----------------------------------------------------------------
INDIAN DUO PUT TOGETHER A 'DIRT CHEAP' RADIO-STATION-IN-A-BRIEFCASE
----------------------------------------------------------------
by Frederick Noronha

HYDERABAD, July 22: They took it up as a challenge, and today these two
young men have built a radio-transmitter that fits in a briefcase at a
cost of barely ten thousand rupees.

Rs 10,000 is approx US$225, and is the price of the components.

Vikas Markanday and Dayal Singh of Rohtak in Haryana, both aged 21, have

assembled a low-cost FM radio transmitter that they hope will spread
useful information that could make a vital difference to the lives of
villagers, including on agricultural practices.

Their eagerness and suprise achievement won the wows at a national
conference on 'community radio' held here this week. The work met with
much enthusiasm even as groups with a developmental message hope to get
permissions to take to the airwaves opening up to them globally, thanks
to rapid changes in technology and the freeing of the airwaves currently

underway in India.

"Such a type of a radio can play a vital role in low-cost communication.

Rural developmental issues can be taken up. Illiteracy (bottlenecks) can

be overcome. Farmers in the field could easily be given the information
inputs they need," said Markanday.

Both the young men belong to Nutra Indica Research Council, a non-profit

NGO in Rohtak that seeks to put rural innovators in touch with
scientists, and also create a platform for ideas to be exchanged,
particularly on the rural front. Markanday is still an engineering
student.

Weighing approximately 12 kgs., the entire "radio station" fits into a
briefcase. This transmitter has a range of 10 to 15 kms radius, and thus

can be used to beam developmental inputs to rural citizens.

India has been promising to open up 'community radio' stations. Asian
countries like the Philippines, Nepal and Sri Lanka have already shown
the beneficial impact of such locally-managed, non- profit initiatives
taken up by citizens themselves.

"We managed (to put the transmitter together) almost by a trial and
error method," admits Dayal Singh.

Singh says components were purchased from the 'science city' of Ambala
and New Delhi's Lajpatrai Market, one of the largest for electronic
items in Asia. Since the only radio broadcaster in India has been the
government, for many decades, there has long been virtually no market
for radio transmitters in this country.

But the story of how the came to put this product together is perhaps
more interesting than the unique 'station' itself.

Last November, at the Tasknet conference in New Delhi -- meant to
showcase how technology can fight poverty and ignorance -- a
UNESCO-gifted 'radio station in a briefcase' was being demonstrated,
narrates Markanday.

Nutra Indica president Kamaljeet was surprised that the foreign product
cost around Rs 200,000 and "took up a challenge" to produce an Indian
equivalent for around Rs 7,000.

Costing a little more when put together, the still unnamed product
offers to make a vital difference to hundreds of low-cost alternative
broadcasters who hope to also benefit from India freeing of its
till-recently state-monopolised airwaves.

This 'radio station in a briefcase' currently can take its input from a
cassette, a microphone or even a built-in radio station. This offers
broadcasting possibilities from a wide range of situations.

"Maybe it needs some basic editing facilities too. That would make it
more complete," Bangalore-based professional radio broadcaster and
filmmaker A.R. Pasha told IANS. Pasha was earlier with the the state-run

All India Radio.

Adds Yoganarasimha of the Creative Instruments and Controls, a firm
based in Rajajinagar in Bangalore: "It is a good product. I am
impressed. Now we have to see how it can shift into commercial
production." Yoganarasimha is partner in the electronics firm and was in

electronics R&D for a decade with the public sector BHEL.

Contact details: Dayal Singh
                  Nutra Indica Research Council
                  675/25, Patel Nagar
                  Rohtak (Haryana) India
                  Tel 0091.1262.55329 Fax 0091.1262.40700
                  Email: nirc_kamaljeet@xxxxxxxxxxx

--

==============================================
Manu Luksch============================manu@xxxxxx
160 Richmond Rd ===================== London E8 3HN
T: 020-7923 1166 ================= F: 020-7923 0984
http://www.ambientTV.net ======http://www.sil.at/m/anu
==============================================





 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
(a) (c) (o) (u) (s) (t) (i) (c) ( ) (s) (p) (a) (c) (e)
 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
information&comunication channel | for net.broadcasters
http://xchange.re-lab.net  (Xchange)  net.audio network
xchange search/webarchive: http://xchange.re-lab.net/a/