Posts belonging to Category News

Just returned from a great afternoon at UIG HALL where even with rain showers a good time was had by all. This was the second time we had been invited to provide background music for the event and to take care of the public address. This year our accommodation had been upgraded to a double Gazebo with a little dance area next to the bouncy castle and opposite the burger stand; with afternoon teas and home made cake available in the UIG Hall, we had it all.

WATER LEVEL CONCERNS

The well attended event wasn’t going to allow a little rain to dampen the proceedings in any way and this year had the best ever entry with nearly 40 participants on 18 rafts. The “THE MIGHTY EACHAIG CHALLENGE” with possibly the fastest flowing water for a long time was to give us one of the most spectacular events seen at Benmore.

Two weeks ago there were concerns that there may not be high enough waters to get to the finishing line, but with the recent rain falls the concern today was how to stop the rafts at the finishing line and prevent them surfing into the Holy Loch.

We noticed shortly after the race the familiar figure of Graeme Adams from Benmore Outdoor Education Centre looking as if he needed a nice cup of tea, probably relieved that once again the race had been a success and he had not had to rescue anyone from taking the short cut to Dunoon via the Loch.

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Tony Wood and Victor Thomas representing DCR were present at the successful launch of the Scottish Community Broadcasting Network which took place in the Garden Lobby at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday 3rd June. Over 20 community and independant broadcasting groups where represented.

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At last it is official, after a period of uncertainty regarding DCR’s aerial mast, permission has been granted by Argyll and Bute Council to keep the present location for a five year period which will satisfy Ofcom aerial location site regulations. Permission was granted to use the present site two years ago and was used to broadcast live radio from the Royal National Mod in 2006 (extracts to be heard here shortly). Since that time as DCR went through the procedure of application for the Ofcom broadcast licence the aerial location has not been used. It wasn’t until the beginning of this year whilst preparing for broadcast the site was revisited to discover that it was now part of a listed building which could have meant having to re-apply for permission. Thank you to Council Leader Dick Walsh, the Education Department, the Senior Planner for Bute and Cowal and the staff involved for this result.

You may recall that in February we were all very excited here at DCR having been offered premises in which we could build a studio. As you know we have been looking for premises from practically day one, and have already explained previously (see below WHAT`S HAPPENING NOW) some of the restrictions that we have to overcome to find a suitable premises. We have always felt the need for premises not only to make and broadcast radio programmes, but as a gathering place for members and a point of identification, a home!

WATCHING THE BUDGET

Unfortunately one of the restrictions is that of finance and at this time finance is very low. Although we are working very hard to secure future funding, the process and application for grants does take time with no guarantees of success (Ofcom say running cost must be sourced with 50% grants & 50% sponsorship, donations and advertising). With the financial situation being such we have had to look very carefully at our monthly outgoings which mainly consist of costs for the Ferry Brae studio.

WITH REGRET

With no future funding in sight at the moment and with a decreasing bank balance, we have made with regret, the decision to leave the Ferry Brae studio. Having searched for so long to find a studio this decision has not been easy but was necessary to ensure the future of DCR. We must say a big thank you to Annette at Headcases for renting us the studio.

THE SHOW GOES ON

Without premises it does not mean that we will come to a grinding halt, we have been making programmes for some time and of course lets not forget what we did up to and during the Mod (extracts here very soon). It may, as one of the “older” members recalled, be very reminiscent of the pirate radio days when moving equipment about to any vacant room was par for the course. But maybe the least said about that the better and rest assured everything we do is legal and as per Ofcom regulations. Well we won’t need the big tea pot for the moment but we will be holding meetings and putting all our efforts into the Website which still has some way to go. With the next step being the addition of sound! Keep coming back to watch are progress or better still let us have your ideas, join in, there are no restrictions or qualification required . Sign the guest book (a little comment would be nice) and we will contact you.

