Road and weather conditions contacts.

[novice1234]

I haven't been into radio communications for 40 years. I'd like to be able to contact people on the Interstate or coming off of it here in Minnesota for reports on road conditions from a home base station before venturing out. I am about 30 miles from it. The 511MN internet system is only updated twice a day, so inadequate. Is CB radio still the best method for the best likelihood of making contacts or are there now better systems such as ham networks or repeaters, FRS or GMRS repeaters, Smartphone apps, etc? Suggestions appreciated. Thanks.

 

[N0IU]

You might want to look at Waze. It is a "community-based" system that shows traffic and road conditions provided by people who are on the road right now. It is available as a real-time website (https://www.waze.com) or as a smartphone app. You do not have to create an account to look at the map but you will have to create an account if you want to contribute your own input to the system.

EDIT: I think you can contribute to the system as an anonymous user without creating an account.

 

[novice1234]

Thanks so much for your reference to Waze.com. Sounds intriguing. I'll check into it today. Wow, you've done a lot of posts. I'm sure it is much appreciated. Winter seems to have gone away for now up here, but March could come in like a lion. Hope to run into you on the air when I re-license. Must study all the changes. //formerly WB0AOW 1969-1973, then out of Rochester, MN. //Andrew.

 

[N0IU]

Well I have been a member since 2009 so you have to spread out all those posts over all that time!

I am in the St. Louis area so we're not that far apart. Here it is the middle of February and its 62° at 11:00am so no complaints about the weather, but you are right about having March to look forward to. There has been snow on Easter more than once!

Yes, the internet is an amazing thing. It wasn't that long ago the we would always have the ol' Rand McNally atlas in the car when we went on a road trip, but even that isn't necessary any more!

Good luck on your studies for getting back on the air!

 

[ten13]

In the NYC area, at one time the traffic reporting companies ("Shadow Traffic," etc) had freelancers allowed on their own radio frequencies to report traffic conditions, which worked out pretty well. However, what these companies would NOT do is give these freelancers any information about traffic conditions, even the ones they were reporting on.

In other words, it was a one-way street: you tell us, but we're going to keep you in the dark. Their argument was that even the freelancers contributing free and important information to them should have to turn on the AM radio and find out what's going on.

That sort of rubbed people the wrong way, and participation died out. But with the cell phone, more and more people were willing to report, so everyone with a cell phone and in a car was a "freelancer."