29 april 2015

Switch off your mobile phones

This warning sign along a sandy path in the centre of the Dwingelderveld National Park told us to switch off our mobile phones as we were entering the interference-free zone of the nearby Dwingeloo radio telescope...

...which we passed later that day. The "Dwingeloo Radio Observatory" is a single-dish radio telescope with a diameter of 25 m. Completed in 1956 it was the largest radio telescope in the world at that time, and was operational in an official capacity until the year 2000. Nowadays the telescope is a Dutch heritage monument, and is still used for projects by amateur astronomers and radio amateurs.

I'm linking to signs, signs.

14 opmerkingen:

  1. It looks like a pleasant area for a stroll- so much the better that cell phones go off.

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  2. Wouldn't want to disrupt a possible transmission from aliens. :-)

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  3. Such an imposing thing to come across in the park. Looks rather antiquated by our 21stC standards!

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  4. There should be more mobile free zones!

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  5. That is a major radio telescope for amateur use. Interesting sign.

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  6. What did people do before cellphones? Tom The backroads Traveller

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  7. There shouldn't be a need for cell phones in national parks anyway, unless it's for an emergency.

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  8. Die zijn wel bekend inderdaad de radiotelescopen.

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  9. here there would be lots of people ignoring the sign i'm sure...so many people think rules don't apply to them...

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Don't be shy and leave a comment. I'd love to read what you think!