The National Radio Quiet Zone Reporting Is Bollocks

We visited the US National Radio Quiet Zone as part of our trip to the Green Bank Radio Telescope and it wasn't as strict as we had been led to believe.
DAN: / iamdanw | MATT: / unnamedculprit | TOM: / tomscottgo
The Town Where Wi-Fi Is Banned: The Green Bank Telescope and the Quiet Zone:
• The Town Where Wi-Fi I...
BBC Radio 4 documentary: Welcome To The Quiet Zone
www.bbc.co.uk/p...
FAQs
What kit do you use?
Short answer: Røde NTG2, Roland R44, Sony RX100ii, GoPro 4
The Kit List: • The Kit List: What We ...
What do you use to edit?
Short answer: Adobe Creative Suite.
Editing: Why Game On & Citation Needed Take So Long: • Editing: Why Game On &...

[@ragnkja]

"Stop making stereotype jokes about the place you're in; wait until you leave."

[@Zelmel]

Truly sage advice.

[@queenofdramatech]

Yeah, but everyone seems to make West Virginia jokes here in America so I mean I don't mind. **Not from West Virginia**

[@oKingsWild]

queenofdramatech I am from West Virginia... and its ok, we're used to it.

[@ef0xy]

Polite advice

[@rhiannon42]

I was just thinking im British and my dad takes the Mick out of places that he visits whilst he is there

[@maxk4324]

Fun fact, in order to comply with federal regulations, the ionosphere actually creates a square hole in itself directly above the radio quiet zone in order to not reflect shortwave radio down onto the region. Now this does also mean that every day the area is bathed in unimaginably intense ultraviolet radiation, so when visiting be sure to pack SPF 10,000 or higher.

[@krissp8712]

All I have to say to this is "Lmao wat?"

[@rodrigosaczukniz9735]

I already knew that Matt and Tom were cool, but i didn't know they were "I am friends with Harry Potter" cool. That is awesome!

[@Seegalgalguntijak]

I know Matt and Tom, but who is Harry Potter?

[@joshuahadams]

Rodrigo Saczuk Niz it's a different Dan. He just looks like Radcliffe.

[@lachlanbrowse6939]

Seegal Galguntijak do u live under a rock or something

[@rawovunlapin8201]

Lachlan Browse it was a joke.

[@grs688]

I thought he looked like a monochromatic where's Wally.

[@RufusShinraPower]

Thank you, Matt for doing the American accent. I had always wondered what an impression of an american accent sounded like.

[@ronture8279]

It actually sounda good, too.

[@ThomasWinget]

You know...CGP Grey talks about how he used to enjoy taking road trips across America. You two should kidnap...err, talk him into such a trip.

[@spikegorman1650]

I would love this so much. I’m a huge fan of both, and a crossover would be amazing.

[@4rumani]

cgp greys a dick

[@mattandtom]

Today's Park Bench comes from Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania! I'll put up more footage of the area and us playing on the water slides on my channel soon! --Matt

[@isortofyoutube]

Country Roads is one of my favourite songs and it ran through my head as you mentioned West Virginia!

[@kriskehrer6410]

Almost heaven.

[@austinreid6074]

I love about an hour from where they filmed this, I've seen those exact falls quite a few times, West Virginia is beautiful

[@sarahprunierlaw9147]

I love Ohiopyle, the whitewater rafting is phenomenal! I really enjoy the natural water slides too, I hope the rocks didn't get your swim trunks too badly.

[@Juli414]

As soon as Tom said a car park in Ohiopyle, I wondered if the bench was at Falling Water. If they did, I would hope there'll be a video about it.

[@bentoth9555]

"A long time ago I did a video in Bielefeld." No, you didn't. The town doesn't exist. Come on, Tom.

[@Malaphor2501]

Anything can exist on a sound stage.

[@abcabc-oh9gc]

I'm still not convinced it's real... Growing up I thought it did in fact not exist and it was some kind of in-joke that I didn't understand. XD

[@CMDRSweeper]

Of course it did... But not anymore... I stole it and brought it home with me, so it is gone now.

[@chartle1]

holy cr@p I never in a million years would I ever think that I would have actually been to a park bench they would film at

[@geobeeblaster5602]

Yeah, I’ve been to that town as well

[@iceair7672]

Me too!

[@Ryan-mh4ix]

4 years late but I spent a summer working the white water there

[@bbgun061]

Thanks for the honest reporting! You could have used GPS to find the observatory, just download the maps beforehand. Phones don't transmit while using GPS. Also, you're right that it's not a no-fly-zone. There's even a private NRAO airfield right next door. There is a Military Operations Area overhead, but that doesn't prevent anyone from flying through.

