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Communications for your Astronomy Event
"Does your event need communications?"

by
John Huggins

• A Parade
• A fair
• Walkathon
• Marathon
• ...and yes, big star parties

• Pick a set of FRS radios for communications one mile or less - At less than $10 per radio plus a sack of AA or AAA batteries, this inexpensive approach is prudent for the vast majority of events.
• MURS Radios may be a good choice also for short distance comms
• GMRS is good for communications across town. The higher power and possible use of repeaters allows more distance between radios.
• Good ol' CB Radio has its place on the highways, but there really is no point in using it for event comms since FRS, MURS and GMRS exist.
• Consider requesting the help of your local Amateur Radio club and its volunteers if you needs comms for a wide ranging event such as Marathons, Bike routes, etc. Amateurs have premium equipment, exclusive use of frequency bands carved out for them and volunteers with at least some training in collaborating on the air. Frequently, they maintain repeaters which allow ranges of dozens of miles or more. All this adds up to the best long distance comms for wide ranging events.
  
  

  Call-In Frequency

  A few star parties establish a particular channel and PL tone for use by those arriving to the observing site. This is an excellent concept. One idea would utilize one of the 22 FRS/GMRS channels like so...
  
  

  Star Party Radio Coordination Frequency
  Radio Service	Channel	Purpose	CTCSS PL Tone
  FRS/GMRS	13	Parking Coordination	167.9Hz
  FRS/GMRS	15	Site Coordination	100.0Hz

  
  
  It might be best to not use a CTCSS tone since different brand manufacturers have different ways of expressing which tone is used as explained earlier in this article. The use of the term sub-channel in FRS/GMRS sales literature is really a disappointment as this just confuses folks. So just avoid the issue all together and DO NOT use a CTCSS tone; You might still get interference from others using the channel, but if your star party is located at a remote dark sky site, the chance of this is reduced.

  What about CB Radio?

  To be really complete you might also include a CB radio channel on the drive in radio list like so...
  
  

  Star Party Radio Coordination Frequency
  Radio Service	Channel	Purpose	CTCSS PL Tone
  FRS/GMRS	13	Parking Coordination	No tone used
  CB	5	Parking Coordination	Not applicable
  FRS/GMRS	15	Site Coordination	No tone used

  
  
  Adding the CB radio for the drive-in portion potentially includes the many folks who enjoy having one for highway travel.

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