Although the PSION is designed to be a world machine, most of us only use it in our home city. But there have been a few questions posed about travelling with the unit: Can I pack it with my other luggage? Will it harm the PSION to go through an X-Ray machine? Dealing with Customs Voltage/Frequency of electric power in different countries Can I pack it with my other luggage? When travelling, don't "check" your PSION...keep it with you as carry-on luggage. The luggage compartment of an airplane can get VERY COLD during flight and this can damage the PSION, especially if you turn the unit on shortly after getting into warmer temperatures. When you take something from a cold environment to a warm one, moisture will form on to its surfaces. For the PSION, this can be very harmful as the moisture will create short circuits and blow the PSION's circuitry. For more information about the PSION and cold temperatures, read this article about using the PSION in winter. [ Top of page ] Will it harm the PSION to go through an X-Ray machine? If you look in your PSION manual's index under "X-rays" you'll find a reference to a page that has a statement along the lines of, "There are no known problems with passing your PSION through airport security machines and other X-rays." Along those lines, some airport security guards may require you to prove your PSION actually works by turning it on...this is so they know it's an actual device and not a bomb made up to look like a computer. I should add though if you have a PSION with the microdrive in it, I don't know what damage (if any) will happen to it if the drive comes in contact with a metal detector. I'm assuming it will be fine as I have never heard any complaints about credit cards being wiped by the wand. [ Top of page ] For Canadians, Taking your PSION outside of Canada, dealing with Canada Customs (people from other countries should look into if they have something similar) If you're taking your PSION or anything of value out of Canada (including cameras and good jewellery), or you're having something repaired out of Canada, you should get what's called a Identification of Articles For Temporary Exportation card, otherwise known as Y38. It's a green card that when folded in half is about the size of a business card. You can get the card at any border crossing, at the airport customs office, or at your local customs office (in Toronto there's one at 1 Front Street West). This all has to be done BEFORE you take the object out of Canada, and you HAVE to have the object(s) with you when you get the card (so that the customs officer has proof of the claims). On the card the item(s) is/are described as Article, Make, and Serial number. The customs officer than voids the other lines on the form, dates it, and signs it after you have signed it. Now you have to hang on to that card, and if there's any trouble when your machine comes back into Canada (whether it is shipped or you brought it in yourself) you have proof that the unit was in Canada before that date. One more thing, if your device was in for repair and they swapped it for a new one, make sure that on the repair invoice they put the statement, "Unit serial number 8888 was replaced with unit serial number 9999 by our repair facility". That way if the serial number doesn't match what's on your green card, you have documented evidence that the unit was swapped. I haven't done much travelling lately...I went through all this recently when I wanted to get my PSION repaired under warranty and it was taken to the US. But when I did travel, mainly to Germany, I made sure I registered my camera because it was bought in Germany. It's better to go through the hassel before, than to have to pay duty to customs! Oh, by the way the service of getting the item registered at customs is FREE! [ Top of page ] Voltage/Frequency of electric power in different countries Converting from one voltage to another is an easy task with the appropriate voltage converter. The problem though is different countries also use different frequencies...not too much has been written about this area, especially where PSIONs are concerned. I've put this question to quite a few PSION message boards, and even asked PSION, but I haven't gotten a reply yet. If someone can fill in the blanks, especially for the Revo considering how finicky that machine is about power, you can get credit for your answer here. Please email me at mikefellh@hotmail.com All else operate on batteries, or buy the appropriate PSION AC (mains) adapter for the country you're travelling to. Or, in the case of the Revo look into the external battery pack that can be built on Revoworld. I'm looking into building one myself. [ Top of page ]