New technology the talk of the Iron Dog Trail

Feb. 13, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - In the past, long distance snow machine races haven't exactly been spectator sports.

Because of the far-flung nature of the sport, anyone seeking updated race information had to wait for officials to post updates on the Web - a process that often lagged far behind the racers' actual positions.

Fans of the Tesoro Iron Dog - a 1,971-mile trek that traverses the heart of Alaska's Interior - have long known this frustration. Not any more.

For the first time, the world's longest snow machine race will feature a state-of-the-art global positioning system (GPS) that will allow fans and racers' family members to track the teams in real time as they move across the state.

The new system is the result of a partnership between the Iron Dog and three private corporations, World Communication Center, Applied Satellite Engineering and Ontec.

All 54 sleds participating in this year's Iron Dog have been equipped with 1-pound GPS transmitters that will relay race and position information back to civilization at two-minute intervals.

Adam Ceton, a managing director with Phoenix-based Ontec, gave a brief presentation Saturday on how the system will work. He explained that the GPS device will transmit individual racers' position, speed, altitude, ambient air temperature to a satellite, which then beams the information to the company's headquarters.

Within a matter of seconds, that information is then placed on the official Iron Dog Web site, where users can then view the racers' near-exact location on a Google Earth map.

&#8220The data is updated every five minutes,” Ceton said.

Data is transmitted from the GPS device every two minutes - enabling anyone with a computer to see how their favorite team is doing.

&#8220It gives you a pretty good idea of what's going on,” said Sam Romey, president of World Communication Center.

Romey said the new system would not have happened without cooperation by the three companies participating in the project.

&#8220We all sat down at the same table and said ‘lets make this work,'” he said.

Those in attendance at Saturday's demonstration were wowed by the sophistication of the new technology. Iron Dog veteran rider Scott Davis said he believes the devices will help keep family members better apprised of where their loved ones are on the trail.

&#8220That's going to save a lot of calls to headquarters,” Davis said.

When another spectator pointed out that the precise new technology may have the unintended consequence of revealing some of Davis' time-honored shortcuts, however, the six-time race champion was a little less enthusiastic.

&#8220You'd think they'd give us old guys something,” he

said.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@

frontiersman.com