Located in the room adjoining the restaurant are the origination point for a Community Free Radio 100.1 FM and two cable access channels operating for the benefit of Marathon and the immediate surrounding area.
Due to the remoteness of Marathon and the inability to receive radio signals, Basin Radio 100.1 FM is currently an unlicensed FM radio station providing a community service, music, and entertainment, therefore we do not advertise, nor interfere with any licensed radio station. It is currently broadcasting approximately a 10 mile radius of Marathon at 14 watts with a capability of 40 watts. Basin radio boasts a wide variety of music genres ranging from Blues to Country, Rock to Jazz and Classical and plays commercial free 24/7.
The station can be licensed as a "Low Power FM Station" and upgraded to 100 watts. Since radio signals are scarce and unreliable and few stations are available in the West Texas area, the potential for this station is unlimited. More recently with the implementation of a custom built computer which features a P4 Intel server board (3.2mhz 800fsb) with 2gb of memory and dual 160 hard drives, Basin Radio has begun streaming both audio and video live on the internet at http://www.basinradio.net and based on current responses, is providing significant exposure to both the motel as well as the community. The computers running both channel 6 and basin radio were built by the local computer company Nectar Computers, (http://nectarcomputers.com)
There are currently 3 other stations of this nature in operation in the West Texas area. They are located in Marfa, Terlingua, and Lajitas, but are not available on the internet.
Cable Channel 98 features Big Bend promotional/informational videos and any other interest of the West Texas and the Big Bend region.
Cable Channel 6 continually displays live weather uploaded from a Davis Instruments Vantage pro 2 weather station located on the property. In addition to the local service, the weather station uploads data to the list of "Personal Weather Stations" on www.wunderground.com. Along with an associated Stardot webcam, these displays can be viewed on www.marathontexasweather.com.