TAURANGA Village Radio MUSEUM

It really seems we talked about this station in New Zealand before but I'm not finding it here, so maybe not, but I just came across it again while looking for something else and it captured my interest all over again.. By the way, got curious if our own member RagFM (also in New Zealand) had any affiliation with them but I didn't see him in their members, but I'm guessing he knows about them. Anyway, no, it's not part 15, but it is AM and it is an impressive radio venture...

https://www.villageradio.co.nz/

"Village Radio is your nostalgia station and in keeping with our vintage status we broadcast on the AM frequency, which was all that was available in New Zealand before FM was introduced."

They broadcast on 1368AM, I guess they have different spacing there. They play mostly vinyl LPs, but also some 45s and CDs. There's an interesting story behind their transmitter...

"..The equipment was originally from Radio 1ZD, Tauranga, where it became surplus when they moved to a new location. The transmitter, loaned to the station from Radio New Zealand was the original 1ZB transmitter when it broadcasted from Waterview in Auckland. On the 5th January 2013 the 75 year old Collins Transmitter went on air without a hitch. The transmitter is only the second known to be operating in the world and was restored by our technicians at Village Radio, Russ Bain, George Stewart and Neil Walsh. It had been out of action for over 13 years but was painstakingly restored by the technicians and a grant from the Lotteries Commission... ...From research and correspondence with the Collins Collectors Society in the USA it is believed that our transmitter, known as the Model 20C, may be the last one of its type still In perfect working condition, in the World."

However, It doesn't say why, but in 2017 they switched to a modern Nautel transmitter but still keep the Collins as a back-up. In August they are going to began renovations on the building expected to take up to 6 months, but  provisions have been made to keep the station on air while its underway:

"..The works will not impact the sound of the music we broadcast. However, our listeners will likely hear some construction noise when our announcers are talking on air. We may need to make a few minor changes to our broadcast during this time. We may play longer sequences of music without talking, and/or we may need to shorten the shifts our announcers are filling..."

They' broadcast regularly and also offer air time for Community Groups either once a week for one hour, or for two hours once a month. They also provide tours of their studio and radio museum (most recently for a group of 30 from the Auckland Eastern Chinese Society, and last year to tourist from Switzerland), the station is registered as a charitable entity and their Purposes include amongst other things:

"To provide a working radio museum and a radio station which broadcasts music of bygone years, not in competition with commercial radio stations."

"To acquire and hold radio frequencies and licences as determined from time to time by the appropriate licencing authorities."