[liberationtech] Creating a Pirate FM Radio

Sun Mar 6 13:25:34 PST 2011

Thanks Mick for such an insightful and detailed reply.

Based on preliminary research done by colleagues on the ground in Sanaa and
Taiz, I can say that you are absolutely right in the assumption that
authorities refrain from storming groups of tens and sometimes hundreds of
thousands of protestors to locate a particular low power transmitters. It is
wise perhaps to start small and then go from there. I do like the idea of
purchasing low-cost low-power FM transmitters linked somehow to a central
audio source. I am already moving to the logistics part and thinking of how
to get those devices into the country. I believe it would be wise to have
them shipped as multipurpose devices that could not be as suspicious. The
low cost of such transmitters also makes it possible to not worry if one or
two are confiscated or get damaged or lost.

I'll keep you updated about how it goes. I plan to have those radios up and
running within a month. The revolution's pace is quite fast and I wouldn't
rule out the possibility of the fall of the regime rather soon. But such an
initiative could also help in the post-liberation phase as well.

Sincerely,

Walid

-----------------

Walid Al-Saqaf
Founder & Administrator
alkasir for mapping and circumventing cyber censorship
https://alkasir.com <walid.al-saqaf at oru.se>

On Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 10:16 PM, Mick McQuaid <mcq at umich.edu> wrote:

> Oh, yes, I admit I was speaking speculatively and that  I
> did not take your 5000USD budget into account in thinking
> about that.  Differences in the availability and market
> prices of used transmitters between nations / continents may
> vary, and a quick check of ebay showed me that Greece is
> vastly cheaper than the US for transmitters.
> I also have no idea whether it is realistic to draw 500kW
> power without the authorities noticing or whether the local
> infrastructure would even support it.
>
> Likewise, it never would have occurred to me that you might
> place a high-power transmitter within a rural area inside
> the nation.  Isolation would seem to make it easier for
> hostile forces to locate a transmitter.  Instead, it
> seems like a better strategy might be to put extremely low
> power transmitters directly in the middle of protests, since
> their locations are already known and since the use of force
> might carry a higher cost in front of witnesses.  Also, an
> extremely low power transmitter may be carried in a backpack
> along with its power source.  A high-power transmitter
> would require a conspicuous vehicle or stationary location.
>
> On reflection, it seems that there would many reasons to
> prefer a very distributed, very low power arrangement,
> probably peer-to-peer, to communicate in defiance of hostile
> authority.  The giant border blasters of eighty years ago
> seem to have died from regulatory causes.  Bringing them
> back today might not make sense for many other reasons.
>
> Inexpensive, hard-to-disrupt p2p communication might be the
> right tool for this time, just as Khomeini found the
> technology of audio cassettes ideally suited to his time and
> situation. In every such case there is probably a
> confluence of political, social, and technological reasons,
> including many that do not apply to today.  For instance,
> Khomeini later said that many of his cassette-epidemic
> messages were intentionally deceitful as a way of enlisting
> the aid of disparate enemies of the Shah.  By choosing a
> technology where his voice ensured the authenticity of each
> message, he could maintain "message discipline," a concept
> that may be abhorrent in the revolutions and protests of
> 2011.
>
> I still believe it useful to revisit past technologies
> since, in a changing world, circumstances might sometimes
> favor their revival.  In particular, the Egyptian revolution
> changes the circumstances for all their neighbors.  That's
> really what sparked my speculation about putting up a
> high-power transmitter.
>
> - Mick
>
> ... regarding a message from Walid Al-Saqaf on Mar 06:
> > Hi Mike,
> >
> > Interesting. But an AM radio would probably cost much more, right? I can
> set
> > up one in a rural area in Yemen. But if it is an FM radio, it would be
> > easier to access and possibly cheaper. I was thinking more along the
> lines
> > of purchasing some 5 or so small FM radios and distribute them all over
> the
> > place and have them connected through an audio stream from the Internet.
> I
> > find that feasible and less risky. But I'll study my options.
> >
> > Thanks indeed for this valuable information.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Walid
> >
> > -----------------
> >
> > Walid Al-Saqaf
> > Founder & Administrator
> > alkasir for mapping and circumventing cyber censorship
> > https://alkasir.com <walid.al-saqaf at oru.se>
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 7:24 PM, Mick McQuaid <mcq at umich.edu> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > This message and the earlier one about AM radio reminded me
> > > of border blasters, high-powered stations operating legally
> > > from countries other than those being served:
> > >
> > >  http://www.onthemedia.org/episodes/2007/11/16/segments/89005
> > >
> > >  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_blaster
> > >
> > > Currently it looks like the nearest reasonable place to put
> > > one would be over 500 miles from Yemen (southern Egypt).
> > > In the nineteen thirties, some border blasters could
> > > broadcast over a thousand miles but today there may be
> > > insurmountable technical obstacles, not to mention social
> > > / legal / political  challenges.
> > >
> > > Nevertheless, the nearest reasonable place would have
> > > probably been much farther away just before the Egyptian
> > > Revolution.  It might be interesting to hear about
> > > sociotechnical challenges for high-power radio today.
> > > (Unfortunately, I know nothing about this beyond hearing the
> > > above-cited documentary).
> > >
> > > - Mick
> > >
> > > ... regarding a message from Walid Al-Saqaf on Mar 06:
> > > > Thanks Alec & Michael for your useful tips.
> > > >
> > > > I'll go ahead and use them. I have just investigated the issue and it
> > > > appears the most critical task is to actual get it into the country
> > > without
> > > > being confiscated. Will check our options...
> > > >
> > > > Wish us luck.
> > > >
> > > > Sincerely,
> > > >
> > > > Walid
> > > >
> > > > -----------------
> > > >
> > > > Walid Al-Saqaf
> > > > Founder & Administrator
> > > > alkasir for mapping and circumventing cyber censorship
> > > > https://alkasir.com <walid.al-saqaf at oru.se>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 2:02 PM, Alec Muffett <alec.muffett at gmail.com
> >
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > On 6 Mar 2011, at 12:35, Walid Al-Saqaf wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > >  A suggestion was to use a low-budget pirate FM radio solution.
> > > > >
> > > > > You may find parts of this documentary to be useful for getting a
> feel
> > > for
> > > > > the technology, albeit some of this will be more advanced than your
> > > > > requirements:
> > > > >
> > > > >        http://boingboing.net/2010/03/26/pirate-radio-documen.html
> > > > >
> > > > > I suspect you'll get more mileage from an AM rig, but it depends
> what
> > > your
> > > > > audience wants to listen to.
> > > > >
> > > > >        -a
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > >
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> > > --
> > > Michael McQuaid, Assistant Professor
> > > School of Information, School of Art & Design
> > > University of Michigan
> > > 4364 North Quad
> > > 105 S. State St.
> > > Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2112
> > > 734-647-9550 voice  734-647-8045 fax
> > > mcq at umich.edu       http://mickmcquaid.com
> > >
>
> --
> Michael McQuaid, Assistant Professor
> School of Information, School of Art & Design
> University of Michigan
> 4364 North Quad
> 105 S. State St.
> Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2112
> 734-647-9550 voice  734-647-8045 fax
> mcq at umich.edu       http://mickmcquaid.com
>
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