September 4, 2014
Yarraman’s popular community radio station Wild Horse FM 99.7 is now broadcasting over a bigger area than ever, thanks to help from the region’s Bendigo Community Bank branches.
Last November and December, the station’s broadcasting transmitter was struck by lightning twice during heavy thunderstorms.
The strikes seriously damaged the transmission equipment, reducing the station’s broadcast footprint until repairs could be carried out.
But last Monday – thanks to a generous $2200 donation from the Bendigo Community Bank and assistance from Ergon Energy, who donated the use of a cherry-picker so technicians could replace the damaged equipment – the station roared fully back to life.
The new transmission set-up is now equipped with heavy-duty earthing mats and much stronger coaxial cables to prevent a recurrence in future storms, and Wild Horse’s signal can now be picked up from Nanango to Blackbutt, and Cooyar to Maidenwell.
The station also has plans to create an outdoor broadcast unit soon by using a caravan it recently acquired, again, thanks to a grant for from the Bendigo Community Bank.
This will allow Wild Horse to transmit live shows from local events, such as the upcoming Bloomin’ Beautiful Blackbutt Festival.
Wild Horse (4WHO) was established as a temporary broadcaster for the Yarraman community in 2002, and a permanent licence was acquired two years later.
The licence was upgraded in 2011. The same year, the power output was also upgraded to 500 watts and the station’s transmitter was relocated to higher ground on Yarraman Heights to expand the broadcast area.
Wild Horse’s studios are located at Heritage House in Millar Street and is run by a not-for-profit board.
The station broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Wild Horse is also now part of a consortium of 11 radio stations who broadcast a midnight-to-6:00am show which covers the area from Glen Innes through to Tenterfield, Stanthorpe, Warwick, Boonah, Toogoolawah and Yarraman.
Jim Bond told southburnett.com.au the show was for “truckies, late-night travellers and insomniacs” and the station’s call-back lines run hot with requests in the early hours of each Thursday and Friday morning when Wild Horse’s segments go to air.
