News

Power Monkeys and Solar Gorillas helping Biso na Biso broadcast!

September 2009:     The Biso Na Biso Community radio team have been using Power Monkies and SolarGorilla to increase their recording and production capabilities in remote villages in the Republic of Congo. Biso na Biso is the first indigenous language radio station in the Congo Basin and serving Pygmy and Bantu communities helping to promote their land use and human rights, but also supports their music, cultural identities and livelihoods invigorating their unique and traditional ways of life. Ultimately this radio station is part of an important project sustainably managing 1.3 million hectares of threatened natural forest in the Congo Basin. The radio has been designed to broadcast throughout the forest and is received by small handheld, portable windup radios.  

 "During several recent trips to villages including Mboua and Ngatongo, we were able to work without main sources of power to charge the battery of our laptop which acts as our mobile studio and to power our 5 Volt Marrantz digital sound recorders" said Biso na Biso operator Privat Tiburce Massanga.


Use of portable solar panels to power one of the sound recorders

The Power Monkey allows us to charge the batteries of all our electronic devices including our mobile phones, laptops and sound recorders. With the Power Monkey accumulator connected to our 5 volt sound recorder with 2 microphones and 1 headset, we are getting considerably more recording time per visit and are not dependent on either generators or mains sources of power. The team visit each village once per month and so any additional recording time is valuable.


Public broadcast with Pomo women in Ngatongo, thanks to the Power Monkey 

The SolarGorilla is often used with our laptop when in an isolated zone and without power. This means that the SolarGorilla allows us to charge and use the computer making us less concerned over regular power cuts back at our office and we can keep working when out visiting the villages collecting material to broadcast. The accumulateur can also be charged by computer and so we now make sure to  charge it before every journey (if we have power in the office!).

The Solar Gorilla is often used with our laptop when in an isolated zone and without power. This means that the Solar Gorilla allows us to charge and use the computer making us less concerned over regular power cuts back at our office and we can keep working when out visiting the villages collecting material to broadcast.


Recording of a public broadcast in Mboua with the mobile studio powered by the Solar Gorilla

Additional advantages:

  • We are also able to use our digital sound recorder without electric batteries which are expensive to buy continually, and with regular power cuts it's not always possible to use re-chargeable batteries.
  • Importantly we are able to reduce the use of batteries overall, which are environmentally polluting products.
  • Additionally the numerous adaptors allow us to work and power all our equipment (camera or camcorder).

Conclusion

The solar devices donated by Power Traveller are functioning very well. They are making our work easier and are making us more autonomous and efficient: in short they are having a real impact. Biso Na Biso is becoming an ever more important feature in the lives of these forest communities as it is empowering them to become actively involved in the management of their forest whilst supporting their traditional way of life.

 

La radio Biso Na Biso trouve très pratique l'usage des panneaux solaires portatifs: Power Monkey et Solar Gorilla.

Au cours de plusieurs productions dans les villages (Mboua et Ngatongo), nous les avons utilisés comme principales sources d'énergie pour charger la batterie de notre ordinateur portable (studio mobile) et pour alimenter directement nos enregistreurs numériques Marrantz  fonctionnant avec une puissance de 5 Volts.

Le Power Monkey nous permet de travailler avec le Marrantz (enregistreur numérique) et de charger les batteries d'autres appareils électroniques. Avec l'accumulateur du Power Monkey branché à notre enregistreur de 5 volts et utilisant 2 micros et 1 casque d'écoute, notre autonomie est d'environ une heure d'enregistrement. Cela veut dire que l'accumulateur du Power Monkey joue directement le rôle des piles.

Son accumulateur peut aussi être chargé par ordinateur. Ce qui explique qu'avant tout voyage, nous prenons le soin de le charger.

Le Solar Gorilla est souvent utilisé avec l'ordinateur portable en zone enclavée et sans énergie. Ce qui veut dire que le Solar Gorilla nous permet de charger la batterie de l'ordinateur pendant qu'on travaille pour ne pas connaître de rupture en énergie.

Il nous a aussi permis d'utiliser notre enregistreur numérique sans les piles électriques. Le panneau solaire alimentant directement l'appareil sans accumulateur. Ce, en connectant bien entendu 2 micros et 1 casque d'écoute.

Par ailleurs, ses nombreux adaptateurs nous donnent la possibilité de travailler avec certains autres de nos équipement (tel qu'appareil photo ou caméscope).

Les deux dispositifs solaires que nous avons reçus fonctionnent bien. Ces genres d'appareils facilitent le travail et nous rendent davantage autonomes et efficaces.

Par ailleurs, ils permettent de réduire l'usage des piles qui sont des produits polluants vis-vis de l'environnement.