By Michael Burt
A large swathe of the Bellingen shire could lose access to community radio station 2 Triple B on 93.3FM from next month.
The station’s transmission site at Mt Francis Lookout must be vacated by the end of March after Bellingen Shire Council and the landowners could not reach an agreement on a new lease.
2 Triple B broadcast engineer Rod Van Der Vliet said they will be relocating broadcast equipment to a temporary site on the Dorrigo plateau.
“We are having to downsize and go to the water tower that council have given us temporary access to, which will probably drop our signal down to 25 per cent of what it was,” Mr Van Der Vliet said.
“The requirement to find a temporary home in the interim is a necessity for 2BBB 93.3mhz to be operational. This ensures 2 Triple B can continue serving the community while we work on a long‑term permanent solution.”
Phase two of the temporary solution is moving the existing pole and antenna to Dorrigo, which will be delayed due to the Waterfall Way closure.
“That will give is some coverage from the Dorrigo water tower, but it still may not reach into the valleys like Thora and Kalang and the coastal area.”
The cost for the initial move is estimated to be $34,000 and the 2Triple B volunteer Board is calling for community support via a ‘S.O.S – Save Our Signal 93.3 FM’ GoFundMe page. A Link to donate is on the 2BBB.net.au home page as is information about becoming a volunteer to support the campaign.
“Without immediate action, large parts of our region may lose access to 93.3FM.”
“We’re asking listeners, supporters, local businesses, and anyone who values independent community media to help fund this urgent relocation.”
Mr Van Der Vliet said the Coffs Harbour Amateur Radio Club (CHARC) will also be impacted as it has VHF and HF repeater services at the current site.
“This club and others all over Australia form part of a larger network of transmission that engages with the community organisations during times of need.”
“They are often called upon to assist in natural disasters to satisfy the needs of many organisations for communications.”
2 Triple B is looking at two options for a long-term solution. One is an alternative site for 93.3FM on the Dorrigo plateau at Council’s Griffiths Look Out site and the other is to evaluate cost share agreement costs and station useability of the MT Moombil national broadcast site.
The 93.3mhz License was granted in the early 1980’s, originally on 90.5mhz as 2BBB’s translator license for Dorrigo. It was quickly upgraded to a higher power, independent license, that shifted to the current location at Mt Francis Lookout in 1985 to encompass the whole shire during flooding and fire emergencies.
The 93.3mhz service is currently able to reach people from Valla to the up most reaches of the Thora and Kalang Valleys and the Dorrigo Plateau.