Bonneville Communication

[Dusty]

Does anyone know if there are scanner frequency's available for the Bonneville salt Flats....I'm refering to 2 way communication between Tech people and crews and drivers...There should be a web site available, but I haven't found one yet...

Thanks, Benny

[1FATGMC]

Does anyone know if there are scanner frequency's available for the Bonneville salt Flats....I'm refering to 2 way communication between Tech people and crews and drivers...There should be a web site available, but I haven't found one yet...

Thanks, Benny

Hi Benny,

There are some guys broadcasting general info and the speeds over an AM freq..  I can't ever remember what it is, but it isn't too hard to find.  They don't broadcast with a lot of power, so I find a cheap AM radio doesn't pick them up real good down where we setup.

All of the racers have to have CB radios.  The tower broadcasts the times on one of the CB channels.  They use two different ones and switch back and forth sometimes.  Other times they use one to communicate with each other and another to give out the times and yell at the racers and their crews if they are doing something wrong.  Also the crews can communicate with them if they blowup or something and the course needs to be checked.

They might also us something like maybe 2 meter(?) to communicate with each other, but I'm not sure on that one.

You guys have a good little vacation and see you in a few weeks.

c ya, Sum

[Cword]

Sum's correct, the primary communication on the salt is the CB. It's manditory for crew vehicles to be equipped with a CB and Fire extinguisher when using the return roads.  

CB communication starts out on Channel 1 in the morning, and increments through the day as excess traffic or problems arise.

On the CB you'll hear primarily the timers and course control.  On the AM broadcast you'll hear the CB information blended with the banter of the volunteer announcer (Digger Dave did this in the 70's)  the announcer will give background on the cars that are running as well as all kinds of other day to day and historical information.

mike

[Dusty]

Ok, Sum and Mike....I knew about the AM broadcast...It's 1600KC...It's got some power, because we could hear it in the Hotel back at Wendover.  

About the CB, I didn't figure they would use that band because of all the Interstate CB traffic, because the Highway is very close to the track.  

I would have thought they would have something in the 150 or 400 Mhz band.  Anyway I'll have it all covered this year.  The car was too new last year...Lillie hadn't put any dents in it at that time...She managed to do that in the parking lot in Wendover, last year, so now I can put antennas on it....Look forward to seeing you again Mike.   I got lotsa pics of you and your car last year...I'm looking for some "T" shirts this year...

CUL,Benny

[Cword]

I expect they stick with the CB because of the convenience (proliferation). Having the CB rule for support vehicles means that they should be able to contact any vehicle they see on the return roads.  Whether everyone keeps them on, or has them tuned to the current channel is another question.  The traffic on the interstate does create problems,  I've seen some days where the CB channel seems to increment every hour.

Benny, you'll be glad you got pictures of our car last year.  This year we've added an ugly scoop to the hood, inorder to get room enough over the carb for a proper airbox, to go faster. "Ugly is OK if we go faster!"
I'm hoping to have T's in hand within the next couple weeks.  The print order went in last Monday.

Mike