The distances and remoteness mentioned in the article are impressive. And is the human need and ingenuity for communication.
It reminded me of William Gibson's description of 1950s farmers in the US using metal wire fences as radio antennas.
In the 70s and 80s (and probably before) in the UK, the BBC used to broadcast occasional "sos messages" [1] prior to the main daily news summaries on FM radio - for people who were away from home and, for whatever reason, uncontactable. They usually related to a relative being dangerously ill. I remember hearing them on my parent's car radio on summer camping trips.
Obviously the uk is a small and quite densely populated island but, without two way personal communications, some needs were similar to those described in the article. It changed a lot of things.
The UK is not all that small or all that densely populated. Great Britain is the world's ninth largest island. its marginally smaller than Honshu which has a bigger population, and England alone is about the size of Java (which has a bigger population than Russia). I know offhand that it has a lower population density than Sri Lanka
Its a long way from even Cornwall to the North of Scotland, and significantly further between the islands.
Honestly I'm very sad that the AM broadcast bands (for those unaware there's two in Europe: long wave and medium wave) have been allowed to fall out of use in the UK without regulatory reform. Fair enough the BBC and commercial broadcasters don't want it any more, Absolute Radio stopped on AM because the fine from Ofcom was actually less than running the transmitter estate for example, but there's no reason community/heritage efforts like Radio Caroline need to be subject to a burdensome licensing regime from an era AM was big business when their band is currently almost dead. In my view we should do the opposite, the whole band should be opened to hobbyist broadcasters for a nominal fee and a power limit of a few hundred watts; it's not like most people have the space to put up an aerial that'll go very far on AM.
It feels very wasteful of a scarce resource to leave this spectrum abandoned, especially when it has interesting properties.
I visited a maritime museum which showed a film clip from WW2 about a radio broadcast set up so that merchant sailors could get messages from their family.
I am unable to find an online resource with more info, though I know from general reading and from visiting WW2-era museum ships that sailors were listening to radio shows while at sea. I assume it was all shortwave, back in the time when radio dials included city names.
The UK is unevenly populated and it certainly isn't the one island. In Scotland alone, for example, we have had dozens of inhabited islands varying from one or two people up to thousands. We also have places with low population density due to the Highland Clearances (historical ethnic cleansing) and terrain.
Thats certainly true, and I enjoy spending time in such places when I can. I was backpacking in Knoydart and on Skye this past summer -- and in many places there was no phone reception, and I was several hours walk from the nearest habitation or road, with nobody knowing quite where I was.
As for "small island" - I was trying to make a point about the size of the uk on a global scale, and compared to vast places like the Argentinian campo. But perhaps "island group" or "archipelago" would have been a better choice.
I come from northern Scotland. I've never really thought of it as one island. Even England has some notable ones like the Isle of Wight and Lindisfarne.
When you get to the Hebrides and Northern Isles, the scales are still pretty big. Most people don't realise that Shetland, for example, is a hundred miles from end to end (including Fair Isle).
It's also the best part of a hundred miles from Inverness to John O' Groats, and the road is bad beyond Easter Ross. Unlike the Faroe Islands, there has been little attempt to create tunnels... Just small bridges and causeways.
The smaller islands can get cut off in storms and power cuts come happen.
Knoydart and Moidart only used to be reachable by boat, despite being on the mainland. (You can walk but it's not easy.) They were so remote that the Protestant Reformation never reached them.
Even further south you have to factor in distance. For example, Campbelltown looks close to Glasgow on the map but takes at least three or four hours by bus. Even Tarbert to Campbelltown is thirty miles. The Isle of Jura to the west takes a long time to get to, unless you have a helicopter.
It's interesting to see use-cases like this "in the wild" (as opposed to some hobbyist group trying stuff out).
With a little investment, I think Meshtastic/Reticulum could do wonders for communities like this. With Argentina being largely flat, even putting up a relatively short mast on the roof of a house should give it a good enough range (~10-30km).
The article is about conventional broadcast, but if two way is interesting, there’s a great project doing digital over HF in rural areas, particularly South America:
Sailing communities have a tradition called "Cruisers' Net", some of them having started back in 1950-60. Usually in the morning via VHF different people will take turns speaking and doing parts. They'll do segments like weather, arrivals/departures, events, buy/sell/trade, etc.
>Argentina, the world’s eighth-largest country
I think this says something about human progress. We haven't really pulled it together yet, have we?
Through the efforts of many (and yet still few) we have created such amazing technologies. And yet so many are still so poor and without the benefits of modern technology because we've allowed a system (capitalism) to be created where wealth and access to technology accumulates up top and no, it does not really "trickle down".
To me, it really is the saddest thing about human existence and entirely predictable because of how most of our human behaviours are linked to evolutionary processes.
