UPDATE: ZBVI Radio experiencing disparities with new tower & old tuner
The new 300ft tower has been fully erected and the old tuner has been installed but according to the Operations Manager, Ms Sandra Potter-Warrican, the two are experiencing some disparities.
"I am sure that there has been a significant improvement in the service but everything will be in full swing when we have the new tuner installed," Ms Potter-Warrican told Virgin Islands News Online.
She said the technical team responsible for the restoration of the radio's transmission service left for the USA yesterday August 27, 2013 and is expected back on the island in two weeks. The team has the task of manufacturing a new tuner that would be compatible with the new tower.
ZBVI Radio is now anticipating that its transmission service would be fully restored before the end of September, 2013.
See previous article posted August 13, 2013
ZBVI Radio begins mounting of new tower
ZBVI Radio is anticipating having its new tower fully in place by August 16, 2013 having started its erection today, August 13, 2013.
Contractors began putting up 160ft of the tower earlier today, some five months after the old tower came crashing down in an early morning vehicular accident at Baughers Bay on March 9, 2013.
Persons traversing the Baughers Bay area could not resist taking a long stare at the contractors as they mounted the first section of the tower, which according to the owner and manager of the contracted company Tri County Towers of Ohio, Mr Douglas Henry is a very small one in comparison to others they have erected around the world.
Mr Henry said it is anticipated that by Friday August 16, 2013 the full 300ft will be in place. He said while a new tuner would not be installed before September 1, 2013, the existing one will be affixed to allow for a fair level of transmission in the meantime.
“We are going at a little slower pace because the team is not used to the hot sun we are experiencing here but we are going to be done with the full 300ft by the end of the week,” Mr Henry told Virgin Islands News Online.
This was supported by the Operations Manager of ZBVI, Ms Sandra Potter- Warrican. She said while there are minor setbacks, she is confident the project would be completed in a timely manner.
UPDATE: ZBVI Radio ships in new transmission tower
- legal action being taken against driver that pulled down old tower in accident
With radio still being a popular source of information and entertainment in the Virgin Islands, many persons have been damning the day that the ZBVI Radio transmission tower came crashing down in an early morning vehicular accident at Baughers Bay on March 9, 2013.
The station was knocked off the airwaves only for a short while as a temporary arrangement was quickly put in place with BVI Cable TV that allowed persons to access the radio broadcast via their television sets. The radio station's antenna, which stood at a towering 300ft, occupied the waters at Baughers Bay for some 48 years prior to the accident that took it out of operation.
However, when the spanking new 300ft tower was seen strapped to a trailer of a truck heading to Baughers Bay yesterday, July 25, 2013 word quickly began to spread throughout the Territory and persons were curious as to how soon they would once again be able to access clear and frequent signal via their radio sets.
Operations Manager of ZBVI Radio, Ms Sandra Potter- Warrican told Virgin Islands News Online that with the acquisition of the new tower listeners can be assured the frequency would be back in full service before the end of August 2013.
She said there are two teams from Tri County Towers, Ohio USA that will be working on the project to its completion. According to the Operations Manager, one team is working on erecting the base for the tower, a process that is expected to be completed in record time. Following this, the second team will be on island to erect the tower, which is likely not to take an extensive period to get up to its full 300ft height.
Potter-Warrican said the next phase would be to ship in the final component called the tuner and this should not take more than four to five days to be installed. She noted that once all goes well these works should be completed before the end of August 2013. It was noted also that while at some stage ZBVI’s signal would be reaching the length and breadth of the Territory, it wouldn’t be until the tuner is installed that residents would have the best reception.
Asked about the cost of the entire project, Potter-Warrican declined to go public on that but did confirm that the station is engaged in a legal process with the driver of the vehicle allegedly responsible for causing the tower to come crashing down.
See previous article posted April 2, 2013
No new tower yet for ZBVI; signal reach enhanced significantly through DDM
Discussions continue between engineers and management of the ZBVI radio station regarding the supply of a new tower following a vehicular accident that knocked the station off the radio waves temporarily on March 9, 2013.
Speaking with this news site, Operations Manager Sandra Potter-Warrican, explained that the General Manager would be having discussions with engineers today, April 2, 2013 on matters regarding the arrival of a new tower.
The Operations Manager expressed that though there is a temporary arrangement in place with BVI Cable that allowed listeners on their television sets to access radio broadcasts, she was hopeful that it would extend to something that would be long-term.
“There are a few glitches, in that ever so often it does go down,” she noted, “but it may be from our end with our internet streaming… so we’re working on that.”
She expressed that many persons were now able to access the radio station’s signal through their television sets and the station is working on getting this streamlined so that “when the TV is on [the radio signal] stays on”.
Questioned on whether persons around the Territory are now able to have better access to the station through their radio sets since the accident, she explained, “from what it was after the first couple of days, definitely… what we’re doing now is piggy-backing on the Department of Disaster Management. They have a 1000-watt transmitter that’s tuned to the ZBVI frequency.”
The reason for this she continued, “in the event of a disaster, if ZBVI were to lose our service, then the DDM can continue to transmit over our frequency so that the Territory would still be informed.”
“That extended the range quite significantly,” Potter-Warrican added. Persons in the East End area who could not previously access the station’s signal are now receiving this but not as clearly as before.
The Operations Manager also disclosed that persons as far as Anguilla and St Thomas as well as residents of Jost Van Dyke and Anegada are also now able to access the station once more.
“That was our primary objective,” the Operations Manager noted, “getting the signal out to as many as we could even though it’s not the best… it’s a lot better than it was in the early days.”
The radio station's antenna, which stood at a towering 300ft, occupied the waters at Baughers Bay for some 48 years prior to the accident that took it out of operation. ZBIV is currently the only AM radio station within the Territory and operates on the 780 frequency.
It remains unclear whether anyone has been placed before the courts regarding the tower's destruction.
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26 Responses to “UPDATE: ZBVI Radio experiencing disparities with new tower & old tuner”
Personally I like to hear the station on the radios in the different rooms in the morning, as I move from room to room getting ready for work.
Did the article state anywhere that they were unable to locate funds? Also, something of this magnitude takes time to plan and execute. They are putting up a different tower that will balance itself under different circumstances (No more wires). Patience, dude.
Also to the @$$who say "Them got online". Who is the 'them'? You got online in your car? You got online when the power go off or your router mash up? You gah online during the hurricane?
Resting color.