How a Radio Station Operates—

You switch on the radio receiver – and there it is! A radio program booming forth without any problems!

It doesn’t just happen.

First, the transmission: 2RPH has the use of two 5,000-watt transmitters based at Prospect, in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, and able to cover the Greater Sydney area with a strong signal (with some low points in the Eastern Suburbs). These transmitters are maintained by contractors to the owners of the transmitters, Broadcast Australia. (See Government Money) article.

The transmitters are connected by broadcast landline (high quality telephone lines) to the Control Room in Glebe. There are two landlines, and they go via different routes, so that the chances of both going down at the same time are minimised – although it has happened!

There are three broadcast studios in the 2RPH complex in the St Helens Centre in Glebe. Each of them is capable of being switched to air when required, although in practice only one is regularly used for day by day operation. The other two are reserved for the recording of books and magazines.

Reading of newspapers is done live (to pre-record newspapers would only delay the broadcast of the major news stories of the day). That’s why you may hear an occasional stumble in the newspaper reading sessions, but when you hear books and magazines any faults have been edited out.

A reading session of the daily newspapers begins, for the volunteers, about 90 minutes before it goes on the air. 2RPH volunteers arrive at the studios and settle down in the preparation area to go through the newspapers for their session, sorting out the articles into various headings (Front Page, Australian, World. Sport etc) cutting them out of the paper and placing them into appropriate folders. These folders go with them into the studio and are opened as the announcer advises the segment that’s about to be read.

Cutting the articles from the pages ensures that the amount of paper rustling is reduced to the barest minimum, and allows quick and easy access to the next item.

While a digital record of all programs is kept as required by law, we also retain the actual cuttings for a period of time as these are sometimes quicker to check through when necessary.

Meanwhile, there are panel operators/producers working with other reader volunteers in the other studios recording books, magazines or other programs.

There is another studio – or production suite – in which much recording is done either from the RPH satellite service or in editing and digitally recording material from the previous days’ programs. These programs are distributed to other RPH stations around Australia and Radio Reading Service in New Zealand.

More than thirty such programs are edited and uplinked each week, making 2RPH the largest program supplier of RPH material in the country.

The 2RPH Master Control Room is the “nerve centre”. Everything comes together there. The satellite dish, located on the roof of the studio premises, has two tuners in the Control Room, to receive at all times, material from RPH Australia and the British Broadcasting Corporation.

An ISDN terminal is also located there to facilitate the delivery to the RPH Satellite of NATIONAL PRESS HOUR – a program designed to be received and re-transmitted by country stations to their print handicapped audience. While 2RPH originates this program each Monday and Thursday morning, it is not heard in Sydney.

A logging system, a requirement of the Broadcasting Services Act is also in the Master Control Room. It automatically records everything that goes to air, 24 hours a day. Material must be held for a specified period.

And behind the scenes, there’s a volunteer to answer the telephone and look after a range of office duties at the same time, a Manager and Program Manager and administrative assistants to cope with all the detail that goes to make the place run smoothly, including the preparation of the daily broadcast schedule, providing information about upcoming programs to this Web site, making sure the bills are checked and paid, issuing invoices and liasing with other RPH stations on matters of mutual concern, coping with government forms and taxation maters – all the things that a small business has to do.

Technical services are supplied commercially by J B Sound Industries, a specialist company highly experienced in radio broadcast technology.

When we say we have around 200 volunteers, it’s easy to see how we need them!