Source: HCJB Global (written by Ralph Kurtenbach)Repairs to a storm-damaged antenna at the international transmitting site of HCJB Global-Australia were completed in mid-February, allowing the station’s Chinese and Japanese language broadcasts to return to the air
Strong winds had damaged the antenna at the Kununurra-based site in late January. A team consisting of Dave Brewster, Mike Ewers, Daniel Forrer and Greg Wilson assessed damages to a broken tower guy wire and seven broken element guy wires. The broadcast team assembled all materials needed for the repairs. Dennis Pease traveled from Perth, Western Australia, to supervise repairs.
Rains during Kununurra’s wet season made the ground too soft to use a crane, so Pease and Wilson climbed the tower, assisted by staff on the ground. Replacing the broken guy cable made the tower secure. Then they dismantled the broken section of the antenna, hauled up a new section, and fitted and secured it.
The repairs were completed on Thursday, Feb. 11, and regular programming in Chinese and Japanese resumed the next day after being off the air for 12 days. “Several Japanese DXers wrote to us regarding loss of signal,” said Peter Penford, the studio manager. “One of them in particular often writes.”
The site broadcasts 15 hours of programming per day in 21 languages, including English, Urdu, Hindi, Nepali, Chhattisgarhi, Indonesian (Bahasa), Mandarin, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Marathi, Marwari, Telegu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kurux, Japanese, Malay (Bahasa), Rawang, Fujian, Punjabi and Hmar
(Rachel Baughn/MT)