Area of Burning Man

Tuatha · Post by **Tuatha** » Thu May 06, 2004 4:29 pm

Hey Guys&Girls

Does anybody the size of area burning man takes up? I was looking on bring a few hand held CB radio's my friend and I can split up and still keep in contact, but I kinda need to know the range that the radios need to be capable of.

So does anybody know the rough area that burning man takes up in Kilometers or miles?

Also if anybodies had experience with doing something like this what do you recommend?

kenshi · Post by **kenshi** » Thu May 06, 2004 4:46 pm

Last year, we had radios and they did not really work to well. We keep getting other people on our frequencies. Not once were we able to reach anyone from our camp. So we don't recommend them. Plus it was impossible to coordinate with anyone from our group thanks to playa time.

Dustdevil · Post by **Dustdevil** » Thu May 06, 2004 4:52 pm

The area is roughly 5 miles square if memory serves. I also tried the low cost (Costco) personal radios and had very poor results.

PurpleKoosh · Post by **PurpleKoosh** » Thu May 06, 2004 5:14 pm

Dustdevil wrote:The area is roughly 5 miles square if memory serves.

You got the five part right. *wry smile* The fenceline is a pentagon a mile on each side. (Yes, boys and girls, BRC covers the same area as The Five-Sided Funny Farm in DC.)

Tuatha · Post by **Tuatha** » Thu May 06, 2004 6:24 pm

Yeah that's what I figured with personal radio's
Thanks people that gives me a fair idea of what im working with :)

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Thu May 06, 2004 7:08 pm

You shouldn't have too much of a problem. A good deal of the area marked/fenced off for the event is blank, open space. If your intent is to keep in contact while meandering around the more populated areas of BRC then i think your radios will do fine - for the most part.

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Thu May 06, 2004 7:38 pm

You originally said portable CB radois... those personal "family radio service" radios that are in all the stores aren't CBs and are very low-powered. They don't work very well.
I use CB radios on the playa, much more powerful and I can talk between my artboat, camp, and handheld portable from anywhere in Black Rock City.

Tuatha · Post by **Tuatha** » Thu May 06, 2004 8:09 pm

Yeah your right, Personal Radio's I expected to have crap range

Hence why I was looking at Cb's :) Now where did I leave that Linear amp.... hehe ;)

Booker · Post by **Booker** » Thu May 06, 2004 9:17 pm

We keep getting other people on our frequencies.

Actually, you were on THEIR frequencies.

http://www.burningman.com/whatisburning ... rowth.html

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Thu May 06, 2004 10:54 pm

The pentagon outside radius is 6500 ft, with a side length of about 7641 ft. The length of one of the lines of a star pentagram scribed between the corners is proportional to the pentagon side length by the "golden ratio" -- [1+sqrt(5)]/2. According to Ranger misinformation, the ceiling allowed participants within BRC is 500 ft. Pilots using the airport are advised by the airport manager to maintain a minimum 1000 ft altitude over obstacles within a 2000 ft radius. Earth curvature is assumed to be minimal. So, the furthest distance apart you might be, on the playa or slightly above, is about 12,500 ft, or two and a third miles, weather permitting.

The area of the pentagon is not five square miles, nor is it five miles square, but the subject was radios, not asphalt.

clayboy · Post by **clayboy** » Fri May 07, 2004 12:02 pm

I have access to Motorla walkie talkies that are used at hotels etc. They easily have a ten mile range and can go through concrete etc. Do you think these would work out there? Or would there be too many people on the same types of channels...

hugs n kissez

clayboy

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri May 07, 2004 3:20 pm

I once calculated that from one side of the city to the other was about 2 adn 1/4 or 2 and 1/2 miles. Note--this does not include the open playa area or trash fence to trash fence. Just from the outermost road to the man and back out the other side. And while I double checked my work at the time, I haven't been back over it since, plus I'm relying on memory.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Fri May 07, 2004 5:29 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:I once calculated....

What with? A pedometer?

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon May 10, 2004 11:18 am

Bob wrote:
theCryptofishist wrote:I once calculated....
What with? A pedometer?

Pencil, paper, calculator, stats off the website and some almost remembered formulas from Jr. High Geometry class. (And you thought those arrrred pies would never come in handy.)

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Mon May 10, 2004 10:07 pm

What did you get off which web site?

Just curious wherefrom people get their information.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue May 11, 2004 9:47 am

Bob wrote:What did you get off which web site?

Somewhere on the main website they have a distance from the Esplanade to the man. Then it was add 1400 feet for the 7 roads past that to get my r. 2r is side to side. I did a google search on "geometric formulas" to confirm which was diameter and which radius, and I don't have enough coffee in my sysytem right now, pi.r.squared and 2.pi.r. Area was a bitch, because I had to subtract the inner playa and divide by 3/4. I got over 10 square miles, which made me uncomfortable, but my most common mistake in youth was misplacing decimal points and niether 1 nor 100 square miles made more sence.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Tue May 11, 2004 10:46 am

Still not sure what you actually used.

The Floating World had callouts of 2100 and 3900 for the Esplanade and the outermost concentric street (ie radii from the Man to the centerlines of the roads), but the graphics people generally don't include distance scales on their drawings for the web or print, for whatever reason.

Larry says BRC grows from more than a square mile of desert terrain to a five square mile civic entity.

I'm not saying He's wrong about '98 -- the bounds were a bit vague -- and using either "five square miles" or "five miles square" is just prediddily-ictable.