Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
i gotta be honest, i'm a HUGE fan of walkie talkies (and i take walkie talkie dialogues very seriously). the motorola talkabouts have always worked well for me when camping or skiing, so i'm gonna take a few to roo this year to solve those "lost in a crowd after a pee break" moments
We used walkie talkies on the way down...first year and they worked great. We had a lot of fun! When we got there they did not work at all. We talked to a lot of people, but not the people we were trying to talk to. All turned out alright, but the walkie talkies did not work...on any channel.............. We just planned to NOT have them every year after that!
*Pic removed by mod. Could be considered NSFW*
Last Edit: Dec 26, 2007 18:19:39 GMT -5 by wooz - Back to Top
Post by supernaut6011 on Jan 28, 2008 17:16:38 GMT -5
They are a waste of time! I got lost on the way back (way too much Budweiser) Thursday night and my friend met some people and sat their listening to me over the walkie as I stumbled in a big circle (of course around our campsite) laughing at me and not responding.
Now that I think about it maybe it was my friend that wasn't working at that point! lol
They work on a completely different frequency from the normal radios you see everywhere and they have many more channels available. They also have text messaging and vibrating alerts. The kit comes with rechargeable batteries but they can also use standard AA's. The price is not bad either. Amazon has a pair for $83 with free shipping.
That would be great if those radios work. We have had a terrible time for the past 3 years trying to make them work at Bonnaroo. We are usually okay talking to our friends on the way down, but once we are there we're screwed.
They work on a completely different frequency from the normal radios you see everywhere and they have many more channels available. They also have text messaging and vibrating alerts. The kit comes with rechargeable batteries but they can also use standard AA's. The price is not bad either. Amazon has a pair for $83 with free shipping.
That's the difference. Verizon uses a different technology (CDMA) from Cingular/AT&T and T-Mobile (GSM). The GSM towers were absolutely saturated, resulting in huge delays for text messages and no ability to make phone calls, but the CDMA towers were as solid as ever.
I'm getting these for sure, thank you for the reccomendation!
I do not think you will be disappointed. I had been looking for an affordable set of radios like these for years now. I have only had them four months but have already used them at two NASCAR races and a couple of other different events and they have worked just as promised.
This year will be my first Bonnaroo however NASCAR races suffer from the same frequency and cell phone overcrowding that must happen during the Bonnaroo weekend so if these work at a NASCAR race they should also work at Bonnaroo.
Have you tried the text feature? I'm interested to know how that works..
I have used the text message feature a lot. Found it to be the best way to communicate in loud areas. Before you set out you can sit down and assign each radio a number up to 10 digits long. I have four of them and we just assign each radio our cell phone number. After you enter all the radio's you want to contact into your phone book it works just like a cell phone. Just find the name in your phone book and select message and either choose a pre-formed canned message or enter you own using the cell phone style keypad. Another nice feature of these radios is that if you have a group of people everybody can monitor the group channel but you can also "call" each person individually for a private conversation. Best of both worlds cell phone and radio.
As my Inebriated buddy walks out of the Porto, he yells out, "Dude...I love this place...bonnaroo thinks about everything...they even put beer holders next to the toilet!"
Had to break it to him that that was the urnal. Good times good times!
Post by localweather on Feb 14, 2008 18:00:50 GMT -5
I came very close to buying/bringing some to 'roo last year but I forgot at the last minute. I'll see what the gang I'm going with this year wants to do.
I am interested in finding some peeps that have HAD success with walkie talkies as I believe the technology used at Bonnaroo is designed to avert this from being successful. The reasons I will not post or bore you with as they are industry specific and relate to keeping their tight fist on the bottom line-the money maker/ branding rights.
I know personally this technology exists ( to stop transmission) because I had a good bud that installed this technology in hotels. Hotels use it to stop cell phone usage inside the bldg SO u have to use the hotel phone. The hotel phone system is VOIP and thus the hotel gets a kick back from the exchange to defray the over head of its own phone bill etc.
