Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Paulatuk (July 01/02) - When people here complain there's nothing on, they really mean it.

The community's radio transmitter has been out of service since August. Except for bush radio and satellite TV, there's been nothing on the tube, and nothing on the radio for over 10 months.

The community usually gets CBC TV and CBC Radio.

A technician was working on the equipment last week, but it's still not certain when residents can tune into CBC again.

With no access to regional broadcasts, resident Gilbert Thrasher Sr., 51, says he has been relying on friends in Inuvik, and the newspapers to keep him updated on news.

"I'm one of the lucky people who has a (satellite) dish, but I especially miss the radio. Every lunch hour, you like to hear the news through CBC Inuvik," Thrasher says. "I hope they get it on stream pretty quick. People really miss it."

The problems with the radio transmitter began when the hamlet office was condemned in August, says Bill Harding, the hamlet's finance officer. With hamlet employees working out of a temporary office in a five-bedroom staff house, there was no place to put the radio equipment.

In October, the Hunters and Trappers Committee agreed to have the equipment set up in the old HTC building. But by then, it was too late in the season to start working on the radio tower.

"We've had a lot of bad weather out here -- it's a summer job, believe me," Harding says.

"You don't like to send people up towers in 40 or 50 below." Once the weather warmed enough for the system to be reinstalled, there were other problems.

"Some of the cables didn't get properly hooked up and we had to re-adjust it," Harding says.

"All the actual equipment itself is working as far as we can tell."

In the meantime, those without satellite are finding other things to do.

Moriya Krendnektak, 43, says her family goes out on the land more now they have no TV to watch.

"I mostly miss the radio," Krendnektak says. "I don't really watch TV myself." Her six children have a DVD player, so they get to watch cartoons and movies.