— origin, significance, design & logistics
Inspired by the above image, which was accessible on the band's website prior to the album being released and for some time after. This was an interactive image; tuning the knob on the right to different frequencies caused different short videos, the 'transmissions' shorts, to play in the screen of the device. This device does not appear prominently in the music videos (or anywhere else for that matter) though it may be part of the device seen in Na Na Na (here.)
Most of the transmissions have been archived [here]; tw for flashing images. There are no direct scares but some of the audios are loud and/or jarring, and the vibes of several of the shorts can be a little disconcerting.
When it came to fandom, a lot of us started out on twitter (as there were official accounts of characters from the world of Danger Days already found there, run by various members of the band(?) and other creatives responsible for the killjoys universe) and thus in-character posts were restricted to 140 characters. We mostly did dialogue-only interactions and pictures. This, naturally, begged the question – how were the characters communicating this way, through 'voice' and images? We latched onto the transmitter as the obvious answer, and the idea of transmitters and practice of talking-only interactions stuck across the years even as writers moved to other websites and forums in order to do longer writing.
Controlled (and Contraband) Communication
Transmitters are a creation of Better Living Industries. Presented to the common public as a communications device, they were devised and designed as tools for disseminating propaganda, increasing advertisement exposure, and monitoring civilian perception of the company and its opposition. Snowballing off of the wireless accessibility and its uses both socially and as a way to receive news and safety broadcasts, phones and similar were phased out in favor of these devices. In time, it became mandatory for a city household to have at least one transmitter, "in case of emergency."
The problem with radio signals is that they aren’t so easily regulated as BLi would like. There’s a margin of forgiveness in tuning, close is close enough to listen in – and therefore there’s a margin of evasion, and a plethora of back doors. BLind’s opposition took advantage of this early on and have only gotten better at it with time. These days it’s all but impossible for the city to eradicate a rouge signal.
Transmitters aren't strictly necessary in the inner zones, where populations are closer together and news can travel by word of mouth, but are vital in the outer zones to get wind of dangerous weather or animals that might be moving through, as well as to call for help or send word ahead of yourself. Killjoys aren't always the most trusting, not even of each other, but it remains true that the 'joy that tries to lone wolf their way through the zones is likely to be dead sooner rather than later: it's wise to keep connected, even if only to listen
Pirate radio stations are the quickest and safest way to spread words that BL/ind doesn't want anyone saying and, of course, the best way to find a solid wall of music to keep company with. Signals are so loose and most get bounced around until t's hard for BLi to say where any of the chatter is coming from. Radio hosts who have tower setups that reach across multiple zones are well-known and often at least vaguely venerated. Striking down a DJ is a black mark on anyone, and when the city manages to pin them down and take them out entire swathes of the desert go dark. DJs fill the silence with music and conversation, keep you connected in a disjointed desert, and bring word of disasters both natural and of the curated Better Living variety. Anything and everything to help zone runners keep running.
Dr. Death Defying of the WKIL is the most known and celebrated of the DJs, broadcasting from who-knows-where on the regular, guiding the new kids and the Fab Four alike out of the stickiest messes with crow crews and back to the dust bowl called home. Other recognized broadcasters include DJ Hot Chimp, an elusive and eccentric rabblerouser up north, Rockin’ Jay and L-E-N’s both belong to the Web that guards zones 03 and 04, and RKO of a station called The Fence which broadcasts through the night from somewhere near the southeastern edge of the zones.
All the Bells and Whistles
A mutli-tool of the modern age, transmitters can connect to other transmitters, receive public broadcasts and informational text files, and store information. In the simplest possible terms, transmitters are capable of short range radio broadcast and long range radio reception. It might help to think of them as souped-up walkie-talkies that can pick up radio stations and broadcast TV, or smart phones as they might have been imagined by a person in the 70s or 80s (i.e. sans wifi). The biggest difference from, for instance, older cellphones is their limited connection range and lack of smart interfacing. Hence the comparison to walkie-talkies. This idea of them has also informed their design. Though there is no real way to gauge the size of the device from the only official appearance of it, it seems safe to assume most transmitters are roughly palm-width handheld devices.
I've taken to mentally comparing them to Sony's line of “Watchman” devices (1982-2000) in terms of approximate size and range of styles. (Killjoys, of course, tend to paint theirs.)
All transmitters broadcast and receive audio and text. All transmitters are capable of receiving and displaying images and video broadcast, though may not have a camera of their own. Some have typing interfaces, while those that don't often have dictation tech. Voice and text tend to get across a transmitter’s max range relatively undisturbed, but videos and images are known to pick up distortion and sometimes fragment before they get where they’re going. Text and images can be passed device-to-device similar to chain email, though stored locally on the device instead of in an online repository. Most transmitters have some amount of memory or other means for storing messages the owner may have missed out on, similar to a home phone’s message box. Generally speaking they can hold a few minutes of video, a moderate amount of recorded audio, or a lot of text — the specifics, of course, vary by model.
