Radio Templeton

FM’s hour

(Auckland Star – 27/01/1981)

In the latest episode of the continuing saga of FM radio Cabinet has left the way open for a caucus decision on the introduction of stereo radio.

This is good news for the growing band of people pressing for FM radio in New Zealand because there is considerable support for its introduction among Government backbenchers.

And it shows the Government is at last responding to sustained pressure to settle the matter quickly.

The National Party promised to allow FM radio in its 1975 election manifesto and again in 1978. The policy was endorsed at the party’s annual conference last year.

The reasons given for the delay are the costs – $12 million to #25 million according to the Minister of Broadcasting – and the view that completion of national coverage for the TV2 network must take priority.

The alleged cost is strongly disputed by FM “pirates” who have setup clandestine stations for about $200. A Broadcasting Corporation internal publication indicated that a national network to bring FM radio to 77% of the population could be set up for $4.5 million.

The irony of the situation is that while the Government has delayed the introduction of of FM radio on the grounds of cost, the Post Office has had to work extra radio inspectors in an effort to catch the FM pirates. Few will feel that this is time and money well spent.

Next week’s caucus meeting should see to it that the FM radio story winds up with a decision to go ahead. A government that has so often made a point about fulfilling election promises ought not to be dragging its heels over implementing a long standing policy.

Govt Looks at FM

(New Zealand Herald – 27/01/1981)

Wellington Bureau

The Government caucus may decide whether FM stereo radio will be allowed in this country.

Yesterday the cabinet discussed the issue and referred it to the cabinet communications committee for further study.

The Prime Minister Mr Muldoon said it would be discussed by the full cabinet again next Monday and could then be referred to the Government caucus which meets next week for the first time this year.

Backbench Government MP’s are expected to be more enthusiastic about allowing FM radio than their cabinet colleagues.

The National Party promised in its 1975 and 1978 election manifestos to allow FM radio.Most recently the promise was not honoured because of the costs to the country of FM which is widely used overseas.

This month a “freeze” by the cabinet on whether a decision should be made is to expire.

Labour ‘would introduce FM’

(Auckland Star 18/01/81)

The Labour Party has pledged to introduce FM radio if it becomes the Government.

And while Labour leader Bill Rowling said it was “ludicrous” that enthusiasts were being forced underground  – by an out of touch Government – a band of FM pirates was taking to the airwaves in Auckland again later today.

The shoestring pirates – their transmitting equipment cost just $500 – will be broadcasting from noon to midnight both days this weekend and say they will continue to do so until the Government honours its election promise to introduce FM radio.

A spokesman for the station which was forced to close early last week when Post Office inspectors began to close in – say they’ve got a wide variety of methods planned to avoid detection.

Mr Rowling said it was clear Labour Party policy t go ahead with one or more pilot stations in main population centres initially through Radio New Zealand.

It was his personal view that the Broadcasting Tribunal should be allowed to receive applications from private stations and community groups for varied warrants.

FM opened up significant opportunities for a wide range of groups in the community to “do their own thing” Mr Rowling said.

“In my view, that initiative and interest should be encouraged as fully as possible”.

“I simply do not accept the Government argument that the system is too expensive” he said. “Certainly a high powered network system is financially out of the question at present but there is no need to go into network initially.

“After all television did not suddenly bloom into a two channel system in full colour. It was developed over time. FM should go ahead on the same basis.

I believe we are now in a new era in broadcasting in this country where the public services , the private sector and the community will be much more closely involved in the total broadcasting scene”

FM pirates to test their public

(Auckland Star 14/01/81)

FM radio pirates will broadcast a telephone number for listeners to call to offer support for their campaign to get stereo radio introduced in New Zealand.

The pirates want to gauge just what impact their illegal broadcasts are having and how many people are listening to them.

An FM enthusiast told the Star the number would be broadcast when the next station starts up, probably on Saturday.

He said last weekend’s broadcast by the group calling itself Radio 90.3 FM had created “enormous interest” and FM enthusiast wanted to know if the public was behind them.

A Star survey of several inner-city stereo shops showed that inquiries about FM had increased markedly since the broadcast.

One shop had had four inquiries asking what equipment was needed to setup illegal stations.

Most people asked about FM radio and when it would be introduced.

Most stereo shops said they no longer sold radios which did not have an FM tuner.

‘They can’t catch us’ boast new FM pirates

(Auckland Star 09/01/81)

A new group of FM stereo pirates plans to begin broadcasting at noon tomorrow from a secret Auckland location.

A spokesman says it plans regular noon till midnight broadcasts every Saturday and Sunday until the Government honours election promises to introduce FM radio.

Calling itself “Radio 90.3 FM” it will play rock albums intermingled with advice on how to lobby MPs and the Government on the issue.

