Re: Birdwatcher Hill Fire - chapter 14 fact check -- Spearfish Lake Tales

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Subject: Re: Birdwatcher Hill Fire - chapter 14 fact check

Author:
Allen McIntosh

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Date Posted: 19:43:17 01/02/16 Sat
In reply to: Wes 's message, "Re: Birdwatcher Hill Fire - chapter 14 fact check" on 10:38:03 01/01/16 Fri

>>First is about Jackie and Becca. Would cell phone
>>service be available in the plane flying at their
>>altitudes, and would SpearfishLake have enough cell
>>phone tower coverage? Wouldn't a radio be a better
>>idea?
>
>A radio on the proper frequency would probably be a
>better idea but a cell phone is what they have. There
>would be no need for Rocinante to normally have a
>radio operating on emergency frequencies (which are
>pretty close to aviation frequencies, but out of
>normal range.) Cell phones are line of sight -- but
>the line of sight is much farther from a plane. They
>are high enough that they can reach a tower located in
>Spearfish Lake, which can't be done from the ground.
>Sure, cell phones work on airplanes. You're not
>supposed to use them on airliners, but they get used
>all the time anyway.

I'm not a subject matter expert, but I have worked with people who are. I think that they might tell you that Jackie was lucky.

It is not a given that she would get cellphone reception in the air. An antenna in a base station does not cover 360 degrees horizontally or 90 degrees vertically. It is aimed to maximize coverage on the ground. Any signal that leaks up in the air is wasted. There is likely some leakage, and Jackie took advantage of that. Flying low probably helped, since signal strength drops off significantly with distance from the base station.

Since Spearfish Lake is rural, the carrier may have chosen to go with a small number of higher powered transmitters. This would mean better signal strength up where Jackie's plane is flying. The transmitters would probably be on hilltops to increase their range.

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