Communal initiative

Last October several Scotland based community radio stations including DCR got together and requested Scotland`s Learning Partnership if they would co-ordinate a support network for local radio stations in Scotland. Scotland’s Learning Partnership arranged an inaugural meeting bringing together representatives of Scotland’s local community radio stations. After much discussion surrounding the purpose of such a network it was agreed that there was a need and a willingness amongst those in attendance to take it further.

Awareness Event At a follow up meeting it was suggested that as well as sharing knowledge and expertise the network could highlight a common problem, that of funding. It was suggested that the network could support all of the local community radio stations to come together and lobby the Scottish Government for funding. This could take the form of a sharing event with each station represented. So it was decided that an awareness event held at the Scottish Parliament with MSPs and partner providers such as the Lottery and Ofcom invited would be a good start. Scotland’s Learning Partnership agreed to help facilitate this process and to support the network.

DCR at Scottish Parliament A date has now been arranged for the awareness event to take place on Tuesday 3^rd June at 5pm in the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh. This will take the form of a reception to celebrate the success of community radio and also launch the network. The First minister has been as asked to attend if available and Dunoon community radio is hopeful of several local councilors and MPs attending to support and give their endorsement.

It only took about an hour after going live on February 20^th to receive our first communication on our GETTING INVOLVED PAGE from DJ Duggy Day who sent us good wishes from CRI Radio in Beijing China!

It was wonderful to receive all your contributions by visiting our site, signing on, making a comment or sending us information to add to our COMMUNITY PAGE or WHATS ON PAGE.

SEE THE DIFFERENCE

Talking of the WHATS ON PAGE we have already changed the format slightly to make it quicker to scan by colour coding the different section heading and corresponding text.

If this proves successful we could extend it throughout the site -that will be up to you,

we will be interested to hear what you think

RESTRICTED BUS SERVICE

Can we also mention at this time that the Dunoon Calendar is presently restricted to events taking place within easy access to the Cowal area. No matter how wonderful some of the world wide events that you have told us about are it would be very difficult for most of us to attend, as we are a rural area with a restricted bus service.

If this is your first visit to our newly extended site we hope you will spend a few minutes to explore. If this is a return visit””welcome back.

The site has been put together by volunteers from Dunoon Community Radio and although not finished we hope it gives you an indication of what we aim to do and is interesting enough for you to register with us.

Our Studio

The best news is we have eventually found somewhere to lay our mixing desk. Annette from Headcases Aka the Orange Shop located at Ferry Brae has very kindly offered us the lease on the Penthouse (that is what we shall be calling it, should anyone ask!) above the shop. The premises consist of a single room of 5m x 3m with WC and a small kitchen. Small and compact but we shall make it cozy. We are now setting about the task of refurbishing and building the studio and hopefully will be in our first home very shortly. More information on our progress very soon””watch this space!

The main problem in finding a “home” for Dunoon Community Radio was twofold: the first issue we are all too familiar with is finance and the second, is location. In order for as many people as possible to receive our broadcasting signal, we have had to do many tests from different locations in Dunoon to find which is the best location to site our transmitting aerial. Due to the topography of Dunoon, there are not many sites available and some of them are either not practicable or unobtainable. Fortunately this can be done on a laptop and Tony Wood our Technical Director has identified available locations that may suit our purpose. Hopefully we will have a home very soon.

To all the old, new and soon to be new friends and supporters of Dunoon Community Radio.

We have some very exciting and important news to announce in the New Year … so please watch this space.

A big thank you and a big welcome to all the folk who have recently signed on to the web site (we are going to need a very large tea pot).

And a really big thank you to everyone for being so patient

Have a very Happy Christmas and New Year

dha na seann charaidean, na caraidean ura agus a h-uile luch-leanntainn de Reidio Dun Omhainn.

Tha naidheachd uabhasach math ’s inntinneach againn innse dhiubh sa bhliadhna ur. ‘S mar sin, cum ur suil air an larach linn seo…

Moran Taing agus failte chridheil dhan a h-uile duine ’s tapadh leibh airson a bhith cho foighidneach.

Nollaig Chridheil agus Bliadhna Mhath Ur nuair a thig i.