”Providing Equipment and Engineering Services to FM Broadcasting stations for Disaster Relief”

An FM broadcasting station for supporting disaster victims (a kind of community radio service) is supplying emergency control programs, life support information and other community related programs to re-bind the minds of people split from their old communities. Also, they are supplying information for foreigners residing in those areas, isolated from vital daily life information, in their own languages.

BHN, a member of  World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) has so far helped to open and provided professional engineering support to 21 of such radio stations and other foreign minority groups in the 3 prefectures devastated by the earthquake and Tsunami.

Specifically;
(1) In the towns where there were no broadcasting stations, BHN helped them to start the services, including the designing, purchase and installation of equipments.

(2) Where there is a broadcasting station, engineers of BHN visited the station to check the system conditions, including the location of antenna, and drew plans to improve the system quality.

(3) BHN engineers are visiting each local community to check the radio wave strength and prepared plans to solve each specific condition.

  　

BHN has, for example, re-located broadcasting antenna, built additional radio relay station, built roof-top antennas and connect radio wave boosters to individual houses. .

These projects are being funded by Global Giving, Japan Platform, donations from private companies and organizations and individuals, income from Tokiko Kato BHN charity concerts, and are being supported by equipment donations from Symantec Corporation, TEAC Corporation, and NTT Workers Union.

Minako AKIBA, Project Officer