Fresh FM: Bringing the Top of the South onto WheatNet-IP

Overview

Fresh FM is the community access station for the Top of the South, broadcasting on 104.8 FM across Nelson and Tasman, 107.2 FM in central Nelson, 95.0 FM in Golden Bay and 88.9 FM in Blenheim from its home at Founders Heritage Park in Nelson, with satellite studios in Motueka and Tākaka. Like every access station, it relies on volunteers, many of them new to radio, to make its programmes.

By 2024 the station’s studio equipment was showing its age. Fresh FM asked Southern Broadcast to move it onto the same Wheatstone WheatNet-IP platform we have installed at access stations around the country, and to do it in stages as funding allowed.

Stage one: the on-air studio

The first stage, in June 2024, replaced the on-air studio’s ageing Axia console with our standard access radio package: a Wheatstone IP-12 digital console, Wheatstone M4IP-USB microphone processing for a consistent, broadcast-quality sound from every presenter, Electro-Voice RE320 microphones, and a Wheatstone Aura8-IP multi-channel audio processing Blade in the technical area.

The station’s playout, phones, streaming and transmission feeds were brought onto the WheatNet-IP network, and the IP-12 was set up with stored events for its different ways of working, so a presenter can switch the whole studio between profiles at the press of a button.

Stage two: Studio B

The second stage, in October 2024, rebuilt Studio B as a production studio around an Audioarts DMX, Wheatstone’s compact and more affordable console, networked into the same WheatNet-IP system. Every source in the station is available in Studio B, so it can be used for pre-recording, interviews and podcasts.

Satellite studios in Motueka and Tākaka

Fresh FM’s reach extends beyond Nelson, with satellite studios in Motueka and Tākaka so local presenters can make programmes in their own communities. Southern Broadcast supplied and set up the links that connect them: both are tied back to the Nelson studios over IP using Tieline codecs, with a Tieline Gateway at the hub in Nelson and Tieline Bridge-IT codecs at each satellite studio, bringing their programmes straight into the WheatNet-IP system.

Ongoing support

Southern Broadcast continues to support Fresh FM remotely and by phone, fine-tuning console profiles, microphone processing and the on-air chain as the station’s needs change, and helping it plan for the future.

Key facts

• Fresh FM, Nelson, broadcasting on four FM frequencies across Nelson and Tasman, Golden Bay and Blenheim
• Moved onto Wheatstone WheatNet-IP in two stages during 2024
• On-air studio: Wheatstone IP-12, M4IP-USB microphone processing, Electro-Voice RE320 microphones and an Aura8-IP processing Blade
• Studio B: Audioarts DMX console on the same WheatNet-IP network
• Satellite studios in Motueka and Tākaka linked by Tieline Gateway and Bridge-IT codecs, supplied and configured by Southern Broadcast
• Ongoing remote support from Southern Broadcast

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Southern Broadcast Ltd is Wheatstone’s New Zealand partner and a broadcast engineering company providing studio, RF and transmission design, installation and support to broadcasters across New Zealand and the Pacific.

Planning a studio upgrade? Talk to Southern Broadcast about design, supply, integration and commissioning.