Earlier this week, Gail Mackiernan wrote the following note on Birdchat:

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 08:54:41 EST
From: Gail Mackiernan <GAIL at UMDD.UMD.EDU>
Subject: Re: FRS Radios

We have been using FRS radios for over a year now, and found them absolutely
invaluable for communication, especially when doing CBCs, searching for a
single rarity which is ranging about, and even finding the lost folks
(where ARE you??!!!). There are some caveats -- they do not work as well in
hilly terrain or in dense forest (although they still work some), and in
some
places you will get interference (despite what the ads say) from other
sources. For example, in Rock Creek Park DC we get maintenance worker's
calls
on channels lower than 7 -- perhaps they are also using FRS.

Also, the lower the channel number, the stronger the signal -- that is,
Channel
1 may be best in rough terrain where signal strength may make the
difference.
We used Channel 3 in Brazil -- and were the radios important there! -- you
could range up and down a trail, and softly tell others if you had located a
good bird -- no yelling, whistling, running back or anything. We will never
forget the call from our Brazilian friend Ana Venturini -- "Nemosia
aqui!" --
when she located the Cherry-throated Tanager on a rough, windy day and we
all rushed from all directions to see this splendid bird, only 10 of which
are known to survive and which was thought extinct until 1998. Without FRS,
only Ana would have seen them.

We also used FRS in Israel last spring, searching in dense date palm groves
and
over desert terrain, and will be taking them to Thailand next week.

Gail Mackiernan
Silver Spring, MD
gail at umdd.umd.edu

I have also found them quite useful, so I would propose that those Tweeters
who own FRS radios carry them when rarities are reported, and keep them open
to a mutually agreed upon frequency. If the bird in question is found,
similarly equipped birders within a 1-2 mile radius could then be notified.
With the price for the no-frills versions of these radios dipping into the
$25 range, this could a very reasonable purchase for the majority of our
members. I would also propose that we use channel 4, in honor of the "number
of species of chickadee in Washington State" that used to get you into the
Birdbox. What do other members think?

Jack Stephens
Edmonds, WA
jstephens62xx at home.com
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