| Airfair Radio is the official radio station for the Biggin Hill International Air Fair, broadcasting locally for three days each year on the FM band and world wide via the internet. Each year we broadcast live from the airfield with a mixture of programmes containing commentary, music, interviews, phone-in competitions and dedications. Many of the calls we receive are relayed over the airwaves via our phone–in equipment. Running a radio station from the middle of a field poses some unusual challenges. Electrical power comes from a generator and we have previously had to pay a substantial sum to British Telecom for a temporary telephone line. |  | |
| This year we decided to try using a mobile phone instead of paying for a temporary line. The proposal was quite daunting to me as station engineer, because it meant that I would need to modify our phone-in equipment to operate with a mobile phone rather than a standard telephone line. I was therefore very pleased to be offered the opportunity to try out a Burnside Telecom Desktop Mobile. A standard telephone plugs directly into the Desktop Mobile and our phone-in unit could simply be connected as an extension via a 2-way adapter. The unit itself is presented in a smart aluminium case with a blue display. It is powered from a wall plug mounted power supply and uses a compact magnetic mount antenna attached by a few metres of cable. Everything was plugged in and the smart card slid into a small plastic receptacle at the back of the unit. The desktop mobile quickly detected the network and we were up and running within minutes of opening the box. |  |