I knew as soon as I saw the article that I had to go. The lure of a shiny World Mobile AirNode connected up to a Starlink dish was just too much. But the lingering question was, where in the UK was it?
The first article was vague, alluding to a campsite somewhere in the UK. I guess that was a start at least!
Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long before the test location was identified as a farm near St David’s in Wales. Then the race was on. Was Rick going to drive down in his camper or was a more local ENO going beat me to it?
My next available holiday was between Christmas and New Year so after checking that the campsite was open I booked myself in. The chatter on Twitter was amusing to say the least. What sort of fool would give up part of their Christmas holiday to pitch a tent in a field on the edge of a cliff? They weren’t wrong.
After a few phone calls to Gareth and Charles at World Mobile they confirmed that the test site was still operational and actually in regular use by some of the staff working on the farm. There was no backing out now.
As we approached Christmas the weather forecast was looking anything but pleasant with incessant rain and gales up to 40mph. With my usual optimism I assumed the forecasters would have it wrong. One should never assume!
I arrived in Wales to a howling gale and horizontal rain and had to tie part of the tent to my car to stop it blowing away as I pitched it.
Once I settled in I took a stroll, recognising the seafront where Antonio had filmed on his recent visit. Other than a few mobile campers the site was deserted but I located the AirNode and connected quickly before heading into St Davids for a bite to eat before dark.
The following day the weather was much the same which meant most of my testing had to be done from the comfort of my car. Nevertheless, I achieved a number of things. By connecting to wifi I was able to surf and stream comfortably and send and receive WhatsApp messages. I was also able to connect to the trial Cellular AirNode which uses 1800MHz spectrum. This runs both 2G and 4G at the same time allowing voice , SMS and data in the UK using a Shared Access Licence. I also took a stroll to test the range of wifi which comfortably extended to xxx m.
After feeling rather pleased that I’d achieved all I set out to do I took a stroll around St Davids which is the smallest City in the UK with a beautiful cathedral steeped in history. One more night under canvas with very little sleep and I packed up hurriedly at first light.
Where will my World Mobile travels take me next I wonder? Oh, and if anyone happens to visit the farm to experience the AirNode for themselves, can they keep an eye open for my camping mattress which is still blowing around Wales somewhere?