[Geysers] FRS Radio Broadcasting Project

[David Schwarz]

   This was pretty close to my reaction.

   When everyone first started picking up CB radios in the 1980s, the
explicit purpose was to coordinate observation efforts and to share
information with people in the area that could enable them to see something
they might otherwise miss.  When it comes down to it, the purpose hasn't
changed.  In addition to eruption times, this includes such information as
extended overflows of North Goggles, event cycles at Fan and Mortar, and
the beginning of hot periods at Giant, for example.

   By that measure, the signal-to-noise ratio has gotten truly horrendous
in recent years, and even if it hadn't, it's not clear what use this
information would be to anyone farther away than local radio range.  This
listserv, Geyser Times, and geysers.net already provide eruption data and
descriptions within minutes to hours after it happens.  That really ought
to be good enough for those of us located hundreds or thousands of miles
away.

   For the sake of perspective, consider this:  Before the existence of the
internet and the listserv, if something rare like Giant, Morning, or
Steamboat happened, unless someone called and told you, the first you'd
hear about it would be days to weeks later when you received a postcard
from GOSA.  For less dramatic developments (Fan and Mortar emerging from
dormancy, say), the news might not arrive until the next Sput, potentially
months later.

   The daily updates from the internet are nice by comparison, but they're
also more than sufficient for practical planning purposes.  Like Jim, I
can't imagine why anyone would subject themselves to geyser basin FRS
traffic if they weren't in a position to act on the information it
occasionally contains.

David Schwarz

On Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 7:58 PM, <jimscheir at aol.com> wrote:

>  I cannot imagine why anyone wants the FRS radio calls from the Geyser
> Basin broadcast over the internet. The vast majority are of no interest to
> those of us in the Park, let alone those not here. The incessant calls to
> repeat the last transmission, the requests for help in finding lost
> children, the calls from the Visitor Center of "has anyone seen Daisy or
> Riverside", the requests to go to channel 5, the constant calls this year
> from the crane operators at the Inn to one another, the visitors calling to
> one another not knowing it is the Geyser Channel (this year for a whole day
> in Spanish), the often garbled calls, the people who have put their radio
> on Voice Activation, etc. make it a real pain much of the time to listen to
> channel 4.5 in the Basin when we have to listen to hear the Geyser Eruption
> times. A high proportion of the calls never reach the Visitor Center
> because the reception inside is terrible and the noise level is high.
>
> There are also issues of legality that would have to be settled. Some
> statements I have seen indicate that no FRS signals may be sent over phone
> lines at any time. Whether that would apply to the internet sent over lines
> that include phone lines in some places is unclear. There are also other
> legal issues to be investigated and permissions that would be needed.
>
> Another issue is whether permission is needed to rebroadcast transmissions
> made by those speaking. This also includes the issue of privacy. A number
> of gazers have already stated that they will stop all broadcasting on their
> radios if the transmissions are put on the internet.
>
> I talked to all the Gazers who are here now and spend a lot of time in the
> Park and none of us thinks that the FRS radio calls should be broadcast.
>
> Jim Scheirer
>
>
>
>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From: Will Boekel <wolveslax65 at comcast.net>
> To: Listserve <geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu>
> Sent: Tue, Jul 10, 2012 8:11 pm
> Subject: [Geysers] FRS Radio Broadcasting Project
>
>   Yesterday I was playing around with my new FRS radios and was able to
> get my laptop to record the transmissions by plugging in a ipod headphone
> cord from the radio’s headset jack to my laptop’s microphone jack. I then
> mentioned that I was able to do this on the chat page and KC listed off a
> few services that can broadcast the FRS radio calls . I am currently busy
> right now with my own projects but if some one would like to take on the
> project of making the FRS radio calls available on the internet feel free
> to do so. I bet many people including myself will be thrilled at having the
> FRS calls broadcasted over the internet.
>
> Will Boekel
>
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