MEDIA ADVISORY

Live satellite telecast from Everest Base Camp to Schools, Monday April 11th

The media is invited to attend to collect footage of a unique event.

What?

There will be a live satellite telecast to schools across Canada from Mount Everest base camp with Dr Sean Egan and Kanatek’s Terry Kell next Monday night, April 11th, 8:15 p.m. EDST. Dr Egan and Mr. Kell will talk to students about base camp and introduce other members of the team. They will talk about Dr Egan’s message of fitness and health and the technology that is being networked at Base Camp. This will be followed by a question and answer session direct with students across Canada. It will be 6am on Tuesday 12th at Base Camp.

The event is called “Yakkin with Sean”.

Who?

Dr Sean Egan, 63, is an accomplished mountaineer and professor of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. He is preparing for a summit attempt on Mount Everest in May. Terry Kell is the president of Kanatek Technologies, the sponsor of Sean’s bid to be the oldest Canadian to stand on top of Everest. He has been part of a team trekking to Base Camp since the end of March.

Technology

The expedition at Base Camp on Mount Everest will call the Kanatek office in Canada via satellite phone and set up a conference call. The audio will be directed into Kanatek's telephone conference bridge.                                 

The Halifax team will connect to the Kanatek teleconference and route the audio through the internet to a unique Canadian invention, the Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) reflector in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  Participating schools across the country will connect to the Saskatoon reflector by amateur radio through their local IRLP nodes.  The event operator in Halifax will enable the switching needed to steer the conversation back and forth between the expedition on Mount Everest and the schools taking part.

It is hoped to set up a video link as well and once it is established, the audio and video sections will be split at Kanatek's office in Kanata, Ontario. The video from the Mount Everest satellite telecast will be fed by the Kanatek team in Kanata into an internet webcast stream.  The high speed wireless internet that has been arranged for R. Tait McKenzie Public School in Almonte, Ontario, will enable it to receive the webcast and project it to the audience.

Where & When? Participating schools

R. Tait McKenzie Public School, Almonte, Ontario, 8.15pm, Monday April 11th

Grand Manan Community School, Grand Manan, New Brunswick, 9.15pm, Monday April 11th

Walter Murray Collegiate Institute, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 6.15pm,
Monday April 11th

Chestermere Lake Middle School, Chestermere, Alberta, 6.15pm, Monday April 11th

Drinkwater Elementary School, Duncan, British Columbia, 5.15pm, Monday April 11th

Sir John A. MacDonald High School, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 9.15pm, Monday April 11th

Why? A Unique National Amateur Radio Connection

With the approval of Industry Canada, it’s possible to have schools across Canada taking part in this special contact by amateur radio through the IRLP.  R. Tait McKenzie Public School will lead the questioning of Dr Egan by amateur radio, followed by each of the other participating schools in the national Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) Youth Education Program (YEP).

More information

For more information on the Everest expedition please go to: www.kanatek.com/everest.

Tim Redpath
Train of Thoughts
Office: (613) 836 9516
Cell: (613) 293 9310
Email: tim@trainofthoughts.ca