4 ms·

Ignoring the crazy people in the article, I've driven through Greenbank a number of times on the way to-from skiing in the region. There's not much of a town th

by bane 11y ago

Ignoring the crazy people in the article, I've driven through Greenbank a number of times on the way to-from skiing in the region. There's not much of a town there, it really is out in the middle of nowhere, down in a valley. You'll be driving along not having passed another car in the last hour and suddenly there's a massive massive radio telescope sitting out in the middle of what would probably be a farmer's field. The town is more like a few houses dotted along a major road and a couple of turn-offs with a few bunched up houses. My wife and I usually comment while driving through something about how it must suck to be an engineer working on the telescope and living there. I always wondered what sort of folks live there and now I know. This is the area if anybody's interested https://www.google.com/maps/place/Green+Bank+Telescope/@38.432155,-79.839803,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x884b6ecff9104eb9:0x3091683ec4a98833 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Green+Bank+Telescope/@38.4... You can get tours https://public.nrao.edu/tours/visitgbt https://public.nrao.edu/tours/visitgbt

jimminy 11y ago
I'm from the area, a little town about 35 miles away, but living in the Bay Area. The article doesn't really tell a good story about the folks living there. Just the ecentric people that have started showing up relatively recently. Maybe growing up there, but I actually prefer the solitude. The interesting thing about those few small houses is that you end up getting to know the people in your area and around you pretty well. Nearly everyone. So I wouldn't make the assumption that "it must suck". I could make the same assumption about any over populated area, like the Bay Area, because it's nearly impossible to really know your community and traffic is horrible. Ugh, it must suck to be an engineer working on some startup and living there.
- bane 11y ago
  Yeah that's true. I guess I should qualify my comment. I mean "it must suck" being in a technical field, but in a real sense quite cut off from interaction with your peers. It's actually a beautiful area, but I can't help but feel that people could very easily feel out of their milieu there.
unsignedint 11y ago
Looks like Google's Street View car ran through this area. I'd wonder what their Wi-fi log looked like around there...
unoti 11y ago
I learned a little about Green Bank because it's on the test for the Ham Radio Extra exam: E1F06 [97.3] What is the National Radio Quiet Zone? An area surrounding the National Radio Astronomy Observatory The National Radio Astronomy Observatory sites are located in Green Bank West Virginia, Socorro New Mexico, and Charlottesville NC.
- tzs 11y ago
  > E1F06 [97.3] Ok, I recognize the E as meaning this is from the Extra class question pool, The 1 as meaning it is from sub element 1 of those questions (Commission's Rules), and F06 meaning it is question 6 in the group F subset of sub element 1 questions. The [97.3] completely mystifies me. What is it? There are quite a few hams on HN. Many checked in here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9445123 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9445123
  - wsh 11y ago
    [97.3] means the answer to the question is found in section 97.3 of the FCC Rules, specifically 47 CFR 97.3(a)(33): http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?node=se47.5.97_13 http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?node=se47.5.97_13

by bane 11y ago

jimminy 11y ago

I'm from the area, a little town about 35 miles away, but living in the Bay Area. The article doesn't really tell a good story about the folks living there. Just the ecentric people that have started showing up relatively recently. Maybe growing up there, but I actually prefer the solitude. The interesting thing about those few small houses is that you end up getting to know the people in your area and around you pretty well. Nearly everyone. So I wouldn't make the assumption that "it must suck". I could make the same assumption about any over populated area, like the Bay Area, because it's nearly impossible to really know your community and traffic is horrible. Ugh, it must suck to be an engineer working on some startup and living there.

bane 11y ago
Yeah that's true. I guess I should qualify my comment. I mean "it must suck" being in a technical field, but in a real sense quite cut off from interaction with your peers. It's actually a beautiful area, but I can't help but feel that people could very easily feel out of their milieu there.

unsignedint 11y ago

Looks like Google's Street View car ran through this area. I'd wonder what their Wi-fi log looked like around there...

unoti 11y ago

I learned a little about Green Bank because it's on the test for the Ham Radio Extra exam: E1F06 [97.3] What is the National Radio Quiet Zone? An area surrounding the National Radio Astronomy Observatory The National Radio Astronomy Observatory sites are located in Green Bank West Virginia, Socorro New Mexico, and Charlottesville NC.

tzs 11y ago
> E1F06 [97.3] Ok, I recognize the E as meaning this is from the Extra class question pool, The 1 as meaning it is from sub element 1 of those questions (Commission's Rules), and F06 meaning it is question 6 in the group F subset of sub element 1 questions. The [97.3] completely mystifies me. What is it? There are quite a few hams on HN. Many checked in here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9445123 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9445123
- wsh 11y ago
  [97.3] means the answer to the question is found in section 97.3 of the FCC Rules, specifically 47 CFR 97.3(a)(33): http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?node=se47.5.97_13 http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?node=se47.5.97_13