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Our Radio Repeater System Although the Radio Repeater system at Kahua Ranch is quite simple (antenna, radio, power source) it allows us to deploy a network of buoys - each up to 10 miles apart - and cover a listening/transmission range 40 - 50 miles!  The road in to Kahua Ranch Until now our maximum range of transmission from the ocean had been about 2 miles. We simply had our shore control system and 1 - 2 buoys in the water within 2 miles, and the transmission was directly between the buoys and the control system. (Should the radio system go down or need repair, we will fall back on this old system and be limited to the smaller range.) Today each buoy has its own UHF channel which allows it to send its own sound transmission as well as other data to the radio tower. The transmission and data are relayed (with a much stronger signal) by the radio to our shore system.  Closeup of our radio site Our goal in this, of course, is to stream live humpback whale songs onto the web with the highest sound quality as much consistency as possible. We are excited to be able to fulfill this objective! In addition to the transmission of the whale sounds, the buoys identify themselves (e.g. Puako 1, Puako 2, etc.), announce time and temperature, and GPS location. They also have several built-in alarm systems, alerting us if they are taking on water, running low on power, or are suddenly adrift outside their anchored location.  Aloha from the historic Kahua Ranch |