Travels with High Frequency is a travelogue memoir of the people and places John Jacobs has visited while working as a radio engineer. All the stories are true and many are associated with geopolitical events or natural disasters where the UN and international aid agencies have used HF (short wave) radios. There is a small amount of technical content for those of whom it is of interest.
There is humour and sadness, pathos and bathos, irritation and fear as we see how different characters and Jacobs respond to stressful circumstances. Each of the 40 short chapters takes the reader by the hand and lets them ’be there’ through his eyes, seeing and feeling the environment, engaging with aid workers, victims, government officials and many others.
Events covered include the Rwanda genocide, Serb attempted ethnic cleansing of Kosova, Libya during the Arab Spring, Afghanistan and Pakistan while the Taliban are active, South Sudan shortly after its establishment, and many more.