Scientists of the Novosibirsk State Technical University NETI, on a new digital level, recreate the shortwave communication system lost in the 90s for the needs of the peoples of the North. This system will help reindeer herders and residents of remote areas of the Far North to maintain contacts with relatives and friends and to communicate with government agencies, veterinary services, health organizations, and the Ministry of Emergencies.
The project is being implemented in scientific and technological cooperation with Alternative Energy Systems LLC (NPP) as a customer and JSC Yegorshinsky Radio Plant (ERZ), which acts as a contractor in terms of preparation and launch of serial production. The university team is the developer of the shortwave radio communication system.
Stable communication plays an important role in peoples who are engaged in traditional farming in the conditions of the Far North. In particular, reindeer herders can drive herds over huge distances and be literally cut off from the world. Communication helps to solve many vital situations, obtain the necessary help, maintain contacts with family, and exchange information. The Ministry for the Development of the Arctic and the Affairs of the Peoples of the North of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is interested in helping reindeer herders, particularly by providing remote villages with accessible radio communications. Because of contacts with the Ministry, the management of the NPP proposed to create a team capable of recreating the short-wave radio communication system lost in the 90s, making it digital, compact, and easy to use.
The scientific staff of the Department of Design and Technology of Radio-electronic Means of NSTU NETI upgraded the set of three serial short-wave radio stations provided by the Egorshinsky Radio Plant, providing them with specially designed lightweight portable omnidirectional antennas. Laboratory and field tests of the system in the Novosibirsk region and in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) showed the prospects and feasibility of the system. In particular, in October of this year in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), a stable connection was established between employees of the Ministry for the Development of the Arctic and the Affairs of the Peoples of the North of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in Yakutsk and a field brigade consisting of employees of the NSTU NETI and employees of the ministry, who first left for the village of Khatystyr (542 km from Yakutsk), and then — to the village of Iengra (853 km from Yakutsk).
"We have designed a special omnidirectional antenna with a very light design and coordinated it with the Angara-1M radio station provided by the Egorshinsky Radio Plant. In the first stage, not only the staff of the department, but also students took part in the completion of the radio station, laboratory, and field tests. We tested the developed layouts and eventually settled on one. After conducting field tests, feedback and suggestions were received to improve the design of the shortwave radio station," said Alexey Bizyaev, senior lecturer at the Department of Design and Technology of Radio—Electronic Means.
"The next stage of work will be the creation of a domestic digital shortwave compact radio station equipped with an omnidirectional antenna, the refinement of the concept of a multi-user shortwave radio communication system, and its phased implementation. It is necessary not only to develop a digital radio station but also to adapt it to the harsh climatic conditions of the Far North, to ensure multi—user operation, to make it mobile and more user-friendly, to develop software and optimize the interface," continued Alexey Vostretsov, head of the development, head of the Laboratory of Quantum Cryogenic Electronics of NSTU NET, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor.
At the final meeting on the results of field tests of the radio station "Angara-1M" in the Ministry for the Development of the Arctic and the Affairs of the Peoples of the North of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the head of the Momsky district of Yakutia Dmitry Ammosov noted that communication is necessary for residents of the Arctic and that domestic development and modernization of the radio station will help provide the Arctic with a stable, and most importantly — a cheap communication line.
