The suitcase station: have radio, will travel (November 2000)

THE SUITCASE STATION: HAVE RADIO, WILL TRAVEL

A few dial settings off the international trawl of powerful, wide-ranging signals from regional and national FM radio networks lies the buzzing transmission of community radio stations. Now zero in on a subset of sounds from central Africa. Closer still and you'll hear the community radio of Apac in northern Uganda, broadcasting in the Luo language, and ... from a radio station that fits in an airplane carry-on suitcase.

It fits in an airplane carry-on suitcase, broadcasts up to a 50 km radius, runs on a car battery and can be modified for solar power.

This compact package has earphones, a microphone, a mixer, two tape players and recorders, two CD players and a transmitter, as well as a hook-up to commercial FM networks and to satellite feeds for off-air programming. It broadcasts up to a 50 km radius, runs on a car battery and can be modified for solar power. The commercially available components are common worldwide, which also means the radio station is relatively easy to operate. All for around US$3,500, which is a fraction of the cost that is normally associated with radio broadcasting.

The portable station's curriculum vitae since 1996 includes installation at eight locations worldwide, under the stewardship of The Commonwealth of Learning. COL's objective in this is to foster local participation, training and education in less advantaged communities, often in remote locations. Local personnel are trained in basic broadcast techniques and administration; broadcasts use the local language and the programming emphasises community interests and needs.

The portable radio project is an initiative of the Commonwealth of Learning Media Empowerment (COLME) programme, COL's framework for creative technology and media project development. Under COL's mandate to develop and share open learning and distance education resources and technologies, COLME builds on ideas submitted by in-country agencies and comes up with a technologically viable, cost-effective, sustainable model. The main administrators are the submitting agencies themselves, with support from COL where needed.

The first COL-tested portable stations were at Upper Laird in the Yukon, Canada, and in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Since then the suitcases have found their way to Belize, Guyana, Namibia, Uganda and Zambia, and two installations in South Africa.

Engineered for adaptability, the suitcase stations now in use are designed and manufactured by Wantok Enterprises Inc. based in Manitoba, Canada. Radio broadcast is basic communication technology but requires certain conditions for sustainability, such as widespread radio accessibility and terrain conducive to signal transmission.

Solutions are implemented individually; in Apac electrical power is intermittent, so the portable station and facilities were converted completely to solar energy. A second transmitter was implemented 50 kilometers away from the main Apac station to rebroadcast the Apac FM station signal to an even wider area. The unit's design has an interface for telephone calls and extra microphone inputs for group discussions, in response to ongoing case studies and listener feedback.

Other challenges, such as accommodating restrictive government controls, continue - but the prognosis for the portable radio station is positive: small is beautiful, and is here to stay.

- Grace Chin
COL Clippings article
November 2000