-LondonShortwave.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12803,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/03\/an-inexpensive-windows-tablet-for-portable-sdr\/","url_meta":{"origin":6564,"position":5},"title":"An inexpensive Windows tablet for portable SDRs?","author":"Thomas","date":"March 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I've never been a fan of tablet PCs. I have an old Android tablet that I occasionally use to watch Netflix and read eBooks, but when I want to interact with a computer, I typically want the convenience of a proper\u00a0keyboard and the precision of a mouse or large track\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A tablet with two USB ports would be ideal.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Tablet-PC.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Tablet-PC.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Tablet-PC.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}