Radio in Persia

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 36, 22 March 1929, Page 27

Radio in Persia

PERSIA is always looked upon as an out-of-the-way place where development has been retarded, principally owing to the distance from the sea and the difficulty of modern culture finding its way there. However, radio has at last gained a footing in this far distant land. In 1924, when all the rest of the European nations were beginning to realise the use of wireless, the idea of wireless for Persia became a centre of thought for those interested, but the economic and geographical position withheld development of this science for many years, and it was through Russia that finally wireless became known in Persia. The Government approached the Leningrad Government for the installation of a number of wireless transmitting stations. Under the orders of an ingenious engineer, the first difficulties were encountered, and in 1925 the foundation for the first station was laid. Innumerable difficulties faced this Intrepid engineer, for the country was poor, and the means of transport were difficult. Imagine long lines of accessories, even those of the greatest dimensions, moving forward over the desert of this distant country on the backs of the only reliable carrier, the camel. Transport alone took up five or six months. Millions of tons of cement necessary for the construction were carried on the backs of the camel. Modern technique seems out of place in this land of the picturesque fiarouf. The official opening of the station took place on April 26, 1926, the day of the coronation of the Riza Khan. Within the space of six months, five new stations were erected. One of the most serious difficulties was the training of operators, capable of assuring a regular service from the station. The Persian Minister of War, to whom the Persians are indebted for their stations, was obliged to bring in foreign technicians, but even now the Persian programmes seem poor in comparison with those of Europe. ‘The excessive price of transportation renders good valves and good accessories almost impossible to the public, and what they do get has to come through Russia. However, the Persians have realised the joys that even a’ little wireless, even if poor and elementary, can bring to‘those far distant from civilization.