And the pirates warn radio inspectors that they have so many tricks up their sleeves that the Post Office men ” might as well pack in trying to catch us right now”

The spokesman said the station had been planned for six weeks and would have gone on air earlier, except from Radio Templeton, the pirate station that broadcast for two days before Christmas.

It closed down prematurely because of leaks in its security and because a relative took the broadcasting van away on holiday.

Promising a more professional approach than Radio Templeton, the Radio 90.3 FM spokesman said the new station would be fixed, “but can be made mobile”

He said the 100-watt-home-made-transmitter ” will be powerful enough to enable the majority of Aucklanders to pick it up quite clearly. For the firt time they will be able to use part of their radios they have paid for but never been able to use”

“This is very much a political gesture. Our aim is to see FM introduced. The National Government promises it year after year, but coming up to this election there is still no commitment

The Government has been totally negative in an attempt to protect it’s own organisations

I’d like to keep the pressure on until the attitude of the Government has changed and it lives up to its election promises.

He would not say who was involved but admitted there were Post Office connecions/

Asked if they feared being caught he said that with the Post Offoce connexions “we’re able to keep tabs on the inspectors. There is no way for them to track us down.

He said there were no connexions with either Radio Templeton or Radio Auckland, the pirates whose equipment was seized at the University last Easter.

The National Party in both its 1975 and 1978 manifestos, promised to introduce FM stereo radio. The last National Part conference called for its immediate introduction. The Government pleads poverty as its reason for not bringing it in.

FM Pirates To Boost Power

(Publisher Unknown Date Unknown)

Auckland FM radio pirates are planning to boost power output 10-fold next weekend and say their transmission will reach the whole of the North Island.

A group calling itself Radio 90.3 FM broadcast on Saturday and yesterday from various locations on the North Shore using a 100-watt transmitter

A spokesman for the group said the transmitter had a broadcast range of about 40 miles , but a 1000 watt transmitter was being built and would be broadcasting next weekend.

“We hope to be able to cover the whole of the North Island with our new transmitter” said the spokesman.

Broke Down

Since a recent close brush with Post Office radio inspectors, the FM pirates have set up a mobile broadcasting station and change the broadcast location every 45 minutes.

On Saturday the group’s broadcast from midday until midnight was interupted for about two hours when the transmitter broke down.

The Radio 90.3 FM spokesman said he expected there would be “two or three” pirate FM stations on air next weekend.

Pilot Stations

The Labour Party has pledged to introduce FM radio if it becomes the Government.

The Leader of the Labour Party, Mr Rowling said it was clear Labour Party policy to go ahead with one or more pilot stations, in main population centres initially, through Radio New Zealand.

It was his personal view that the Broadcasting Tribunal should be allowed to receive applications from private stations and community groups for varied warrants.

FM opened up magnificent opportunities for a wide range of groups in the community “to do their own thing” Mr Rowling said.

“In my view that initiative and interest must be encouraged as fully as possible”

Pirates sell as PO comes close

The FM radio enthusiasts who have been broadcasting under the name Radio Templeton said today they had sold their equipment and closed down.

They had been broadcasting in Auckland without a licence since December 18.

Spokesman Mr Paul Burton said they closed down last Saturday after Post Office Inspectors came close to discovering their broadcasting point.

He did not know whether the inspectors knew the identities of the group’s members.

Mr Burton said the equipment had been sold for $700 to a new group which would continue to broadcast as Radio Templeton in Auckland and Wellington.

FM pirates get a close shave in PO raid

(Truth Date Unknown)

Auckland feerless FM pirates were nearly scuttled when a fleet of Government inspectors pounced on their mobile studio in the hills above the city.

Two hours after radio Hugh Templeton started illegally transmitting FM from a caravan high in the Waitakerere Ranges three Sundays ago, a fellow pirate driving back to Auckland spotted three Post Office speeding towards the cliffside site.

He spun his car around, overtook the inspectors and raced to the makeshift studio where the four youthful broadcasters threw their home made $100 transmitter into the boot of the car and made off with minutes to spare.

A 10-metre mast and aluminium aerial were abandoned but at noon the following Saturday Radio Templeton – one of two FM stations broadcasting in Auckland since early December – resumed its weekend transmissions.

Wary

This time the 12-hour-long broadcasts were broken up every 45 minutes as the now wary pirates shifted cars carrying transmitters around the streets of Auckland.

The incident dramatically highlights the daring and determination of FM fans who face $1000 fines or three months jail for their activities.

“It gets a bit frightening when you have such close shaves” Paul Burton, spokesman for the private radio operators told Truth. Some pirates had already pulled out because the Post Office was getting so close, he added.

But the group soon planned to broadcast from three Auckland stations and another was planned for Wellington he said.

