BCRA Cave Technology Symposium: report

[David Gibson]

This is a report of the BCRA Cave Technology Symposium that took place on 9 April in Derbyshire, UK. Im still waiting for copies of some of the presentations, but everything that HAS been submitted is now archived at http://bcra.org.uk/proc.

Delegates have, with their permission, been added to an Internet mailing list for this event, http://list.bcra.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech-sym/ If anyone else wishes to receive news related to the annual cave technology symposium, please sign up. The talks covered a wide range of topics. It is hoped that a report will eventually appear in Speleology and the CREG journal. The programme was as follows...

• High Dynamic Range Photography - Mike Bedford
• Using Internet tools to process photos in 3D - Michael Topsom
• Mountain and Cave Rescue using the SarCall system - Jon Whiteley
• SatNav and Technology for Cave Surveying - Kevin Dixon
• Innovative budget cave surveying using structured light triangulation - Paul Mann
• BCRA and Cave Science - Dave Checkley
• Video/AV editing using Sony Vegas Home Studio - Footleg
• How Earth Current Antennas Really Work - David Gibson

On the Sunday a number of people visited the British Caving Library library and spent some hours there using its facilities and having discussions on various topics.

Next year's event is planned for Saturday 14 April 2012 in the Mendips. We are considering "streaming" next year's event on the Internet for those who cannot attend. Also, we are considering having a "dress rehearsal" for this at Hidden Earth in September this year.

Particular thanks are due to Jenny and Boyd Potts for the refreshments, Rob Gill and Allan Richardson for helping with the organisation, Les Williams for the loan of the Hidden Earth AV kit, Trevor Faulkner for manning the BCRA sales stand and Jenny (again) for opening up the caving library on the Sunday.[/list]