PRESIDENT’S NEWS

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Our AGM was held on the afternoon of Sunday 9 October 2011 at the Southern Cross Bowling Club in Turner. Our thanks to the Southern Cross Club for allowing us to hold our meeting at this Club and for waiving the room hire charge. A number of members had lunch at the Club prior to the meeting. The reports presented at the AGM have been compiled into a folder and I hope they will soon be on our website. The names and contact details for the Committee members are listed in this Newsletter. I welcome Geoff Fietz to the Committee. Geoff is a former Vice-President and a current presenter and has a strong background in telecommunications policy and public and private sector management. I also thank Gerald Lynch for taking up the position of Vice-President formerly held by Coral Nag.

In relation to Coral Nag, there is to be a morning tea at the station at 10.00 am on Thursday 1 December during which our Patron, Margaret Reid AO, will formally name Studio A the Coral Nag Studio. I hope that those of you who worked with Coral, both on and off air, or who knew her through Radio 1RPH can join us for this occasion. If you are joining us for this morning tea please let us know by phone to the station at 6214076.

In the last month, Board members have put in a lot of work to prepare the application to renew our broadcasting license. We are required to do this every five years and need to satisfy the Australian Communications and Media

Authority that we can meet our obligations as a licensed broadcaster, that our programs meet the needs of our community of interest, (people who are print handicapped), and that we have the financial standing and managerial and technical capacity to meet our obligations as a licensed broadcaster. Getting this information together took a lot of work and I thank all Committee members for their contributions and in particular thank Andrew who worked very hard to put the application together.

There is good news from Junee. The Junee Council has been granted a license to re-transmit our service to Junee. On Monday 14 November, Malcolm, Brian and I will travel to Junee to meet with representatives of the Council and the Junee Lions Club to discuss the process for the installation of the transmitter on the Council’s tower and the establishment of the 1RPH service for Junee.

The Committee has decided to give priority to internet streaming of Radio 1RPH programs. The RPH stations in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide are already streaming their programs and I look forward to bringing Radio 1RPH’s presence to the internet in the very near future.

Finally, we have our annual end of year barbecue at the station on Saturday 26 November. The details of this function are in this newsletter. Wendy and I look forward to catching up with you at our end of year celebration and we send Season’s Greetings to all members, friends and supporters.
Robert Altamore OAM CM

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Extracts from Annual Reports to AGM

From the Technical Director

A new internet link has been provided for the Wagga Wagga connection to overcome problems of intermittent operation. New codec units were purchased for both Wagga and Canberra and they are proving to be robust and reliable.

New computers have been installed in two of the studios following the failure of the computer in Studio B which led to the loss of the studio for production or on-air work. Some stored programs were lost however the backup system worked to save most of the audio files and the producers and presenters quickly and professionally replaced those we could not retrieve. The post-production computer in Studio C was planned for replacement as it had given sterling service.

Important work for the future is replacement of our automation computers which broadcast 68% of our program material. It is of interest to mention that the diskdrive in one of these computers has been operating continuously for almost six years. We certainly get value out of our computers.

Malcolm Walker

From the Treasurer

Radio 1RPH made a substantial surplus this year mainly due to the bequest of $50,000 received from Ms Lorna Cossar. The budget for the coming year 2011/12 shows a small deficit but as we have adequate reserve funds this is not cause for any concern. I will be working with Andrew Lythgoe (the manager) this year to try to streamline some of the accounting procedures so that they are less time-consuming. The Auditor’s report was included in the Annual Reports.

Brenda Madelly

From theVolunteer’s Representative

On Thursday morning, 1^st December our Patron. Mrs Margaret Reid will be at the station to dedicate Studio A to the memory of Mrs Coral Nag.

The dedication will be at 10.30 with light refreshments following. Please arrive about 10 a.m.

Many of you who knew Coral will have fond memories of her both as a volunteer, Vice President and friend. If you would like to attend, please contact Station Manager (Andrew 62414076) or me (Christine 62588551).

