How I Turned My Bedroom into a Broadcasting Studio: The Beginning of My Journey into Engineering.

It is the end of 2023, I returned to my village home for Christmas holidays and decided to unlock a vault that had remained sealed since 2008. Within its confines lay remnants of our broadcast days—testaments to a time when my bedroom served as the hub of innovation.

The story begins in 1998 when I was still a primary school student. My love for electronics ignited as I tinkered with devices, particularly radio receivers. The curiosity led me to open a small radio receiver, the only one in our house at that time. Electricity had not yet reached our home, I had to use the heat from a kerosene cook on a piece of metal to solder, despite my best efforts, I couldn't solder the components back together properly, it wasn't until 2000, when our house finally electrified. This marked the start of my journey into understanding how to repair and troubleshoot electronic devices

The journey continued, we had our first radio cassette player and a TV set in 2000. Eager to explore the cathode-ray tube technology, I delved into its mysteries. I frequently showed up to our town electronics repair shop with questions, quickly learning more about components such as transistors, capacitors, and resistors. Proficiency grew, and soon, my bedroom turned into a chaotic workshop, filled with cables and parts, a space my parents hesitated to enter due to the maze of naked electricity.

The magical moment arrived in 2001 when I discovered how to transmit radio signals over a distance. Redrawing and modifying the circuit, increasing voltage and current, changing the components of all kind, sometime by know and many time by trial and error, I began sending voice signals in the frequency modulation (FM) band. An unforgettable experience unfolded as I interfered with the entire band, making it inaccessible to others but within a 50-meter range. Hours and hours of tinkering led me to limit interference, tune the circuit for clarity, and adjust frequencies between 87.5MHz to 108MHz.

I mounted an antenna on the tallest tree near our house. Transforming my bedroom into a broadcasting studio, I officially launched Melody FM in 2001, by then In the Kilimanjaro region, there were only one FM radio station, "Sauti ya Injili," a gospel radio station existed, I Borrowing a radio cassette from my brother, I played music in the selected chosen frequencies, captivating the village. Melody FM reached up to 30 km distance, and my siblings and I walked tens of kilometers with a radio receiver, marking its range. The village embraced the shift from the Gospel radio to Melody FM, a station that became a constant presence from my return from school in the evening to the early morning hours.

My school journey took a turn in 2004 when my parents, alarmed by my poor academic performance, decided to transfer me to a boarding school. However, during holidays, my passion for electronics continued to flourish. My high school Physics teacher, discovering my talent, asked me to build another radio FM transmitter for the school. This project, conducted during holidays, resulted in a functional transmitter dedicated to the school. The initiative aimed to inspire the science department and serve as a model for students to learn about electronics in school. My efforts were recognized with awards during my high school graduation.

It marked an extraordinary moment in time – envision the entire community rallying behind us, a small team of enthusiastic kids orchestrating the show on air. In 2007, I obtained my first mobile GSM phone, a significant leap that allowed us to connect with our listeners and bring their voices onto the airwaves. This period was deeply emotional for both us and our audience. It's worth noting that during this era, computers and internet access were not yet part of our possessions. Thanks to my parents, they didn't just stand by but offered unwavering support in every way possible from then to this day. We continue to hold onto the cherished memories of that remarkable time.

This period of creativity and exploration spanned from 2001 to 2008, marked by youthful enthusiasm and a lack of awareness about legal intricacies. Eventually, I realized the need to upgrade to a more powerful transmitter and adhere to legal rules of owning a radio station, prompting a pause in this thrilling journey and continue with other things including further studies and explore other ventures.

This marks the beginning of my engineering journey—from the village of Lyamrakana, Marangu, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, to the world.

I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to appear on one of our TV broadcasts in 2008, known as Star TV. During the program, I provided a comprehensive demonstration of every aspect of the project and shared the story of how it all began. For those interested, the program can still be viewed on YouTube through the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmw5vm0cpDI

Thank you for reading my story, It is my hope that I will inspire you in one way or another.