[@spacewarpphotography1667]

Maybe the radio/wifi/cell service turns off at night? There's rarely any radio observation during the day due to massive interference from a nearby star.

[@krashd]

That is a surprisingly brilliant theory, I've never thought about it but if you are listening for EM signals you don't want to do it when the most powerful source in the local vicinity is the sun directly above your head.

[@dylangergutierrez]

"a nearby star" is certainly one way to describe OUR ACTUAL SUN

[@michaelsommers2356]

You can do radio astronomy in the daytime.

[@esisimp123456]

This is certainly not true. They want you to turn off the radio sources because they create peaks in the spectrum. But the the frequency distribution of radio wave from technological sources (many short spikes) is very different from the radio wave spectrum from natural sources (comparatively smooth)

[@snoflake44]

Oh neat! I know exactly where that bench is! That's the 0 marker for the Laurel Highlands trail.

[@MWK137]

Ohiopyle, I've been on that park bench. Hope you made it to Falling Water (Frank Lloyd Wright house) just a couple of miles down the read from there.

[@mattandtom]

+MWK137 that's how we found Ohiopyle! --Matt

[@bp968]

What did you think of the people? I love how nice everyone is in West Virginia.

[@JLPicard1648]

3:55 Far over... the Appalachian mountains cold... through coal mines deep...and forests old

[@garyclark3843]

I was a kid when John Denver released 'Country Roads'. It was my favorite song for years.

[@gekquad116]

I live near train tracks and from time to time I'll hear the trains horn going off, I absolutely thought it was the train by me, not the one in the video.

[@minihjalte]

Mine just brakes 10 meters away.

[@brickman409]

Must've been kind of trippy for you when they pointed out the train noise haha

[@607]

What are the train horns? I've never heard them in real life, but I haven't ever been to the USA. Are they not electric trains?

[@minihjalte]

I know some trains use pressured air. But generally its just a specfic range of sounds that is loud.

[@NSSD70MAC]

Most trains in the US use diesel-electric locomotives. With rare exception they all use air horns. These horns are required by federal law to be 96~110 dB @ 100ft and are to be used at all public access rail-crossings. I hope this information was useful. -NSSD70MAC

[@FennecTECH]

"verry long train" thats america for you

[@Thukfudo]

So I just did some research (Wikipedia) and found out that this zone is about the size of my federal state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) here in Germany... that is really huge!

[@gekquad116]

As someone from Pennsylvania, damn! I wish I had known!

[@BlobVanDam]

I found Wally! (or Waldo for those from the US)

[@Matthisnotweird]

+TheJman0205 yep!

[@_graymalkin]

yep

[@chimpaflimp]

Yes; the series was invented here, they changed the name for the US market.

[@vaclav_fejt]

osWaldo Mobray?

[@Buggaton]

nope. He's Wally in about ten countries and variations in others. And Jura in Croatia

[@revision29]

I love about 1 hour 47 minutes from this place, down in West Virginia. You should do more exploring in this fine state because it is wild and wonderful. And it is almost heaven. And the country roads will take you home.

[@ERPRocks]

My understanding is that they are much more sensitive to what frequency's are being emitted. However, they are sensitive to the fact that they need to get along with their neighbors. I have heard stories where two people might show up unannounced at somebody's doorstep offering to fix their microwave oven, (when they did not know that it even had a problem.)

[@dcseain]

I live in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. I've vacationed in Green Bank - it's a charming quiet place for walking in the woods and stargazing. Ohiopyle is also lovely.

[@dominichines9996]

Being from the midwest I can confirm that it is not uncommon for people to "accidentally" hit a large game animal to then consume

[@dominichines9996]

Although it's typically a deer, not a bear

[@RMoribayashi]

You could actually hear the Doppler effect on the train horn. I hear train horns in the distance where I live but they're too far away to make out any pitch shift.

[@mr.peanut2096]

Dude I used to go to those slides all the time when I was younger.

[@Flargenyargen]

I grew up in the area this was filmed! Really neat to see you guys in a place I know!