Thank you

Christine Daniell

For your diary in 2011

• 26 November Radio 1RPH BBQ

• 1 December Opening Coral Nag Studio
• 14 December for University House dinner
• 25 December Christmas Day Programs

IN THE DARK OF NIGHT

Tuesday 11 October, 8.05pm

Joy, oh joy!!! There was a sense of anticipation and even excitement as the Tuesday night presenter and readers prepared to leave Radio 1RPH.

WHY? (You may be wondering)

Each member of the trio of volunteers was ready to drive home to south Canberra and Tuggera-nong along the recently completed and newly opened Gunghalin Drive.

For months, we had to change routes on Tuesday nights, sometimes the detour went out via Mitchell and through Civic. I even tried negotiating through the witches hat lanes (in the dark) to gain access from Belconnen Way onto the southbound G.D.E. That was tricky, if not dangerous.

What would it be like to drive home along the new road? Plain sailing? YES, thankfully it was! The southbound dual carriageway, flanked by street lights at the road junctions,; provided smooth, stress free driving at 80 k.p.h. I was surprised to be inside my home by 8.30 p.m. ready to have a cup of tea. What a relief.

Welcome to the completed G.D.E at long last.

Faith Chegwin

(You said it for all of us Faith)

University House Christmas Dinner

A Radio1RPH table

On 14 December 2011 at University House

Only 18 places are available for this function

This wonderful evening commences at 6 pm and winds up at 10 pm

Following pre-dinner drinks, you will enjoy

a 3 course traditional Christmas Banquet

with red and white wine, orange juice,

with tea or coffee and mints

A bar will be open to buy other drinks

Cost $34.oo per person

Entertainment for the evening is provided by, and join in the Christmas Carols with the The Oriana Chorale

Bookings and payment to Wendy Altamore by 7 December. Please put your name on the notice at the Station and send cheques payable to University House or money order to Wendy. email altamr@bigpond.com. Please note all money is paid at booking so refunds are not available

Programming Information

Coming up in our book reading is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society written by Mary Ann Schaffer and read by Anne Fourlinnie. This account of a fictional society which operated on Guernsey during WWII was produced in the studios of 1RPH by Christine Daniell and has been played once before – if you missed before you can hear it during the afternoon book reading.

Gerald Lynch is producing and reading The Siege of Krishnapur written by J.G. Farrell tells the story of a fictional Indian town during the Indian rebellion of 1857 from the perspective of the British residents of the town. They find themselves in a position very different from their normal one of being the overlords and are controlled by their ‘subjects’ while facing strictures and deprivation during the siege. J.G. Farrell was awarded the Man Booker prize in 1973 for his excellent piece of writing.

The Christmas Day program is taking shape. Once more Allan Williams has produced three hours of listening pleasure with his ‘Christmas at Home’ piece. We are all well aware of Allan’s excellent work with his Music Room program which can be heard on Radio 1RPH on Monday morning (11 am) and evening (9.45 pm). Allan is to be congratulated for reaching the 1000 program mark some weeks ago and we thank him for the hours of pleasure he provides for our listeners. We look forward to the special pieces prepared by our readers and also members of the Story Tellers Guild who come in each year for your listening pleasure.

We do hope you keep enjoying these programs and all our readers and volunteers appreciate the comments you send in. Do keep it up – we want to hear any complaints as well as compliments.

Shirley Meade

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP

Become a member or renew your subscription at any time by contacting the Station Manager at Radio 1RPH, Barton Highway, Gungahlin ACT 2912. Intending members will find a form at our website http://www.radio1rph.org.au or from the station (Telephone (02) 6241 4076). Fees are:

$22.00 Ordinary membership (July to June)

$11.00 Ordinary membership (Jan to June)

$16.50 Concessional membership (July to June) $8.50 Concessional membership (Jan to June)

All fees are inclusive of GST.

Donations over $2.00 are tax deductible.

Reminder: Membership runs from July to June so renewals are due by 1 July.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Volunteers Representative, Christine Daniell , reported to the Annual General Meeting that our team of volunteers is close to 120 people and that 350+ hours per week are given to Radio 1RPH by the volunteers. What an effort!!!