Macleay Valley Community FM Radio Station Incorporated, to use our official name, was spawned at a public meeting held in 1992. From this meeting emerged a dedicated team that forged forward towards the ultimate goal of obtaining a Community Broadcasting license for the Macleay Valley.
The next five years leading up to our first test transmission in March 1997 meant a lot of hard work and dedication for the tireless volunteers who had to sell the idea of the valley's own radio station to the community, and raise much needed money to finance the proposal.
And there was a mountain of government red tape and paperwork, naturally!
A series of test transmissions over the next two years proved fruitful when the station was granted a Community Broadcasting license in 1999.
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Although licensed as 2WET, the station is known locally as Tank Radio because the studio complex is housed in a disused concrete water reservoir, some 40 feet in diameter, in Rudder Park, overlooking the Macleay River and the town of Kempsey.
Kempsey is a rural town located on the magnificent Macleay River, halfway between Sydney and Brisbane.
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Community Radio
Australian broadcasting regulations permit the establishment of community owned and operated radio stations by suitably qualified, not-for-profit organisations. The criteria for ownership and operation of such stations is rigidly scrutinised by the licensing authority, The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Community broadcasting is known as public broadcasting in some countries.
There are hundreds of community broadcasting stations across Australia and most, if not all, are members of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA). Tank Radio is no exception.
The CBAA provides guidance to member stations and also operates the ComRadSat, the Community Broadcasting satellite service. This service provides program that can be fed live to air, or recorded for later playback. In addition, a national news service is also available via ComRadSat.. Many stations use this news service and an even greater number of stations rely on the ComRadSat overnight service to maintain a 24/7 service.
Most community radio stations are operated entirely by volunteers. The presenters who go to air, the people who work in the office, the people who maintain every aspect of the station, they are all volunteers. Very few community radio stations are able to afford any paid staff
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Technical Stuff
Tank Radio broadcasts from a disused water reservoir located at East Kempsey, at an elevation of about 35m ASL.
At present there is only a single on-air studio which is fitted out with equipment typically found in a radio station. Two CD players, two MiniDisc players, two turntables, one cassette deck, and the Digital Delivery Network (DDN) computer. The latter is used to capture program from the CBAA satellite receiver for delayed playback. It is also used for storage and playback of sponsorship announcements and, station promos and Community Service Announcements (CSA's). A second studio for training and production purpose will be constructed soon.
The broadcast console is an Elan Kestrel 16, a truly professional piece of equipment manufactured in Australia. It is "talk-back" capable and this facility will be made operational shortly.
The photo shows the desk plus other equipment. The turntables are to the right and out of view.
Separate from the studio is a small equipment room that houses such items as a two stage limiter, stereo generator, UHF Studio/Transmitter Link (STL) transmitter, satellite receiver, off-air receiver, studio monitor amplifier, and sundry other bits and pieces that can be conveniently located out of sight.
The multiplexed signal from the studio complex is transmitted to the main transmitter site at Greenhill, about 5km to the west of Kempsey.
The Greenhill transmitter site, at an elevation of 30m ASL, is the location of a large, steel water reservoir upon which is mounted, at a height of 30m AGL, our main transmitting antenna, as well as our UHF STL receiving antenna. The antenna is an dipole array with a gain of 3dB and this antenna is shared with 2KY Racing Radio, a commercial sports service. The signal is transmitted with vertical polarisation (polarity).See picture here. Tank's main antenna is at the top far left in the photo.
Transmitting equipment is all of RVR (Italy) manufacture and comprises the UHF STL receiver, 30 watt exciter, and 500 watt power amplifier. The antenna gain of 3dB (2x) gives us an Effective Radiated Power (ERP) of 1000 watts.
We currently have an application with the licensing authority to install a translator at South West Rocks, about 25km NE of Kempsey, to improve our service into that area.
Receiving Tank Radio
Compared with some community radio stations that are fortunate enough to be able to transmit from a very high location, Tank Radio is disadvantaged.
The location of a broadcasting transmitter is determined by the licensing authority, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and it was this organisation which selected the location of Tank Radio's main transmitter at Greenhill.
Given that we must transmit from a less than ideal location, and given that, compared with our commercial broadcasting cousins who are permitted to run ten or twenty thousand watts, some listeners may have difficulty receiving the one thousand watt signal from Tank Radio.
The effective range of an FM broadcasting station is affected by four primary factors:
1. the height of the transmitting antenna above sea level
2. the transmitter power level in watts
3. the nature of the receiving antenna - is it indoors or outdoors, is it a special FM band antenna, is it's polarisation correct
4. the nature of the terrain between the transmitter and the receiver - is it flat, hilly, mountainous.
Since the first two items are dictated by the ACMA, and the fourth by Mother Nature, the only factor over which you, the listener, has any control is the receiving antenna.
Just as television signals are affected by hills, trees and house walls, so too are FM radio signals. And just as you need an outdoor antenna for television reception, particularly in fringe areas, an outdoor antenna for FM radio can be the difference between receiving Tank Radio properly, and a weak, noisy signal - or no signal at all.
Most electronics outlets, and many appliance retailers and electrical wholesalers sell suitable antennas and associated hardware, that can be installed quite easily by the home handy person.
In selecting an antenna for FM radio the most important parameter is that it is made specifically for the FM band. Some outlets will sell "do everything" antennas that are supposed to work for both television and FM radio. Most of them are a waste of money. They are at best a poor compromise and often cost considerably more than a dedicated FM band antenna.
When erecting an antenna for the reception of Tank Radio, the elements (rods) of the antenna need to be vertical, and the antenna needs to be aimed in the direction of Greenhill.
For additional guidance in purchasing or installing an antenna for Tank Radio, send an email to Tank Radio with Technical Help as the subject.
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