Isn't that the same thing! ;)

> Are we seriously understaffed, or is this normal?

Yes, you are seriously understaffed, and yes, this is normal.

The reason aircraft communications rely on non-encrypted, AM radio is every aircraft in the world needs the ability to talk to every other aircraft and every tower in the world. The existing radio system is simple and works with radios installed in planes that have been in service for decades. It is the same with Marine radio, every craft in the world can talk with every other craft and Coast Guard station because the radio system is simple and open. Unless we stop allowing private pilots and captains, the equipment has to be available to everyone, so even if we did convince everyone in the world to switch to a new system, you would still be able to order a radio on-line that would work with the new system. Public transportation agencies, and private transportation companies, could switch to something more complex for internal use, and /\/\otorola would love it if they did, but it would be an expensive solution to a small problem. If they share infrastructure (like railroad tracks), they would also likely have to continue using and maintaining their existing equipment to communicate with other users of the infrastructure. --Rich

So for the purposes of this poll, it's really all electromagnetism, since it's not the gravitational forces, but the sudden interaction with the large body that causes all the damage.

You can set up an IRC server with Pidgin (or other) clients, then firewall access to any external servers. You then have the option of running customized bots, having common chat rooms, and person to person chats.

    We used this for internal communications in the networking group where I used to work. It had the added benefit of having a client that worked on a text Linux console in the server room. Of course the only bot we ran was one that interjected comments about local restaurants when we were deciding where to eat lunch. ;)

Have you looked into MURS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-Use_Radio_Service

It's VHF, not UHF, but you can use mobile radios, detachable antennas, gain antennas, etc. that are not allowed on FRS. You are limited to two watts out the back of the radio, with whatever antenna you want. There is lots of MURS capable equipment available surplus on eBay, etc., since the five frequencies were previously business band.

In my opinion, it's really what truckers should be using for truck to truck and truck to dock communications. Unfortunately, the industry has put a lot money and marketing into FRS/GMRS and they don't want to confuse the consumer by having MURS radios next to FRS/GMRS radios. There are very few "bubble pack" MURS radios available, and they tend to be much more expensive than FRS radios. The funny thing is there used to be "bubble pack" radios for these frequencies before they were MURS. The frequencies are the old "blue dot" and "green dot" frequencies, plus some others, that were commonly available through contractor supply stores, etc.

While I agree that UHF CB would be nice, there is already so much UHF traffic in the US that it isn't feasible. The UHF commercial band is so crowded that in many metropolitan areas, the FCC has reallocated frequencies normally used for UHF TV channel 14 for public safety use. The only reason FRS/GMRS exists is because it is limited to very low wattage. The frequencies are in between existing business band frequencies and any more power would disrupt licensed business communications on adjacent channels.