Quote:
Originally Posted by MAXUM
Now I won't even begin to suggest I'm an expert on the subject here, but to your point LIforrelaxin...
I'll generalize here and say that anything that is capable of making noise would thus be measurable at any particular distance which is what laws stipulate depending on what it is you're talking about. Perception of how loud they are can be relative, and in some cases depending on the situation actually may appear to be magnified. Case in point, look at the hat shell in Boston or my favorite Red Rocks in Colorado. These places one made made, the other God made have acoustical properties that appear to magnify sound. So while from a pure db perspective the noise levels may be considered acceptable in certain cases they could "appear" to be far worse. That is something that the law can't address so it is what it is and certainly not anything the operator of a boat can control. Good bad or indifferent, it's my best stab at a "very" scientific observation based on absolutely no scientific knowledge or theory in said discipline.  .... it just sounds good to me! |
Maxxum,
You bring up a good point, which is why the law is written the way it is. And why a boat exhaust must be a fixed apparatus. The Marine Patrol can test a boat, record what the system design is... and then if they come back to the boat do to an issue in the future they can look at the system, verify nothing has changed, and either say the boat has been previously been tested and is ok... or say, the system has changed and the boat needs to be retested. By not allowing any switching in the system there is no question as to how the boat was running.
Now as for your acoustical reference to the hat shell and Red Rock, this is not acoustical amplification... The only way to get more power is to add more power. Both venues how ever focus the sound and project it in a direction.... Because the sound is projected correctly in these venues the required input sound to create the projected output is much less then in venues such as the Comcast Center or Meadow Brook.... where the sound is simply released into the air. These venues don't Produce louder sounds they just require less amplified input to deliver the required sound. They are also both acoustically sound meaning that they project the complete sound spectrum and don't absorb part of it thus project another area unfairly.
Now what happens in a boat... or with the cry of a loon is that sound is echo across the water much like it is in a canyon... the water is a hard surface and the sound just travels along it, until it hits something that absorbs it. Such as other sound waves, the shoreline, etc. The reason a single boat all by itself sounds so much louder then multiple boats on a busy day, is that the single set of noise waves travel further with out getting disturbed or canceled out.
Folks once again do some research this information is all available quite easily... Bottom line once again there is an already appropriate law on the books that fully handles the situation and is completely adequate... If you think you have a problem... report it...