[@EvelynnEleonore]

can't believe he forgot about Kepler which is also in the 2 mile radius around the green bank telescope

[@EvelynnEleonore]

MBMBAM and tom scott crossover WHEN

[@itastain]

Country rooooooooaaaddsss take me home. To a place, I belooooonng. West Virginia, mountain momma. Take me hoooooomme. Country roads

[@Shinigami13133]

You'd be surprised how well this comment has aged

[@BalthorYT]

@@Shinigami13133 Like a fine wine

[@Parsnips-gh1pt]

No one like this! Its on 69 likes

[@kennethflorek8532]

I am sure people won't be surprised by my story. I was once at a huge kind-of "automobile festival." There were probably around 5000 people at any one time, coming and going all day long, a few thousand cars of all eras on exhibit, and some "automobile celebrities," making appearances on a stage. On the other side of a wide and busy 6 lane road from the event, there was a pretty good group of "automobile protesters," maybe 50, milling around, talking to one another, drinking coffee. They were waiting for the TV camera crew to get ready. When the cameraman was all set, the crew had the protesting group bunch up for a tight shot, hold up their signs, and chant. That was the total amount of protesting this group ever did. They weren't even trying to get noticed by the event attendees. The way I knew they were there is that an announcement at the event came over the PA that all protesters who wanted to be in the protest should now go to the area provided for them on the other side of the road. The announcer said that they had not been able to get the permission of any other businesses on the other side, except for one small area, so if you didn't want to be arrested for trespassing, only use the designated area. It was very thoughtful of the event organizers.

[@ncc74656m]

I was at the beach once and had my Blackberry with me. News crew walking around the beach looking for people who had to bring their devices with them from work. I was like "Yeah, I have it, but I'm not chained to it," and they still wanted me to pull it out so they could get footage. Like, really, people.

[@stamfordly6463]

The story about the film crew barging through the crowded building to film an empty one made me think of the incomparable Damien Day. I still miss Drop the Dead Donkey.

[@nitehawk86]

Visited one of my favorite places on the planet. Always love hiking and rafting at Ohiopyle.

[@Harkonnian]

Always nice to see Dan on the bench!

[@picturethis8611]

So damn weird to see your town on an international youtube channel

[@chrismartin8212]

Big fan of all of your videos. This is one of my favorites if for no other reason than you are in Ohiopyle State Park. I have spent a great deal of time there for more years than I care to mention. I was actual sitting on that same bench today which is what inspired me to watch the video again.

[@EdwardMillen]

I have an RF meter (it picks up anything from 200MHz to 8GHz and also demodulates it into audible sound), and the only place I've found so far where there was basically complete silence was Clumber Park (a National Trust place in Nottinghamshire). That was in the evening in winter though, when there was hardly anyone around. Interestingly though, I noticed that my phone didn't seem to bother even trying to transmit anything (with Bluetooth and WiFi off) when it couldn't hear any sign of any mobile networks at all.

[@shinjisan2015]

there are a few radio silent zones in Australia which also have no-fly zones over them. They are HF Over the Horizon Radars.... well, the receiving sites are, not so much the transmitter sites. Those are just places that kangaroos avoid because they start getting cooked if they get too close.

[@samreid6010]

Slide Rock in Sedona, Arizona is a much better natural water slide. Hell of a lot of fun and a great day trip

[@AndyLundell]

This video highlights the biggest problem with this series : Benches are intentionally set up so that the most boring view in the place is behind you.

[@ZoniesCoasters]

I love hearing British people attempt north American accents.

[@vkillion]

I've watched this video many times, and was listening to it again in the car today. That train horn blew right as I was crossing some train tracks, and it might have freaked me out a little.

[@blade09]

" I like pressing buttons :D I got to press buttons :D" haha Matt is so adorable

[@elbowsbuns1896]

So is your pfp

[@carstorm85]

They don't mean there's literally no wifi (/s), they mean that, like in most of America, the internet is slow, is nearly unusable (said from someone who lived in WV for 2 months but hated it so much they moved half way cross the country!)

[@donatj]

I visited the Salton Sea recently and while yes there are abandoned buildings and wrecks there are also so many people it was difficult to get photos. Taking a picture of the sea an old man on a bike rode up to tell us how the water is really low this year.

[@WillyTheComposerOfficial]

It USED to be really strict there and they really had FCC police that would strictly enforce things. But due to budget concerns, they had to cut back on enforcement, so now it's not the best situation anymore

[@EclecticBuddha]

i imagine it all started going to hell once I-77 was finally completed.

[@ltmundy1164]

Green Bank Observatory telescopes are no longer entirely funded through US NRAO/NSF since FY 2018. Consortium of commercial/educational/research grantors, overseen by WVU, assumed iboth ndependent operations/~$10M annual budget.. Single steerable telescope remains under NRO control within the Nat'l Radio Dark Zone (source: Nat'l Geo) Closest interstate access to GBO is I 64 @ White Sulfur Springs, ~60 miles S of NRDZ.

