Three decades on the airwaves

A small article in the Mansfield Courier advising of a public meeting for residents who may be interested in forming a community radio station, was the start of a thirty-year history of 3MCR (Mansfield Community Radio), since renamed Radio Mansfield. A steering committee had already been hard at work prior to that first meeting in November 1994, who endorsed the philosophies of the Community Broadcasting Association, and the potential opportunities a radio station would offer our community. With sufficient interest, MCR was given the use of the old railway stationmaster’s house, from which to broadcast, and granted a restricted transmission license, with the test frequency of 99.9FM allocated for its inaugural first broadcast at 4p.m. on 21st April (and finishing at midnight on 23rd April,) 1995, with a transmission radius of approximately 20 kms. After this initial broadcast, the station aired programs for three days every subsequent second weekend, with the assistance and advice of Alexandra’s radio station, Radio Murrindindi, UGFM. In the early days, some of the required broadcasting hours were occasionally filled by programs relayed from UGFM. 30 potential presenters attended workshops held at MACE, on how to produce programs, interviewing techniques and on-air presentation. The new call sign of 99.7FM was allocated before the station commenced daily broadcasts on December 15th 1995, producing programs from 5 -10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, and 5-11p.m. Friday and Saturday evenings. With little financial backing, some of the necessary equipment was donated and secondhand, and prompted Al Rozefsky to propose a sponsorship program to promote the town’s businesses which would provide 20 x 30-second announcements for $20 per week. In 1999, following the granting of a permanent licence, the station’s desire to increase its broadcast range to listeners in Jamieson, Bonnie Doon, Merton and parts of Tolmie also became possible after extensive fundraising and receiving a grant which enabled the purchase of a new transmitter to be sited on The Paps, replacing the less powerful one located at the studios. After operating at the old stationmaster’s house for almost ten years, Radio Mansfield was offered a prime location in the High Street, shared with the e-Café. During that time, the station acquired a caravan, and with the generosity and support of businesses in town, it was given a new ‘Radio Mansfield 99.7FM’ livery and kitted out to operate as the outside broadcast van at community events. Additionally, the station also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Office of the Emergency Services Commissioner in 2011 to become an accredited emergency broadcaster, an important aspect of the station’s operations to this day. Subsequent to a fire at the e-Café building in late September, 2014, presenters found themselves broadcasting from the O.B. Van parked in a laneway off Elvins Street, overlooking the 14th green of the golf course, until a suitable replacement studio was found. The current purpose designed Radio Mansfield studio, located in what was the childcare rooms at the rear of the Community Centre, was the result, and thanks once again to the generosity of many businesses, tradespeople and service clubs in town, The Shire and the hard work of volunteers, the studios were formally opened by the Mayor, Councillor Marg Attley, in February, 2015. In 2019, the final part of Radio Mansfield’s desire to broadcast to all of the parts of The Shire came to fruition with the installation of a repeater at Archerton, enabling the Tolmie community to receive the station’s signal on 88.7FM, and a grant from the Community Broadcasting Foundation facilitated a repeater to be installed at Frenchman’s Gap, which would allow the residents in Woods Point to receive the station on 90.1FM. Radio Mansfield has been, and continues to be, indebted to the technical expertise and knowledge of Peter Weeks, from Weeks Radio in Alexandra, and UGFM’s President. His involvement with the station goes back to that first committee, assisting with setting up the studio, siting of the transmitter on The Paps, and the telemetry that enables switching back and forth between Radio Mansfield and UGFM to share programming and resources. With thirty-three presenters and approximately 74.5 hours of locally produced programming going to air each week, Radio Mansfield, in conjunction with our colleagues at UGFM and the Community Radio Network, broadcasts twenty-four hours a day, offering a variety of programs which feature assorted music styles, sports reports, coverage of local football and netball games, community events, interviews and live performances, current affairs and news, weather and emergency information. Additionally, in honoring one of the founding members who passed away in 2018, the station created The Chris Deutscher Memorial Fund, to promote and encourage music scholarship for two students annually. Radio Mansfield remains a volunteer organisation, and since that very first community meeting in 1994, a large number of people have been involved with the station, not only as presenters, but also as community members contributing to administrative and technical roles. Radio Mansfield is celebrating this important milestone with a formal dinner on Saturday 25th October. If you are a part of Radio Mansfield’s history, we would very much like you to join us and share your memories. Please make contact with the station via: secretary@radiomansfield.org.au

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