Communication

jbelson · Post by **jbelson** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 1:23 pm

Is there any way to communicate with the outside world on the playa? Not that I really want to, but I would like to leave a message where I'm camped for those that come later.

I thought I saw someone with a wireless internet thing, but I'm not sure.

blyslv · Post by **blyslv** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 1:30 pm

There's a bulliten board, a real honest to god bulliten board for posting bullitens as to your whereabouts, state of undress and level of anxiety. Come up with a cool color scheme before hand so your peeps know what to look for.

dragonfly Jafe · Post by **dragonfly Jafe** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 4:32 pm

I have tried for years to find friends on the "board", never once with success (they couldn't find me either). Last year I couldn't even find the notice I had left the day before. It is a really big board, with lots of paper stuck to it. Good luck.

I recommend registering your camp once on the Playa. I forget the camp name, but there there is a group in centercamp that does this. When your friends show up, they can go to center camp to find you.

zzberlin · Post by **zzberlin** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 4:51 pm

The physical bulletin board on the playa is very difficult to deal with,
I've found.

As for communicating with people outside the playa, the past few years
some Oregon burners have made Internet wireless connectivity available.
As I recall, the info needed to access the wireless net was put out in the
JRS a month or so before the burn. So you'll probably be able to get
net connectivity if you have access to a computer with a wireless NIC.

Here's the link from last year. It hasn't been updated for 2004 and
I suppose it's possible they won't do the wireless stuff this year,
but that would be surprising.

http://www.eugeneweb.com/~bm/ibm.html

jbelson · Post by **jbelson** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 5:29 pm

Yeah, I looked at the bulletin board last year and found it to be a huge cluster-fudge. Just too many postings. Thats what I was hoping to avoid.

I read about the wireless connectivity. How likely do you think it would be that someone would let me send out an e-mail?

robbidobbs · Post by **robbidobbs** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 5:37 pm

I heard about a data base on playa for those to walk up and put their name/camp in, and others can look you up. It might be with the Playa Net ppl, or with Playa Info. Anyways, don't fret. There's no point in fretting. Put out a big ass flag with your camp colors on it (or a blinky thingy or a blow up dinosaur, etc). Something that they'll know in advance to look for. Trying to find a "white Dodge" in all that mess in nigh impossible. Your other option is to pick an FRS channel that they know you're monitoring. Then when they do call in, you (might) hear them and respond. Warning: the FRS channels fill up QUICK out there.

zzberlin · Post by **zzberlin** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 6:08 pm

> How likely do you think it would be that someone would let me send out an e-mail?

If I'm out there this year I'll have my laptop
and you'd be welcome to use it. Probably your
best bet will be to ask around here on the eplaya
a couple weeks in advance and find out if there's
anyone here who will have their computer who
will be up for letting you use it.

The playanet puts computers out for use but I don't
think they usually hook up to the internet-- in the
past their machines have been intended primarily
for intra-playa use.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 7:31 pm

Sheesh. I thought the eplaya was s'posed to make people smarter.

http://www.burningman.com/on_the_playa/ ... vices.html

PurpleKoosh · Post by **PurpleKoosh** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 9:16 pm

robbidobbs wrote:I heard about a data base on playa for those to walk up and put their name/camp in, and others can look you up. It might be with the Playa Net ppl, or with Playa Info.

http://burndir.sogroovy.com/ - and you can register now if you know where you'll be.

sgrunspa · Post by **sgrunspa** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 10:37 pm

I found the GMRS radios worked well. they are not quite as common as FRS, although last time I checked there's now only a 10 dollar diff in price. GMRS has different channels than FRS but they too will fill up. Still if you are listening, you will hear your friends. if you don't already own gmrs radios it is best to get 2 watt handsets. power doesn't increase range as much as you think (you need 4 times the power to double the range) but it helps.

antron · Post by **antron** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 10:48 pm

i had little trouble sending email either of the last two years. i kept my laptop in a ziplok bag in my backpack, only took it out to do a bit of minimal communication, used it quite sparingly...didn't need to charge batteries.

still, it got dusty. 802.11 was hit or miss...

Wiskers69 · Post by **Wiskers69** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 11:50 pm

Bob wrote:Sheesh. I thought the eplaya was s'posed to make people smarter.

http://www.burningman.com/on_the_playa/ ... vices.html

I tried to email the people mention in the Internet Connectivity section of this link but the email address no longer seem to be valid. Does anybody know of anything more current for getting wirless access on the playa?

Blonde Iguana · Post by **Blonde Iguana** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:07 am

I posted a similar question a couple months back and someone offered a good suggestion. You can rent a satellite phone. I'm thinking about renting one, so that the person looking after my pets, house and invalid mother can contact me in any emergencies. I think it would probably cost $40-50 for the phone and then $2-3 for every minute of airtime. (ouch!).

www.satellitediscountstore.com

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:35 am

sgrunspa wrote:I found the GMRS radios worked well. they are not quite as common as FRS, although last time I checked there's now only a 10 dollar diff in price. GMRS has different channels than FRS but they too will fill up. Still if you are listening, you will hear your friends. if you don't already own gmrs radios it is best to get 2 watt handsets. power doesn't increase range as much as you think (you need 4 times the power to double the range) but it helps.

http://www.hrdent.com/gmrs/gmrsapp.html

Last Real Burner · Post by **Last Real Burner** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:19 pm

"The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it."
predictably,
mr smith

Communication

Communication

GMRS, FRS

Re: GMRS, FRS

Yes I know...