Bug causes radio glitch

 

We knew Mark and Maureen Perry were Ireland-bound but it seemed unlikely Mark would simply shut the door of his Heads FM studio and turn off the light.

Typically though, glitches happen at the most inopportune times – this one when station owner Mark was probably 40,000 feet in the air, miles from anywhere and quite simply unable to do anything about it. Therein lies the frustration.

Without warning a fortnight ago, 106.4 FM went silent and a while later The Wireless 90.4 joined it.

As is normally the case, the cavalry was quick to the rescue but this was not your usual re-set and re-boot job.

Perhaps 70’s English band Adam And The Ants were a little miffed at not getting enough airplay and decided to revolt, because the root of the problem was an infestation of ants and their en-masse nesting activities at the Bream Tail transmitter site.

Successfully bombed, and with essential gear replaced, the audio stream was back up and running in a bit over 24 hours.

While this was little more than a hiccup in the big scheme of things, during the down time some responses on Facebook soon showed how far reaching is our local station, just how loyal a following the station has accumulated in its short life and how people reacted when they had to tune in elsewhere for their musical fix.

Heads FM is, without doubt, Mangawhai’s radio.