Climber Nicolas Gagnon snapped this photo while repairing the Cortes Community Radio transmission tower last week.
Listener-supported CKTZ fell silent for five days due to corroded cable, says station manager
Cortes Island’s radio station is asking for help after an equipment failure knocked out the broadcast for five days.
The transmission fell silent from July 11-16, said Howie Roman, station manager at CKTZ 89.5 FM.
“For now it’s repaired, though we really need to replace that end of the system,” Roman said.
It turned out that a connection in the transmission tower had become exposed to the elements, becoming corroded and waterlogged.
“This is 85 feet up in the air, so it isn’t an easy fix,” he said.
Climber and Cortes Island resident Nicolas Gagnon scaled the tower to fix it up. But Roman said the station will need $6,000-7,000 for a new antenna, cables and other gear.
People can support Cortes Radio by donating through the station’s website, buying CKTZ merchandise like a T-shirt or solar-powered lantern, or attending fundraisers like the upcoming Lip Sync events on Quadra and Cortes, happening on August 3 and 4, respectively.
| Cortes Community Radio is holding Lip Sync fundraiser events on Quadra and Cortes islands on August 3-4, 2019. |
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While CKTZ is a Cortes community station, its signal reaches well beyond the island, including Campbell River to the west and Powell River to the east, Roman said.
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