[@tracyrreed]

Bollocks, eh? That raises interesting implications for those who claim to be electro-sensitive (as if we didn't already know their claims were already bollocks).

[@armadillito]

I'd like to see a serious scientific experiment, putting them in a shielded room with a radio source that is sometimes on and sometimes off.

[@tracyrreed]

There have been MANY. They have all found electrosensitivity to be bollocks. "Most blinded conscious provocation studies have failed to show a correlation between exposure and symptoms, leading to the suggestion that psychological mechanisms play a role in causing or exacerbating EHS symptoms. In 2010 Rubin et al. published a follow-up to their 2005 review, bringing the totals to 46 double-blind experiments and 1175 individuals with self-diagnosed hypersensitivity." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity#cite_note-pmid15784787-2

[@mittfh]

IIRC, there have been cases whereby people have reported negative experiences from a newly-built mobile telephone mast... ...for weeks before the thing was turned on!

[@s6th795]

The thing is, the human body only detects EM emissions between red and violet. Radio is much lower than that.

[@PuffyRainbowCloud]

*The human eye

[@logankennedy609]

Nice to see Y'ALL in my home state. Happy Travels.

[@isortofyoutube]

Hi Matt & Tom! Thanks for the new video. :)

[@wraithgames]

I'd love to see a video on the anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in South Minneapolis!

[@particularlypythonic]

``stop making stereotype jokes about the place your in Matt, wait till you leave". XD

[@PhattyMo]

I remember being surprised at the amount of RF stuff I discovered a few years ago,when I was researching...something. (I can't remember what,now. Perhaps LPFM,or WiFi related.) There's still plenty of wifi,and cell towers,and all sorts of stuff around there. Not very "radio quiet" at all.

[@TheMohawkNinja]

I wish I knew you were in PA. I would have come to meet you :(

[@DrBernard989]

This channel has been a great find to watch through thoroughly.

[@rusty5707]

You know I forgot the GBT existed. When I heard you guys were going there I figured you were going there for the IV&V, coal mines, or IAFIS.

[@ryanyoak1017]

Matt and Tom are only one state away from me!

[@ragnkja]

Apparently they've already left, and Tom seems to be in Spain at the moment: twitter.com/tomscott/status/784785119974453248

[@V_P_Music]

So close to me! Wish I could've met you all!

[@wookieegoldberg]

My favorite line was "take it back to London and make a West Virginia simulator"

[@607]

I had wanted to see the train! I loved this video though, and the message it delivered!

[@JJRicks]

I've got lots of train videos:)

[@PsychoticusRex]

Coal Train in the back ground... good story there, ask bob kincaid.

[@KatyaFirehair]

Fun fact. I have an old copy of the Joy of Cooking, which includes a recipe for bear. It even tells you how you need to prepare bear cub differently from adult bears. Not yum (I imagine).

[@GeorgeHirst93]

I live 9 miles from Jodrell Bank (a similar style telescope in England) and the only signs saying turn off your phones are when you enter the site, about 200m away, and at the visitor centre. But then they live broadcast Stargazing Live in BBC there every year while still using the telescope, so I don't think it makes too much difference to the research

[@Valentina1312]

matt,what is happening with your hair

[@mattandtom]

+darthanader scholars have been trying to work this out for years --Matt

[@Zeratul187]

darthanader well I'm 24 and had already have bits of white hair......

[@twojuiceman]

"Stephen Fry's America" is a great sort of Brit-in-America road trip show

[@EmperorEdselstein]

Tom, if you look at flight tracker sites, you see transatlantic flights from Dallas flying over the zone.

[@Notavalidusername23]

Wow, I've actually sat on that exact bench before. Weird seeing these guys in a place I've been to

[@Archonicenergy]

"I like pressing buttons" Tom, please don't take Matt to NORAD.

[@sinom]

dan nearly doesn't talk at all xD

[@Tahgtahv]

I am quite curious as to what the buttons Matt got to press operated. I've had a read through this (science.nrao.edu/facilities/gbt/facilities/gbt/observing/GBTog.pdf) and it seems like most of the operation is computer controlled scripts, and not actually manual controls. Looking forward to the follow up on that.

