Downed community radio station Arrow FM will be piercing the air again _ fingers crossed _ once the weather clears in Wairarapa.
Station manager Michael Wilson yesterday apologised to listeners for the lack of transmission after aerials attached to the TV3 mast near Greytown began going haywire at Queen's Birthday weekend.
Mr Wilson said the technical troubles had slowly worsened for the Masterton-based station, which fell off the air three days ago and left only static on its 92.7 frequency perch.
The signal had been fading since the long weekend despite an ''exciter'' on the aerials that should pick up the transmission slack: ''It's been getting de-excited and hasn't really helped.'' The station programme was still streaming live to the internet but a broadband connection was needed to make the magic happen.
A specialist team of riggers was winging its way to Wairarapa today, although quad bikes were needed to reach the transmitter tower and the highwire work was too dangerous to attempt in bad weather, he said.
''I'd love to go and do it myself but it's all too risky in this sort of weather. Once the dirty air clears, though, they can apparently get up and at it.
''It's a very serious issue for us that the radio station is working fine but nobody can hear us. ''And even though it's not our fault, we're very sorry to our listeners,'' Mr Wilson said.
Arrow FM is one of 11 New Zealand community-access stations providing facilities and support for minority and specialist-interest groups and individuals to gain access to the airwaves. New Zealand On Air is the major funder for the stations and Wairarapa businesses, community agencies and authorities sponsor the Masterton station.
