In a game as massive as Fallout 4, there is certainly no shortage of new and interesting locations to find while exploring the Commonwealth. While many offer straightforward quests or places to investigate, there are some that can lead to unmarked mini quests, and a great source of these are the radio relay towers dotted all over the landscape. Once found, these large radio towers can provide not only loot but fascinating new stories that add depth to post-apocalyptic Massachusetts.

With an area as vast as the Commonwealth, it's always fantastic when exploration is rewarded alongside the main and faction questlines. Fallout 4 has more than its fair share of hidden side quests for the Sole Survivor to find, with some linked to specific locations, while others require more of a treasure hunt. Many of these unmarked quests link in wonderfully with Bethesda's signature environmental storytelling, which fleshes out the world both before and after the bombs dropped.

Fallout 4's Relay Towers Offer Cool Side Quests

The Five Radio Towers Have Three Signals Each

There are five relay towers scattered throughout the Commonwealth of Fallout 4 that the Sole Survivor can discover and reactivate. Each tower will be a marked location on the map available for fast travel and when first arriving the radio signals will be silent. The Sole Survivor will need to interact with the terminal next to the tower and extend the radio satellites in order to fully reactivate the relay tower. Once extended, the dishes will now allow three signals per tower to be received via the radio on the Sole Survivor’s Pip-Boy, which will lead to various hidden locations.

The Radio Signals Often Tell Pre-War Stories

The Unmarked Locations Demonstrate The Consequences Of The Great War

Tracking the signals is something of a mini quest in itself, as the Sole Survivor will have to triangulate the origin by exploring the area around each relay tower. The signal will become clearer the closer they get to the source, fading if traveling away from it, or even shutting off completely if the Sole Survivor travels too far away. However, each of the 15 signals tells its own unique story, with a mixture of pre-war heartbreak alongside post-apocalyptic shenanigans.

Each signal will have its own name in the Pip-Boy Radio tab, and it’s best to return to the originating relay tower after finding each one.

The majority of the signals are pre-war stories, offering frightening insight into the moments after the bombs fell. Following the signals, the Sole Survivor can learn about what happened in the brief Great War and the hours that followed while they were frozen inside Fallout 4’s starting Vault, Vault 111. From terrified shopworkers taking shelter from the nukes to families desperately trying to stay together in makeshift bunkers, these messages help paint a picture of panic, suffering, and grief in the immediate aftermath.

One of Fallout’s greatest strengths has been its ability to balance the humor prevalent throughout the series with the horrors that war and nuclear devastation have unleashed on that version of Earth. Although some of the relay messages are funny, such as the obvious trap set up by Super Mutants via Relay Tower 0SC-527 southeast of Diamond City, many see the Sole Survivor finding nothing but skeletons or loot as they piece together what happened to the people on the radio. These stories perfectly demonstrate the tragic consequences of the bombs through environmental storytelling and short radio messages.

Some Of The Best Relay Signals To Find

Crashed Planes, Brotherhood Of Steel Patrols & Alien Ships

Relay Tower 0DB-521 in Fallout 4's iconic Glowing Sea has three great signals that lead to interesting stories and loot in the highly irradiated area. A raider distress signal will be broadcasting from a cave just west of the tower where a suit of Power Armor can be picked up, while the strange moans from ghouls inside Hopesmarch Pentecostal Church to the north can also be tracked. However, it is the terrifying moments of Skylanes Flight 1665 that are the most poignant, as the shockwave from the nuclear strike hit the plane, forcing it to crash.

A trapdoor behind a cart just south of the stairs will lead into the plane's storage compartment. This area houses a locked wooden crate, some suitcases, and the circuit breaker to turn off the mayday. An exterior hole will lead to more suitcases to loot as well as a hidden compartment.

Relay Tower 0MC-810, located directly west of the National Guard Training Yard, provides a different way to begin the Brotherhood of Steel quest "The Lost Patrol" by boosting the distress beacon from the fallen team. However, the most interesting radio signal can be picked up by visiting Relay Tower 1DL-109, just south of Oberland Station. After reaching level 20, along with two pre-war messages, the Sole Survivor will be able to pick up a strange garbled message on their Pip-Boy.

Heading almost due east from Oberland Station, the Sole Survivor will spot some burning trees and find a crashed alien spaceship. Almost directly north of the crash is an unmarked cave where a hostile injured alien will be taking shelter next to a ham radio, the origin of the signal. Defeating the alien will reward an Alien Blaster Pistol, along with over 300 rounds of ammo for it, making this unmarked Fallout 4 quest worth tracking down.