Well this is what 2NM has ATM:
Power FM/2ST’s studios are up for sale.
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Zinc 96’s relay translator in the Noosa area is sounding very weird. Something definitely wrong there. And for a change it’s not 4GY’s Noosa translator that’s stuffed!
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It’s sounds quite “AMish” isnt it
Its feed off air from Woolvi so its the receiver thats the obvious issue
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Similar thing happened a few times towards the end of last year.
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Still not working. Super low modulation except for occasional blips. Still muffled and signal strength is bad.
So I called them. They insisted they were only on 96.1 and 100.5 did not exist! I asked if they’d had any complaints and was told no. (Guess if they don’t even know where Zinc broadcasts then they wouldn’t have!)
I suggested maybe someone get a radio and listen. Eventually the person at the station said they’d pass it on to their engineers. What’s the bet that they’ll write me off as a kook and nothing happens!
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That is hilarious. I know you probably copped the poor receptionist or admin assistant on the phone, but you’d think they’d have at least had enough training to know what stations they have.
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I have let the sunshine coast engineer know whats going on.. he will deal with it first thing tomorrow
Also told him he might want to educate his phone staff about translators
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Ha! Thanks @Rubbishman
Most receptionists at radio stations I’ve contacted seem to have little clue about anything that goes on at their station…
All they seemed to be trained in is where to direct phone calls to eg. sales to a sales team member, talkback calls to the studio etc and that’s it.
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Wow that’s pretty poor. To be honest I didn’t know Zinc had a Noosa repeater but I don’t work there 
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Technically, they were suppose to hand that translate license back in 2010 when 96.1 was allowed a power and pattern upgrade.
Somehow ACMA forgot about it
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not just at radio stations. Unfortunately, despite being the first point of contact for many people, receptionists are often the last to be told of anything or not looped in on information that might be useful to callers. And these days (like at a place I used to work) companies are scrapping receptionist positions altogether and just directing switchboard calls to whoever happens to be in the hunt group to answer them… and they could be even less informed than the poor receptionist was.
Off-topic: But many years ago I found that 3AK was off-air. No signal at all. I called the station and whoever answered just scoffed at me when I suggested their station was off the air. “If we were off the air we’d know about it”… words to that effect… then suddenly they got interrupted and then corrected themselves… “Oh, yes, there seems to be a problem. They’re working on it…” 
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AFAIK the 100.5 repeater has been on air since the Gamble family bought 96.1 off the SRN.
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Since at least 2005, I remember getting it via tropo when on the Gold Coast then. .
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The signal of 100.5 on the Sunshine Coast was nearly as good as 96.1 when it first went to air back in 2004, if memory serves me correct.
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I wondered about that. Zinc 96.1 covers Noosa well and I’ve never understood why they needed a translator. Thanks for the history!
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In my experience, yes 96.1 was fine in the car around Noosa, but indoors can be a different story.
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When I used to travel overseas and was in a new town and at a loose end for a Friday night I would walk into the local FM station and ask the receptionist where everyone goes out on Friday night - they would always tell you where the towns party venue was 100%. It worked anywhere from Auckland through Bangkok to Hong Kong.
Technical info however is never the receptionists forte.
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