[Elecraft] DZOTA: Dead Zones On The Air

[Jim Rhodes]

When I was growing up in Minnesota there was an area of a nearby town that
would blank the signal of whatever radio station you were listening to on
the car radio as you were driving through, AM or FM. Not an industrial area
either. Never did figure that one out. Always meant to go back and see if I
could map it better and maybe find out what was causing it. Would like to
have talked to folks living near there.

On Tue, Dec 10, 2019 at 9:19 AM Wayne Burdick <n6kr at elecraft.com> wrote:

> Hi Joe,
>
> I'd just google each company's coverage maps.
>
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
>
> > On Dec 10, 2019, at 7:12 AM, Joseph Street <jstreet at uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
> >
> > DZOTA  so....most of Canada then.  This jives perfectly with my desire
> to go hike where nobody else wants to go.  I might just get bitten by this
> bug along with a few thousand mosquitoes and blackflies.  One problem
> though, I've never owned a cell phone.  I need some other way of knowing
> when I'm in a dead zone. Any suggestions?
> >
> > Joe ve3vxo
> > From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net <elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net>
> on behalf of Wayne Burdick <n6kr at elecraft.com>
> > Sent: December 10, 2019 9:46:09 AM
> > To: Elecraft Reflector
> > Cc: Elecraft-KX at groups.io
> > Subject: [Elecraft] DZOTA: Dead Zones On The Air
> >
> > Have you seen those cell-phone company maps showing how much of the
> country they cover? Inevitably, they reveal a patchwork of Dead Zones
> (DZs): places where coverage is not just bad...it's non-existent.
> >
> > In such inhospitable realms, your choices are smoke signals, sat phone,
> or ham radio. This smacks of an opportunity. Hence DZOTA.
> >
> > DZOTA places are often DeZerted. In fact, they are often in dezerts, in
> contrast to many of the conspicuous high places typical of SOTA. This may
> be a benefit to outdoor radio enthusiasts who, when hiking, prefer level
> ground or even a gentle downward slope. And in an emergency, those hikers
> might be the only ones around with comms.
> >
> > Where are the most notorious DZs? I have a few tiny cell network black
> holes in my urban neighborhood, thanks to AT&T. But the truly inspiring DZs
> are far from civilization, covering tens or hundreds of square miles.
> Typically, they're also far from sources of noise.
> >
> > I have no illusions that DZOTA sites will be officially tracked and
> chased anytime soon. Still, the "NO SIGNAL" icon on my phone now has new
> meaning. It's a bug you, too, can change to a feature just by keeping a
> radio in your vehicle at all times.
> >
> > In my case, it's the spare KX2 and AX1 under the driver's seat.
> >
> > 73,
> > Wayne
> > N6KR
> >
> >
> >
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