A selection of pictures taken
during construction of the audio communication
center at Oravakal
[Click on picture to see it in full size]
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A view of Oravakal
village as seen from the community center
built by the self-help committee. In the foreground
is the school for girls. The spire to the
upper middle right, visible above the trees,
is the church on the main road, while the
village itself stretches away to the left
behind it. The hillock is not obvious in this
view, but it dominates the landscaping of
the village. |
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Actual circuit used to drive
the modulator. It was soldered onto a simple
widely available copper laminate board, and
bolted into a small commercial metal box.
Note the tiny size against the scale of a
matchbox. |
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Explaining the simplicity
and robustness of the design used to make
the modulator. The output side can be fed
directly to either an antenna or the input
side of a cable feed. The circuit is resistant
to all kinds of abuse, including accidental
reversal of the battery polarity. |
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The antenna, made of ordinary
television cable stapled to an old floppy
disk, and tied to a cross made of bamboo.
We mounted it on the roof of the highest building
in the village, atop a mast made of a left
over metal water pipe from the school construction
site. |
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Holding an ordinary inexpensive
FM receiver up, the villagers get to listen
to the very first recording broadcast from
the audio center. Voices on the recording
include the head of SERP and the block leader,
who explain the value of the center and express
the wish that the villagers will use it to
enhance their lives. The training session
continued with each trainee getting familiarised
with the use of the minidisk recorder and
its editing features. |
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A relatively inexpensive minidisk
recorder, shown with the mindisk next to it.
These portable devices enable non-linear editing
of recorded material, greatly easing the simplicity
of studio work. With a little bit of practice,
it is fairly simple to learn how to mix sound
very professionally. The inline remote control
on the headphones is handy and convenient
to use during both recording and editing.
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The team from Radiophony takes
GPS readings in the village. This established
the layout of the village and the quality
of reception at accurate distances and directions
from the audio center. Using ICT devices (GPS
receiver, palmtop) to monitor and record the
work done greatly eased setting up an audio
center in a village where neither maps nor
even information of the simplest kind was
easily available. |
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The team from Radiophony takes
GPS readings in the village. This established
the layout of the village and the quality
of reception at accurate distances and directions
from the audio center. Using ICT devices (GPS
receiver, palmtop) to monitor and record the
work done greatly eased setting up an audio
center in a village where neither maps nor
even information of the simplest kind was
easily available. |
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A group of villagers accompanied
the Radiophony team around the village,
as we checked reception quality and took
GPS readings.
This picture was taken in front of the
hut of one of the poorest villagers. Note
the simple renewable thatch roof: this villager
could not afford a flat terrace roof made
of rough granite tiles mortared with mud
and cement, as used in the more crowded
'urban' part of the village. |
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