Field and Urban Communications

For some of our more exciting games, we use Motorola Sport 7 radios, an out-of-production version of the Talkabout FRS radios that are so popular now. Supposedly you can get a 2 mile range out of the things, but that'd probably have to be in near-perfect conditions (inside the factory?).

I've heard about teams using VHF radios that require federal licenses for their games. This is definitely more expensive, but at least you don't have to worry about crossover from other people's radios in the area.

Here are some other suggestions for the agent of limited means:

Homing pigeons - It is often claimed that the first homing pigeon was the dove released by Noah, but the sport of racing homing pigeons is of more recent vintage. And no, the homing pigeon is not extinct -- that is the passenger pigeon! Pigeons have been used as message carriers for centuries, but in the 1800s a sport evolved, not over the issue of whether a bird could home, but how fast it could negotiate the distance. By the late 1800s there were races in regularly conducted competitions in the United States of America as in Belgium, Holland and Great Britain. How do homing pigeons navigate?

2 tin cans and a string - When you pull the string tight and talk into one of the cans of your tin can telephone, the sound vibrates across the taut string to the other can.

I am also a big fan of the US military field phones. Since they need a pair of wires (stereo wire works fine) stretched between them, it gives your games the added WWI realism of having to go and check the line if the wire is cut.

And then there's always the issue with cell phones becoming completely worthless in the event of a DOS (denial of service) or if the network becomes swamped. It's like driving down the highway - it's all well and good until everyone decides they want to drive to the beach.

The biggest problem with cellphones is that they work fine as long as everyone is not on them at the same time. This is why phone service got hosed in NYC on 9-11.

We used to use cell phones in games when they first came out, but then we started worrying about what would happen if one got hit with a paintball. And then there is always the roaming charges . . .

I'll never forget when I was a kid and went to a "Field Day" with my Granddad's amateur radio group. We were at the Boy Scout camp - underneath the sheet-metal tipis - and I was watching this rather large man sweating profusely on a stationary bike. I asked my Granddad what was going on and he told me that the bike was powering a generator that could keep the ham radio going in the event of a blackout. Now that was cool!

I was so impressed that I got my own amateur radio license (technician no-code) and have yet to talk to a stranger on the radio. Taking that one step further in the internet world, I don't do chat rooms either.

And for those of you wanting to smuggle a truckload of booze cross-county, don't forget your CB lingo - remember this?

Alpha	Bravo	Charlie	Delta	Echo
Foxtrot	Golf	Hotel	India	Juliet
Kilo	Lima	Mike	November	Oscar
Papa	Quebec	Romeo	Sierra	Tango
Uniform	Victor	Whiskey	X-Ray	Yankee
Zulu

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