[@dragonking322]

Side note.. it is actually legal to eat any animal you hit with your car in west virginia.. As a resident.. i can point that out

[@garrettkajmowicz]

If I'd known you so close to where I live, I would have made it out and bought you guys a beer.

[@SJohnTrombley]

Almost heaven, West Virginia

[@stocktonjoans]

looking forward to the next one

[@MenacingNoodle]

how did I miss this yous guys were basically in my backyard I've sat on that bench whaaaaaa

[@dascandy]

Have you looked at the Astron LOFAR yet? That *does* have a radio quiet zone around Westerbork - as in, not petrol cars allowed. And yes, it's just across from the former concentration camp.

[@mybigbeak]

At the end where tom says spoilers. He sounds like a parent trying to keep a toddler in check

[@danlong7953]

Lads, I don't think you did enough exploring. Elkins has service, it's the gateway to the zone. Nowhere has cell service within 1+ hour of GBT.

[@adamplace1414]

I corrected Tom's "west Virginia" mistake before matt did - half of my former in laws are from that tiny little town of ohiopyle, and half of my family is from another tiny little town just north of there (kecksburg).

[@mrmaniac3]

All the roads out of town in the Sierra Nevada foothills are relatively narrow.

[@revision29]

You guys should do a things you might not know segment on hydraulic fracking since you are in the heart of fracking country.

[@newaccount02]

As an American I find it appalling and unlistenable when other Americans do their terrible "British" accents, yet terribly endearing when Matt does his southern accent. Let him speak, Tom!

[@puskajussi37]

Looking forward to the next video, I am a huge button pressing advocate myself too.

[@SnabbKassa]

"All stories in the press are true except those about which you have direct personal knowledge."

[@MacDeth]

Tom, you should totally come down to WVU, there's probably an interesting story here for you to talk about here, like the VW emissions scandal. Also hopefully you'll make some good ties to the university too, haha.

[@bimini1216]

Great piece.

[@willg700]

+Matt and Tom, mini typo in the description. "...hat kit do you use ..." or something like that but I can't check now that I'm writing this on mobile. Interesting video nonetheless.

[@adammullarkey4996]

3:40 Wait a second. Country roads? In West Virginia? Now where have I heard about those before?

[@juneguts]

Nice cliffhanger!

[@Rekuddo]

Damn! I live 30mins from Ohiopyle I wish i would have known that Tom would have been going there. And there goes my only chance of ever meeting Tom Scott IRL :(

[@EmmaLiza]

What the hell American train noises are so pretty?

[@JJRicks]

That's why I love em :)

[@trilith7808]

Wish you would have came to Charleston

[@mr.peanut2096]

It isn't very well enforced even within the proper no-wifi, no reception, limited radio regions. There's a pizza place near Seneca Rocks with aswesome pizza and super fast wifi

[@bp968]

People kayak over that waterfall once a year. They make a big day of it!

[@MianCowell]

there's google traffic data for that area too, so there must be plenty of people using GPS and data

[@heatherwayno]

We just went through there yesterday. 2.5 hours of no cell signal, only am radio. You guys were apparently lost. No signs? What do you expect-warning no cell signal ahead? There simply aren’t any towers. And Elkins WV isn’t even part of the zone. One minute we had signal then bam-gone for hours.

[@bernarrcoletta7419]

Guys! You should’ve gone to Greenbrier while you were in West Virginia.

[@LuckeWent]

ofc theres radio waves, probably just not any large transmitters

[@rianrushwood1426]

At 3:38 Tom are you trying to get people to sing

[@jimmyshrimbe9361]

I live in West Virginia and I've been to Ohiopyle. I almost sent a strongly worded letter before you corrected yourself.

[@BaryLevi]

6:29 Wait what, trains in America?

[@blindleader42]

Yep. Most long distance freight goes by rail. The UP (Union Pacific) and the BNSF (Burlington Northern - Santa Fe) dominate transcontinental shipping of bulk cargo.

[@dapeach06]

It was never going to be strict because of green Bank, it would have been strict because of Sugar Grove, the naval spy satellite Observatory, which is the real reason for the national radio quiet Zone. But by the time Wi-Fi and everyone having cell phones and especially smartphones started being a thing, Sugar Grove wasn't really operating that much anymore. The reason that it didn't have to be strict before was the fact that the area is so sparsely populated. Pocahontas County is almost a thousand square miles, yet has a population of less than 9,000 people. And the reason that it's not strict now is that the green Bank Observatory isn't getting enough funding or government support, so why would the state go out of its way to enforce the quiet Zone if it won't even cough up the funds to keep the telescope going?