It's nice to romanticise human emotion and connection in a rugged environment using technology that we consider defunct and for them to be able to live a life that many would consider "more natural". But then one of them gets sick. Someone who loves, is loved, who creates art and consumes art, who smiles when the petrichor hits their nostrils after a dry Summer. And then they die.
I just really wish that things were more equitable because we definitely have enough to go around.
you left out the part where the system (capitalism) is creating the technology that people use and makes their life better.
Giving people material goods or technology does make them wealthy. Sometimes it even hurts them https://humanprogress.org/agricultural-subsidies-in-wealthy-...
You have to understand poverty and what causes it before you are able to solve for it. Your colonial / dependency mindset will not help.
KPFT/Houston has been doing something very similar for almost 50 years.
KPFT's version is a little more specialized. It's called The Prison Show and transmits messages from families to their loved ones behind bars.
When I'm in Houston, I try to listen because it gives you a taste of a segment of life and people you may otherwise never come in contact with. If you're interested in human nature and the power of communication, it's very engaging.
The last time I heard it, it was on in the evening, I think on a weekend.
The article mentions that some messages, like a death notice, are sent multiple times, and gives an example of how a listener can pass on a message to people to others.
In the 70s and 80s (and probably before) in the UK, the BBC used to broadcast occasional "sos messages" [1] prior to the main daily news summaries on FM radio - for people who were away from home and, for whatever reason, uncontactable. They usually related to a relative being dangerously ill. I remember hearing them on my parent's car radio on summer camping trips.
Obviously the uk is a small and quite densely populated island but, without two way personal communications, some needs were similar to those described in the article. It changed a lot of things.
[1] https://swling.com/blog/2012/09/radio-4-and-now-an-urgent-so...
More yonder https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/barbed-wire-telephone-...
Its a long way from even Cornwall to the North of Scotland, and significantly further between the islands.
It feels very wasteful of a scarce resource to leave this spectrum abandoned, especially when it has interesting properties.
I am unable to find an online resource with more info, though I know from general reading and from visiting WW2-era museum ships that sailors were listening to radio shows while at sea. I assume it was all shortwave, back in the time when radio dials included city names.
As for "small island" - I was trying to make a point about the size of the uk on a global scale, and compared to vast places like the Argentinian campo. But perhaps "island group" or "archipelago" would have been a better choice.
When you get to the Hebrides and Northern Isles, the scales are still pretty big. Most people don't realise that Shetland, for example, is a hundred miles from end to end (including Fair Isle).
It's also the best part of a hundred miles from Inverness to John O' Groats, and the road is bad beyond Easter Ross. Unlike the Faroe Islands, there has been little attempt to create tunnels... Just small bridges and causeways.
The smaller islands can get cut off in storms and power cuts come happen.
Knoydart and Moidart only used to be reachable by boat, despite being on the mainland. (You can walk but it's not easy.) They were so remote that the Protestant Reformation never reached them.
Even further south you have to factor in distance. For example, Campbelltown looks close to Glasgow on the map but takes at least three or four hours by bus. Even Tarbert to Campbelltown is thirty miles. The Isle of Jura to the west takes a long time to get to, unless you have a helicopter.
With a little investment, I think Meshtastic/Reticulum could do wonders for communities like this. With Argentina being largely flat, even putting up a relatively short mast on the roof of a house should give it a good enough range (~10-30km).
https://www.rhizomatica.org/what-we-do/
Lightweight HF rigs and the Hermes Mercury digital modem:
https://mercury.hermes.radio/
Thank you!
Through the efforts of many (and yet still few) we have created such amazing technologies. And yet so many are still so poor and without the benefits of modern technology because we've allowed a system (capitalism) to be created where wealth and access to technology accumulates up top and no, it does not really "trickle down".
To me, it really is the saddest thing about human existence and entirely predictable because of how most of our human behaviours are linked to evolutionary processes.
It's nice to romanticise human emotion and connection in a rugged environment using technology that we consider defunct and for them to be able to live a life that many would consider "more natural". But then one of them gets sick. Someone who loves, is loved, who creates art and consumes art, who smiles when the petrichor hits their nostrils after a dry Summer. And then they die.
I just really wish that things were more equitable because we definitely have enough to go around.
Giving people material goods or technology does make them wealthy. Sometimes it even hurts them https://humanprogress.org/agricultural-subsidies-in-wealthy-... You have to understand poverty and what causes it before you are able to solve for it. Your colonial / dependency mindset will not help.
The system just decides where the wealth goes.
Under capitalism, it doesn't go to the people who did the labour.
https://theprisonshow.net/
(ETA: Ah, missed reaperducer beat me to it)
KPFT's version is a little more specialized. It's called The Prison Show and transmits messages from families to their loved ones behind bars.
When I'm in Houston, I try to listen because it gives you a taste of a segment of life and people you may otherwise never come in contact with. If you're interested in human nature and the power of communication, it's very engaging.
The last time I heard it, it was on in the evening, I think on a weekend.