Robust radio stations for crisis areas

A small black box from Berlin will bring free radio in crisis areas such as Syria. Next year, the plans are for robust radio stations based on aRaspberry Pi will be published – hobbyists can be curious. Golem.de has looked at the device.

The radio is often the last medium that remains. In Syrian civil war soldiers put the Internet in contested areas for days off, to prevent the flow of information.And the rebels spread deliberately false information. A team from Berlin wants that Syrian citizens may hear messages that do not originate from one of the parties to the conflict. And even a little entertainment offer. The Pocket FM mentioned project is supported by the Foreign Office and the Berlin media development organization Media in Cooperation and Transition (MICT) decisively supported and developed. Soon the building plans and the software will be made available under a free license.

Video: Mict Pocket FM – Interview (3:15)

With Pocket FM radio signals in regions will be disseminated where it is not worthwhile to set up large radio stations. Or where the government is not advocating that such independent channels exist. In the small black box plugged a Raspberry Pi Model B. 2 outside one sees only a display, some keys, a USB port, a line input and an input for a satellite signal. Also, there is an antenna terminal and a power supply. The whole device is in a solid-looking metal case and weighs about 2 kilograms.

Anyone who operates a radio in Syria, live dangerously

Anyone who wants to operate a radio station in Syria, has several problems: First, the country is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. Last year there were 15 journalists killed – many of them in clashes between the regime and the rebel groups. Reporters Without Borders carries Syria in the Press Freedom Index ranked 177 out of 180 countries. Second radio stations are very conspicuous and easy to locate. Third, the power supply in the country is problematic and fails often. In these conditions, the development worker from MICT could not train as usual journalists, to improve the situation in the country.That’s why they developed Pocket FM.

Philipp Hochleichter, project manager of Pocket FM, describes the idea behind the unit as follows: “Instead of a big stations, we just use several smaller ones.”.After all, who use many small stations, could reach as many people, but carries a lower risk of being discovered. And: If a device fails, the other continues to remain active.

The small radio station is not designed as a classic community radio. Main purpose is the dissemination of existing local stations in crisis regions. In Syria, this is the transmitter Syrnet, are transmitted on the various messages. The program is designed by Syrian journalists, some of which also live in Berlin. The contents of Syrnet be reused by many local radio stations and reassembled

SOURCE : LINK

*google translate