On Feb 15, 8:07*pm, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Walmart offers over 20 phones online, from $10 to $30. Many are
available at the stores. Voice and text communication would seem to be
adequate for calling your crew if you landout in a contest - and get a
SPOT if you want to improve your chances. Even a smartphone won't work
some places, especially in the West.

Banning just smart phones would do very little:

http://tech.yostengineering.com/3-sp...mily/bluetooth
http://www.x-io.co.uk/node/9

These are just two examples of several such devices on the market. In
essence, to prevent use of devices like this, it woud be necessary to
ban all programmable Bluetooth-capable PDA, PNA, smart phone, and
tablet devices, or search the gliders and frisk the pilots on a daily
basis. I am 100% in favor of the cloud-flying ban in US contests, but
this technology is advancing faster than the RC will be able to keep
up with. Given that I flew (and occasionally won) in regionals for
several years using homebrew software running on various odd PDA-like
devices, I have reason to be concerned with the direction this
discussion seems to be heading. Deal with cloud-flying harshly as
unsportsmanlike behavior when detected, but don't pretend the problem
can be solved by banning entire categories of equipment...

Marc