Yellowknife (Dec 24/04) - Yellowknife's CBC Radio Two transmitter will soon belong to the CBC.

It may come as news to many in our city that the CBC hasn't been responsible for Yellowknife's Radio Two broadcasts.

"A lot of people don't realize that," said Brian Latham of the Yellowknife Rebroadcasting Society.

The society began back in 1991, when a handful of Yellowknifers decided they wanted CBC's FM station on their radio dial.

Radio Two, as it's now known, is a fixture in many homes across Canada for its mixture of classical music, chamber music, jazz and folk, as well as the Saturday afternoon opera.

In the early 1990s CBC couldn't justify the expense of setting up a transmitter for the station in Yellowknife.

So Yellowknifers did it for themselves.

"The story's got a Northern flavour to it," said Latham. "People up here don't put up with not having services."

The CBC helped locate a used transmitter for the Rebroadcasting Society to purchase.

The transmitter, antenna and engineering needed to rebroadcast a satellite feed from Vancouver initially cost about $25,000 to set up, paid for by donations.

The antenna is attached to the CBC tower on Tin Can Hill, one of the highest points in the area.

That means that even though the station has only 100 watts of power -- the same as a light bulb -- a clear signal can be picked up nearly 40km away.

"There are areas in Canada with much greater populations that don't have such good, quality service," said Latham.

Sarnia, Ont., for example, with a population of 72,000 in the heart of southwestern Ontario, has chronic poor quality Radio Two reception because the closest transmitters are in Windsor or London, both about 100km away.

For the past 13 years, the CBC has looked after the transmitter and antenna and sent the Rebroadcasting Society a bill for operations and maintenance each year. The bill was paid through donations from the public. Latham said it was a challenge locating listeners to ask them for donations, since newcomers to the area had no idea the station wasn't publicly funded.

Up until this fall, Yellowknife was the only place North of 60 where you could listen to Radio Two. Then CBC Whitehorse set up a Radio Two transmitter a few months ago.

When the Rebroadcasting Society heard about that, "We knew there had been a change in policy," said Latham.

The CBC's new policy is to make Radio Two available in all provincial and territorial capitals.

CBC will purchase the transmitter and antenna from the society in the new year. Once the society officially turns over the transmitter to the CBC, Yellowknifers will no longer have to pay for the station's upkeep.

The society will return any unused donations it has banked to the donors.Yellowknife's CBC Radio Two transmitter will soon belong to the CBC.

It may come as news to many in our city that the CBC hasn't been responsible for Yellowknife's Radio Two broadcasts.

"A lot of people don't realize that," said Brian Latham of the Yellowknife Rebroadcasting Society.

The society began back in 1991, when a handful of Yellowknifers decided they wanted CBC's FM station on their radio dial.

Radio Two, as it's now known, is a fixture in many homes across Canada for its mixture of classical music, chamber music, jazz and folk, as well as the Saturday afternoon opera.

In the early 1990s CBC couldn't justify the expense of setting up a transmitter for the station in Yellowknife.

So Yellowknifers did it for themselves.

"The story's got a Northern flavour to it," said Latham. "People up here don't put up with not having services."

The CBC helped locate a used transmitter for the Rebroadcasting Society to purchase.

The transmitter, antenna and engineering needed to rebroadcast a satellite feed from Vancouver initially cost about $25,000 to set up, paid for by donations.

The antenna is attached to the CBC tower on Tin Can Hill, one of the highest points in the area.

That means that even though the station has only 100 watts of power -- the same as a light bulb -- a clear signal can be picked up nearly 40km away.

"There are areas in Canada with much greater populations that don't have such good, quality service," said Latham.

Sarnia, Ont., for example, with a population of 72,000 in the heart of southwestern Ontario, has chronic poor quality Radio Two reception because the closest transmitters are in Windsor or London, both about 100km away.

For the past 13 years, the CBC has looked after the transmitter and antenna and sent the Rebroadcasting Society a bill for operations and maintenance each year. The bill was paid through donations from the public. Latham said it was a challenge locating listeners to ask them for donations, since newcomers to the area had no idea the station wasn't publicly funded.

Up until this fall, Yellowknife was the only place North of 60 where you could listen to Radio Two. Then CBC Whitehorse set up a Radio Two transmitter a few months ago.

When the Rebroadcasting Society heard about that, "We knew there had been a change in policy," said Latham.

The CBC's new policy is to make Radio Two available in all provincial and territorial capitals.

CBC will purchase the transmitter and antenna from the society in the new year. Once the society officially turns over the transmitter to the CBC, Yellowknifers will no longer have to pay for the station's upkeep.

The society will return any unused donations it has banked to the donors.