During a massive and prolonged power outage, you will at some point no longer be able to use your mobile phone when the mobile towers stop working.
But that will not be a problem for Torben Mørk from Grindsted and a number of other Danes.
They can still receive and send messages to each other.
The secret is an investment of around 500 kroner in a LoRa radio device and a certain amount of tinkering.
That is all it takes to become part of the Danish so-called Meshcore network.
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Simple and cheap technology
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Communication on the Meshcore network can be either public or consist of encrypted private messages.
The devices can only handle small amounts of data, for example short text messages, and they run on batteries and solar cells.
Dennis Borup Jakobsen, department head at ITK Tech Lab in Aarhus Municipality, runs the website Meshview.dk in his spare time. He estimates that there are around 400 Danish users on the network, but at the same time emphasizes that the number is uncertain.
He adds that many people will be able to figure out how to get started with Meshcore, as there are Danish guides available online.
A LoRa radio device costs around 500 kroner for a model that can be connected to the phone.
And what is Meshcore, you might ask?
It is a network of small, privately owned radios and transmitting devices that run on batteries and solar cells, so you can communicate independently of the mobile network.
- It works a bit like text messages, says Torben Mørk, who lives in Grindsted.
It is encoded in small beeps – a bit like Morse code – and then we will still have communication across Denmark, from Bornholm and out into the countryside, he says.
Torben Mørk is very interested in emergency preparedness, and he has always enjoyed playing with new technology. That is why it made perfect sense for him to try Meshcore.
- I think it's fantastic to try new technology. I was there for the internet and the first text messages. Now this comes along, and there is no subscription, so you just get started, he says.
Torben Mørk from Grindsted shows how little electronics are needed to send and receive the Meshcore signal. (Photo: © Steffen Terpling)
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