Originally Posted by
Ian W
Having been a controller in 'distress and diversion' where we often had extremely weak signals such as from emergency beacons from an aircraft floating in the Atlantic being reported to us - while some
burbled away blocking out the weak signal that they could not hear; I can assure you that everybody does NOT shut up. The frequency is there for emergency use PERIOD. There are other common frequencies where animal impressions may be welcomed by the 'professional pilots' without hazarding emergencies you cannot hear.
This is the most important comment on this thread. There is a simple rule in communications, the higher you are, the further your transmission goes. You udon't get much higher than an aircraft. So your local chit-chat is potentially blocking or degrading that frequency over a huge area.