By JONATHON HOWARD
TEN FM went off the airways last week after a savage lightning strike damaged the station’s antenna on Thursday, 13 June.
Ten FM listeners turned on their radios on Friday to the sound of white noise as broadcasting fell quiet.
Other stations including Breeze FM, ABC Radio, SBS Radio and Rebel FM were also cut off by the lighting strike.
Ten FM station manager Rebecca Carpenter said an integral link for the Tenterfield community was temporarily gone.
“Ten FM, after providing news and community support to the Tenterfield, Stanthorpe, Texas, Deepwater and surrounding areas was facing its biggest crisis yet,” she said.
“Immediately, the station was bombarded with calls as to ’where is Ten FM’ and in my travels it was a resounding cry – not Ten FM.”
Help came from local resident Nathan Rose who went alone to the Mt McKenzie communications tower.
A retired radio technician, Mr Ross, set up Ten FM 30 years ago and was able to restore the transmission.
Ms Carpenter said fortunately the transmitter was still in tack and Mr Ross was able to restore the connection by replacing fuses.
He also used a generator as a temporary power source while electrical technicians restored mains power.
All other stations were restored by Tuesday morning, according to a spokesperson from Breeze FM.
Ms Carpenter said the near miss was a reminder of the important role Ten FM and has called for more members.
“Ten FM is a constant part of the community,” Ms Carpenter said.
“It needs support to grow and have the back-up funds so that a lightning strike is not the end of the station.”
