Rhodes Music Radio (RMR) has been off-air since last week Wednesday after transmission equipment was damaged.
Rhodes Music Radio (RMR) has been off-air since last week Wednesday after transmission equipment was damaged.
This was caused by a combination of factors such as the fluctuating power supply and water damage, which was discovered when equipment was sent to the manufacturer for repairs in Cape Town.
The station's transmission equipment is housed at Sugar Loaf Hill, owned by MTN properties. Since the power supply at Sugar Loaf Hill became erratic, the power levels would sometimes by very low and then “would surge to very high levels, which is bad for any piece of electrical equipment” said station manager Gugulethu Mhlungu.
She said the equipment would be back from Cape Town by Friday (today). However, RMR's return on-air depends on Sugar Loaf Hill fixing its power supply problems.
This is not the first time that RMR has experienced transmission problems. Last year they were off-air for quite some time. Mhlungu said that this was caused by cable theft, and their receiver needing repairs. “Some campaigns are time-specific and we lose out on revenue,” said Mhlungu.
This week they were scheduled to air the state of the province (Sopa) address, which they were supposed to be paid for. Another implication of these transmission problems, Mhlungu said, was that they cause listenership levels to fluctuate. However, this was managed by efforts to keep people constantly updated through emails, as well as social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
These transmission problems also cause financial strain for RMR.Fixing the equipment would be costly and replacing it would cost between R18 000 and R26 000. “We are trying to take precautionary measures, such as getting surge protection for the equipment to avoid future problems,” said Mhlungu. Mhlungu said they were hoping that everything would be back to normal today (Friday), but if not,they would keep their loyal listeners up to date through Facebook and Twitter.