Most also have the ability to trigger recording at any time, so a user could grab a song or a piece of radio talk off the waves and hold the file on their device. Anyone who wanted to keep such things long term would be smart to move the recorded material onto a different device. This can be done by connecting the transmitter to another device via hardline though I expect some have more of a traditional inbox style that requires tapes for the recorded audio. (Or memory and tape capabilities. The combinations get wild!)
A vast majority of transmitters are battery powered, though some rechargeable options exist for unreasonably high prices in Center City. Average battery life is weeks long, and can of course be rationed by turning the device off between uses.
As handheld devices, their broadcast range in incredibly limited. Exact numbers vary from model to model and effectiveness varies by terrain. On average, someone with a mid range transmitter in an open, flat part of the zones can expect to transmit out 5-6 miles, and receiving range depends almost entirely on the broadcaster's setup. Lower end models might only reach 1-3, and anything with a base range any higher would be either expensive or custom, and further would rely on elevation to gain their reach. A transmitter could be equipped with the parts and power to broadcast to the moon, but it wouldn’t matter if the user couldn’t get the physical height to let it cast out. The higher it is and the less obstructed its signal, the wider the signal goes. Savvy killjoys use natural formations, ridges, and hills to boost their signals; with the aid of height a mid-range transmitter might get out to 10 miles or even further every now and then, which may be the thing that saves their life! but it’s going to come down to luck. Antennae are helpful, here.
This is a limitation of the technology’s capabilities and the earth’s curvature, not a question of smarts and power supply.
Radio stations have towers for a reason! and that’s what makes DJs and the Web so important in the zones. Wide broadcast and long range communication are impossible without something really tall to send from. The infrastructure that would allow it simply does not exist and could not be easily created, powered, or supplemented.
Someone in the city with the same device could only expect something like two miles (or less) of clear messaging due to signal obstruction. Roof to roof would get one more distance, but if the message is illicit it puts the broadcaster in a vulnerable position. Messaging trees —where one person passes news to another, person to person until it reaches the intended destination- are incredibly common for both social and underground communication in the city. There are actual phones and phone lines in Center City, though they are mostly found within secure buildings and are typically limited or else entirely closed internal systems. All hard lines, no wireless (which is true of most of Better Living's servers and networks.)
City transmitters are often limited in one or more ways; some have their reach drastically cut down, while others might not be able to call out at all and only receive official BLi broadcasts. Generally, the more privileged the citizen -the closer to “Center City” they are- the more options available to a buyer. This is both a question of cost and a matter of what BLind will permit a person to own and have access to. Citizens of the outer city have to save to get their hands on a decent model, and those in the Neon Slums have the most limited devices, which are commonly bugged for surveillance as well. Some citizens, the killjoy sympathetic and the bold, will take their devices to a servicer who checks for bugs and remove certain software based limitations, ‘lockpicking’ the devices. It’s a risky endeavor. Both owning a lockpicked transmitter and being caught altering them are criminal offenses that can get a person punished or even detained.
Killjoys transmitters vary wildly in their production and capabilities, depending on how much the killjoy in question relies on it. (As mentioned, they’re borderline accessory in the inner zones but a must-have survival tool further out.) Some killjoys are capable of getting their hands on the newest, shiniest works of tech, while others use rejects rescued from BLind’s dumping ground or even patch them together from parts scavenged from burnt out cars and old-world establishments. Unless a killjoy is after a locked one on purpose, it’s safe to assume every killjoy transmitter is lockpicked. Smart killjoys get their stolen and recycled transmitters checked for audio taps and tracking bugs, or learn to spot the signs and clean the devices themselves.
Any zones technician will recommend taking your transmitter to someone who knows what they’re doing. BLind gets creative with their spy tech, changing designs every year and burying betrayal behaviors under necessary functions. It’s a good idea to be safe rather than oh so very dusted.
In years since taking over as the main lane of communication, wily transmitter users have figured out how to make ‘private’ calls between two specific devices. It used to be a very complicated process, as it involves hiding one signal behind another, but became so popular than many lockpicked transmitters have easy to remember shortcuts for it. One or two button presses and a chat becomes harder to hear. As one might guess, though, the entire system being founded on radio the way that it is means that the security of these privatized calls only extends so far. Killjoys mostly rely on distance to keep their conversations away from BLi’s overachieving ears, while those in the city having dangerous talks would be wise to meet in person and whisper, or find a way to obscure the meaning of their words.
A dive into transmitter etiquette is in the works! I will link it here when it's done.
