Caithness FM moving to new wavelength
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POPULAR local radio station Caithness FM is moving to a new wavelength – while remaining firmly rooted in the community at its base in Thurso.
The three directors – Bob and Jackie Johnson together with Robin Young – were at the studio in Neil Gunn Drive on Monday to explain what the change will mean.
"For the last 22 years we've been broadcasting on 102.5 FM under the Moray Firth Radio licence," said Jackie, who is also the company secretary.
"We have now been awarded our own licence from Ofcom [the UK's communications regulator] and as of Saturday, January 18, at 2pm we will be relaunching the station on 106.5 FM."
She added that listeners will still be able to get Moray Firth Radio (MFR) on the same wavelength as it is acting as the "sustaining service" and will be available on the hours that CFM chooses not to broadcast.
"We are a totally volunteer-led radio station and we rely on our members to come forward to fill gaps," Jackie said.
"There are not enough of us to go 24/7 and we are proposing to change our schedule slightly, which is presently 7pm until midnight – from Saturday we are changing that from six o'clock to 11 o'clock."
The team at CFM say they are slightly extending the hours of operation and hope to extend this further in the near future.
With the new licence CFM will have greater freedom to cover local events, such as the various summer shows, as they will be able to switch off the MFR service on that wavelength.
"Previously we had to fit in with our allotted hours from Moray Firth so we can now do a live show at any time of the day," Jackie explained.
The local radio station operates from a bleak patch of ground on a hill on the west of Thurso and commanding fine views of the area.
Jackie's husband Bob points out how the signal goes across the landscape to the transmitter on Ben Dorrery, 14km away, where it is relayed to the rest of the county.
Due to the terrain, CFM's coverage is larger than normal for a community radio station and it is hoped that the area of coverage will be extended in the future.
The origins of Caithness FM go back to 1992 when local MP Robert Maclennan got the ball rolling with the idea of creating a community radio station in the county.
After receiving positive feedback from the community, the seed grew until the historic moment that the station took to the airwaves on April 20, 1998, at 7pm with Hugh Manson's Strathsounds show.
The portable building it presently sits in was a "temporary" building given by Dounreay in 1997 but has since been extended and modernised.
An interesting footnote in the station's history involved its original application for a licence. The licence application was submitted to the Radio Authority's office in Docklands, London, but was lost when the IRA bombed the area and a further application was submitted.
Another detail lost on many is the fact that the station's famous jingle, recorded in 1993 at a price of £250, was actually done by a gospel choir in Detroit.
Members of the public are invited to a CFM open day this Saturday from 2-4pm to celebrate the new licence with staff and presenters past and present.
