Technological nostalgia
One of the things I have come to enjoy in Pirbadet (Trondheim's newest and largest swimming pool) is the fountains or showers that spray warm water in the small north-eastern pool. Whenever I stand under them with my head touching the surface of the water, I get a soothing sense of 里心[?]. This is because the splashing of the shower when it hits the surface of the water sounds almost exactly the same as the clattering noise of Loran-C.
Due to the proximity to the Loran-C station at Bø, this is a ubiquitous sound back home. It can be received on long-wave radios on frequencies far above its nominal 100 kHz. In the days of analogue telephone, RFI was a constant annoyance to those who lived within a 10 km radius of the antenna. Even when not audible, it affected modem users.
I miss it. And it is going to be a sad day when Lorsta Bø is shut down on January 1, 2006. But technology must progress, I suppose. This is the age of the GPS, and Loran is no longer a necessary navigation aid.
[Friday, Nov 25, 2005 @ 11:33] | [] | # | G