According to Paul Burton, who stressed he wasn’t directly involved with transmissions, Radio Hugh Templeton would broadcast in Broadcasting Minister Hugh Templeton’s Wellington electorate if he failed to give the go ahead for FM radio by February 7.

“We’ll be bringing down three people in a van with a 100watt transmitter,” he said

Outright War

Paul Burton described the groups campaign as “outright war” but stressed the battle was with the Government, not the Post Office.

“We’re utterly fed up with their excuses” he said. Ages of the pirate radio operators ranged from 18 to 23 and Radio Templeton’s station manager recently turned 20.

If FM radio got the go-ahead from the Minister, it was likely that the station would apply for a community radio license, Paul Burton said.

“FM can give you crystal clear sound in stereo without any interference – once you’ve heard it nothing can compare to it,” he told Truth.

“We won’t stop broadcasting until Hugh ……. (article truncated, date of publication unknown)

FM pirates to broadcast at weekend

Auckland’s pirate FM radio stations will broadcast again this weekend in an effort to influence the Government before it meets again to discuss stereo radio next week.

Cabinet yesterday referred FM to its communications committee for more study, and it will be discussed again by Cabinet next Monday.

A spokesman for Radio Templeton, the pirate station which broadcast in Auckland on 91 mHz, said another transmission was planned for the weekend.

It would be the last chance to sway MP’s before they made their decision.

He said two other stations were also trying to get ready in time to go on the air on Saturday.

One, 90.3 FM, is a station which has already broadcast several times this year. The other is so far unnamed.

If the three could all broadcast at the same time from different locations it would lessen the chances on detection by the post office radio inspectors and prove to the Government the depth of feeling about FM, the spokesman said.

(publication and date unknown)

‘Leak’ could sink us fear pirates

(Auckland Star – 30/12/1980)

Radio Templeton, Auckland’s pirate FM radio station, has gone off the air to plug a “leak” in its organization.

A relatives borrowing of the getaway van to go on holiday s also telling on the group.

The pirates – some of whom are believed to be Post Office staff- fear they may be caught unless they silence the person in their organization who is talking to the Star.

The man who runs the station said today “We want to iron out a leak in the system before we go on again”

He claimed he is building three more transmitters and that Radio Templeton, named after the Minister of Broadcasting, would be back on the air before the Government’s expected policy statement of FM radio in mid February.

He questioned whether the radio inspectors chasing them before Christmas really wanted to catch them.

“We sat on a hill for four hours pumping out music” he said.

Chief radio inspector Mr H. F. Ellery said today: “They’ll get caught. There’s no way they can dodge us.

“One of the things against us was that they were breaking down all the time”.

He said they were up in the Waitakeres – this is confirmed by the pirates – but their signal was very poor with a range of only a few kilometers.

“We knew where they were within half an hour.” he said. But with traffic conditions and the breakdowns in transmission and the poor signal they got away.

The pirate broadcaster rang Mr Ellery on Sunday and said he was going off air.

Mr Ellery said today: “I took that with a grain of salt. I’ve got staff on. If they start up again we will go after them.”

Pirates in stereo on the air waves

(Auckland Star – 23/12/1980)

FM Stereo radio pirates plan to hit the Auckland airwaves tonight and continue broadcasting until the Government officially approves FM radio.

The mobile station will call itself “Radio Templeton” after the minister of Broadcasting, Mr Hugh Templeton. Its call sign will be H.U.G.H

The organiser of the station would not be identified – said today he had set up the station after a challenge from “mates at work”

He ridiculed Government claims that it would cost $25m to set up stereo radio in New Zealand.

He said that the station had cost less than $200 to set up and he had spent more in sales tax in buying records than on equipment.

Broadcasting will be between 6pm and 10pm on 91megahertz. The 10 watt transmitter should have a range of about 12km.

Radio Templeton plans to broadcast every day except Christmas Day until February 7 when the Minister is expected to make a statement on the Government plans for FM.

“If the Government doesn’t announce a plan to introduce FM then, they wont have to deal with one station – they’ll have 10″

“There’s 40 of us backing this station and at $200 a station, we’ll be back with a vengeance if they delay any more.”

Tonight’s programme will be pre-recorded tapes. Tomorrow the broadcasters plan a three-hour John Lennon special.

The organiser complained that the Government said it was delaying FM until complete two-channel television had been established. Yesterday, it announced 91% coverage with TV2. He said total coverage  could easily be completed and plans for FM radio should begin.

The station will have three backup vehicles and with 20 people on the site of the transmitter, they should be able to delay any radio inspectors that track them down.

“We don’t want to use any muscle but a car could stall in front of then if they get too close.

He said the transmitter could be dismantled in 30 seconds. “and we’ll have a motorcycle on hand to get the stuff away”

The station made trial broadcasts over the last few days and had an earlier trial run over Labour Weekend in Hamilton.