What does New Zealand’s youngest DJ do when his non-complaint Chinese made transmitter was taken away by radio inspectors? He uses crowdfunding to raise money by selling adverts on his Only In New Zealand Facebook page which has 125,000 likes. After buying a BW Broadcast TX5 V2 with the funds raised, he will soon be back on air. The 15 year old’s ingenuity and business sense is inspirational and beyond his years.
[quotes style=”classic” align=”center” author=”Kirsty Lawrence”]The youngest DJ in New Zealand has had to come off air after a radio inspector shut him down. Sarn Elliot, 15, was one of New Zealand’s youngest DJ’s and has had his station Z100 running in Taupo for the last eight months. However, a recent visit from a radio inspector lead to Sarn discovering that his transmitter was not certified for use on New Zealand air waves, with an expensive road ahead if he wants to get Z100 back on air. ‘‘It’s going to cost me around $600 to buy a new transmitter so I am sort of stuck.’’
Sarn also did not realise the frequency he had been running his station on was not a free one, so if the station does manage to come back on air the frequency will have to be changed. The reason the transmitter is not certified is due to the fact it ‘‘hasn’t been tested by the government and accepted for use.’’
He said since he started the radio station he had expanded its hours from 8am till 9pm to running 24/7. With an expensive transmitter needed and Sarn only being a high school student he said he was thinking of saving up but it ‘‘would take a while.’’ ‘‘I probably will just put it off but if I do get another one I will just start it back up on a different frequency.’’ With Z100 off air it means listeners looking for an ad- free option are out of luck with no alternative in sight until Sarn can get the $600 needed for a new transmitter.[/quotes]
As originally reported in Taupo Times, click here to read original article.
You can help Sarn raise funds for his LPFM station ‘U FM’ on his Pledge Me page.
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