On Saturday October 18, 2014 Wave Farm Artist-in-residence Rimas Simaitis will lead a workshop on RTLSDR at the Wave Farm Study Center in Acra, NY.

In 2012 it was discovered that a line of TV tuning USB dongles could receive a much broader range of radio frequencies, and that the $20 devices could be used instead to turn an average computer into a powerful software defined radio (SDR) receiver. Software defined radio systems emulate the complex and expensive equipment often found in a ham radio shack. Developers have since created programs for Mac, Windows, and Linux that utilized these USB TV tuners and enable users to do anything from run a simple FM radio receiver, tinker with radio astronomy, or explore any other signals that can be found between 50-2000 MHz. This workshop will introduce participants to the basics of RTLSDR, and open the door for DIY exploration of the radio spectrum.

Email info@wavefarm.org to register for this workshop.

Rimas K. Simaitis's artistic practice is informed by research regarding the geographical influences a region has upon the development and formation of its cultures and populations. He developed an interest in radio transmissions when studying how Reggae music formed on the island of Jamaica. Due to the close proximity of Miami and New Orleans, Jamaica could receive the distinct music being broadcast from radio stations in these cities. The music being heard across the airwaves ultimately influenced the development of Jamaica’s own music and culture in a post-colonial era when the islanders were seeking their own, new identity. Simaitis’s work has been included in exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara; the University of California, Los Angeles; the Roots & Culture Contemporary Arts Center in Chicago; SOIL in Seattle; the Boise Art Museum, the Hammer Museum and MOCA, in Los Angeles, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. He has exhibited with the galleries Benrimon Contemporary in New York, and Samuel Freeman in Los Angeles. Simaitis holds an MFA in Spatial Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and two undergraduate degrees in music and management from Seattle University. Simaitis currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.