
Studio 2 aka The Drawing Room is nearly complete. 3MDR’s long suffering head technician, David has been working away with Ren in wiring the equipment to get the studio ready for broadcasting when we emerge from Stage 4 restrictions.
It’s going to be totally awesome to be able to return more presenters to the studios whilst maintaining physical distancing as we continue to live with covid.
The Drawing Room studio has been fitted out with 2 new (2nd hand) turntables, Denon CD players (everyone’s favourite), 3 microphones, telephone interface along with the OTS and PC2 computers. The old Elan Hawk12 from the Emerald studio has been refurbished and with a new set of locally produced decals it will look spiffy indeed!
This will the first time in 3MDR’s 35 year history that a fully functional 2nd studio will be in permanent use. Gone will be the days of presenters scrambling over each other during “change-over” and having a free studio will allow more time for local and touring musicians to set up for live sessions while presenters on either side of the live session broadcast from The Drawing Room.
The second studio will also improve 3MDR’s training capabilities for new and existing presenters, not to mention local groups wishing to participate in the wonderful world of community broadcasting.
Other works taking place during the lockdown include a rebuild of the dodgy back deck along with the replacement of some rotting weatherboards and window frames. These works have been arranged by the school and funded by the Victorian School Building Authority. 3MDR is working with the school and department to attend to the front veranda. It is fair to say that the funding priorities move in mysterious ways when dealing with government departments.
Despite the corona pandemic and restrictions, 3MDR continues to develop the space both on and off the air.
3MDR would like to acknowledge the funding support from the Community Broadcasting Foundation to assist with the development of the broadcast studios at Forest Park Homestead.