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Gulo Gulo was once a PowerTracker!

In the mid eighties through the nineties Scott Hensler the owner and founder of Conceived Innovations was once a Volunteer for the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office. Scott's interest in Search and Rescue came from when a close friend of his had fallen to his death in a rappelling accident in the Mazatzal Mountains bordering the County line of Maricopa and Gila in central Arizona. First learning of the recovery effort in the rugged mountainous wilderness to secure his friends body, and bringing it back for the family to have proper closure, sparked an interest in this field known as Search and Rescue (SAR). Fortunately, Maricopa County in which Scott lived had one of the best volunteer organizations in the United States. In order to become a SAR volunteer you had to become a sworn Posse man under the particular Sheriff of the County you were volunteering in.

Little is known to the average person of the in-depth training, personal devotion and expense necessary to be certified to be able to handle the complicated rescues of the Arizona deserts and mountains. Since a great deal of the desert areas are so desolate with drastic terrain and temperature difference from day to night, it is a snare for anyone who is not respectful of extreme heat and extreme cold that can take place in a single twenty-four hours. The need for Man Tracking may seem like an old western story, but the Border Patrols have perfected this old art of locating a human or humans and locating their whereabouts simply by following what is known as signing. Everywhere one goes, in some way, he or she leaves some kind of trail or clue to follow. Whether by footprints, turned over rocks or broken branches, there's always some kind of sign to be seen by the tracker. To the trained eye this is valuable information to radio into a SAR Command Post the direction of travel or that they’re even in the area at all. Many lives have been saved from this old technique. This tracking method in assisting in the search for lost hikers, hunters or even criminals has become standardized and is taught to almost all the SAR units across the United States.

One thing stays the same with each SAR unit whether it is in Arizona, Montana or New York State, is the well-known tool called the tracking stick or signing staff. This stick or staff is much like an ordinary hiking stick or a walking stick. It assists in helping the searcher from rock hopping to removing a rattlesnake off the pass or trail. But its main function is to mark the trail or pass the searcher is tracking for the lost hiker. This has several functions such as simply being dragged behind the tracker to mark where the rescuer has been. Sometimes the tracking stick is nick named the drag stick for this reason. Other uses are to encircle clues or evidence for other searchers to document later or to simply let the other Rescuers know this is not the lost person they're looking for, but it's the Tracker making the footprints in the soil, not the one they're looking for.

There are many other uses for this clever stick called the tracking stick or drag stick. But one idea came from this method that would revolutionize the SAR units around the Country from one particular search for a lost child. In this search for a lost child, communications between searchers and the Command Post were so bad at times that it played a part in taking valuable time away from rescuers in having a successful search with a happy ending. Scott knew with the present technology available at the time, things could be improved for the standard two-way radios used by searchers. At that time Scott was already an amateur radio operator or otherwise known as a Ham operator. He already had designs on the table for antenna modifications to enhance (augment) two-way radio communications. And he also had several years of electronic component experience from his profession as an electrical-mechanical technician. So as some ideas are born from necessity, it now was obvious and only made sense, since the searchers were already carrying long sticks, if an antenna of high value could be incorporated in to the tracking stick, then why not have the best of both worlds, a rugged tracking stick with antenna strength that provided increased sensitivity and longer distance to enhance the two-way radios the searchers were using.

This new concept would assist them in making improved contact with fellow searchers and the Command Post. So the name PowerTracker was given to the worlds first antenna combination, a hiking and tracking stick that was eventually Patented in the US. Once this device was perfected and marketed and distributed around the United States and Canada, letters from many different agencies were letting Scott know that indeed this device was saving lives, and even helping in the tracking and the apprehending of fleeing felons into the wilderness areas trying to avoid prosecution. With now uninterrupted vital communication, Scott was recognized for his achievement with a standing ovation for contribution of the PowerTracker at the Sheriffs Office SAR banquet to honor all volunteers.

After several years of manufacturing and marketing PowerTracker, other models came into being for other groups like amateur radio operators who while hiking in remote areas could not make radio contact with their friends at base camps. Other letters would then follow in letting Scott know that for the first time complete communications were possible from one end of the trail to the other, like the Appalachian Trail in the East coast where for long periods of time if any one was hurt it could take a day to get help otherwise without the use of radio communication. Eventually the manufacturing rights were leased off and Scott pursued other inventions, which he too received other US Patents for. After several years the Patent had returned and the ability to redesign and market the PowerTracker was again available to Scott. This time with years having passed and the advancement of cellular phones, a whole new market was now opened up. This time instead of two-way radios, there now was a need for improved cellular communication for those that enjoyed the outdoors that had trouble with a connection or no connection at all to a cell tower. So the PowerTracker now has evolved into a cellular signal hungry antenna for cell phones known as the Gulo Gulo. Or commonly called Badger and Wolverine to most people.

So now from one simple idea from a tragedy to a common need, once again the need and ability to complete a cellular connection, can again be just like the needs of the searchers to communicate with the command post so that vital emergency information over a cellular phone can summon help for a snake bite, fallen hiker or lost child.

Gulo Gulo was once a PowerTracker By Scott Hensler.

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