Also B'roo has equipment for the wireless communication operations system and diffrent equip by D link to provide wireless internet. One has to think how they find all the available bandwidths etc for that area and then acknowledge that they have to claim those for themselves and use the cancelling technology.
Just a mentioning of my two cents nothin FACTUAL ofcourse.
Take a look at these walkie talkies. They work on different frequencies and use different technology from the standard ones sold everywhere and they should work fine at Bonnaroo without the hassles described below. They can even send text messages.
I have used various models of handheld radios at a number of different events over the years and the only problems I have ever encountered have been too many people using the same limited number of channels.
Unlike hotels Bonnaroo encourages people to use their cell phones to communicate as Bonnaroo does not offer any competing communications products and any recording over a cell phone is not going to be of very good quality. If you read the information at Bonnaroo.com they mention and encourage cell phone use while warning about potential disruption to service due to heavy cell usage which by the way is very common at most large gatherings.
I am interested in finding some peeps that have HAD success with walkie talkies as I believe the technology used at Bonnaroo is designed to avert this from being successful. The reasons I will not post or bore you with as they are industry specific and relate to keeping their tight fist on the bottom line-the money maker/ branding rights.
I know personally this technology exists ( to stop transmission) because I had a good bud that installed this technology in hotels. Hotels use it to stop cell phone usage inside the bldg SO u have to use the hotel phone. The hotel phone system is VOIP and thus the hotel gets a kick back from the exchange to defray the over head of its own phone bill etc.
Also B'roo has equipment for the wireless communication operations system and diffrent equip by D link to provide wireless internet. One has to think how they find all the available bandwidths etc for that area and then acknowledge that they have to claim those for themselves and use the cancelling technology.
Just a mentioning of my two cents nothin FACTUAL ofcourse.
My two cents and change, Trip
I saw something on the news about that type of equipment which some theaters wanted to install to keep people from using their phones during the movie. I thought they said it was illegal for them to install it because it is jamming airwaves, which is against some FCC regulations.
I am interested in finding some peeps that have HAD success with walkie talkies as I believe the technology used at Bonnaroo is designed to avert this from being successful. The reasons I will not post or bore you with as they are industry specific and relate to keeping their tight fist on the bottom line-the money maker/ branding rights.
I know personally this technology exists ( to stop transmission) because I had a good bud that installed this technology in hotels. Hotels use it to stop cell phone usage inside the bldg SO u have to use the hotel phone. The hotel phone system is VOIP and thus the hotel gets a kick back from the exchange to defray the over head of its own phone bill etc.
Also B'roo has equipment for the wireless communication operations system and different equip by D link to provide wireless internet. One has to think how they find all the available bandwidths etc for that area and then acknowledge that they have to claim those for themselves and use the canceling technology.
Just a mentioning of my two cents nothin FACTUAL of course.
My two cents and change, Trip
I saw something on the news about that type of equipment which some theaters wanted to install to keep people from using their phones during the movie. I thought they said it was illegal for them to install it because it is jamming airwaves, which is against some FCC regulations.
This technology is illegal however it is easily obtainable at relatively low cost on the the Internet. However just because something is not legal does not mean people do not use it, especially when they can make money doing so. Ironically it is frequently the same people who install the equipment that later turn in the violators for a reward.
Post by starrynight on Feb 21, 2008 16:39:50 GMT -5
My friend I went to Bonnaroo with last year and am going with again this year called me yesterday and was like "so obviously the walkie talkies last year were a bust so we gotta find something" and was asking the same thing you guys were, if there were text messengers that didnt belong to a phone service, etc. He left me a message today saying he found 2 mile radius text messengers so once I find out exactly hwat they are i'll relay the message.
Take a look at these walkie talkies. They work on different frequencies and use different technology from the standard ones sold everywhere and they should work fine at Bonnaroo without the hassles of too many people trying to use the same limited number of channels. They can even send text messages to each other.
Hey I say everyone driving down with walkie talkies stay on channel one with no privacy codes till you get there, then we can find eachother! How cool would that be...I think my crew will have some.
