RIP Matthew Buck

Matthew Buck, Karas – Namibia 2008 pic by A.Louw

It is with great shock that we at Bush Radio learnt this evening of the passing of Matthew Buck. Matthew was a volunteer, trainer and eventually Bush Radio’s main technical support and installer for our studios.

Below is an extract from a social media post by Adrian Louw our Programme Integrator:

“It’s Friday evening around 8pm on 28 July 1995, Matt and myself were the last two people in the building. The final touches to Africa’s oldest community radio station project’s first legal on-air studio were being put in place.

Then the worst possible thing happened – a buzz, then a click. The Soundcraft Series5 mixer’s power supply had blown. With just over a week to go for the official broadcast and now legal switch-on, it was a disaster.
Matt called the supplier from his Motorola (he was the first person I knew who owned a cellphone) and after a few hours of intense cursing and fancy soldering, he had the power supply fixed.

Fast forward to 2008, and I was on one of my training missions in a town called Karas in Namibia, and Matt and his team were building the studios. Again, final testing for the handover to the crew there and then something on the telephone hybrid blew.

Ever since, Matt and I agreed that I would not be there when they did any final handovers. And so, when Bush Radio moved on to a digital studio in 2012, I took a day’s leave at the end of the install and handover… Matt and his team were responsible for the installation of most of the studios from the initial licensing of Community Radio in South Africa.

And, with so many who continue to exploit the sector, he was one of the few people we could rely on at Bush Radio.

Matthew (as I always insisted on calling him), I will miss you.

His final message to me was “Tell Adrian not to worry.”

To Levi, his family and friends: there would be no community radio sector in South Africa if it wasn’t for people like Matthew.

Matthew chose to walk with the people of South Africa and this continent.

We need more like him. “

Upgrading the Mothership

The following is a repost of an article which appeared on The Buck Broadcast Blog

While planning to undertake a major transition to digital in 2012, Bush Radio, AKA “The Mother of Community Radio”, recently found themselves in a position where an interim studio upgrade was urgently required in order to maintain quality broadcasts.

The stations on air studio has been in service for many years and critical items such as the mixing console and CD players have surpassed their useful working life and are close to failure. To avoid the risk of disappointing their listeners with poor quality or interrupted broadcasts, an appropriate solution that targeted technically weak areas was urgently required. To implement this, Bush Radio contracted Buck Broadcast to supply and install key new equipment while undertaking a major service and calibration of their existing systems.

The Soundcraft MBI Series 5 which Bush Radio used for more than 110 000 hours of use (1994-2011)

The upgraded* studio features a new Soundcraft console and Tascam CD players

In addition to the the installation of a new Soundcraft modular broadcast mixing console and two Tascam CD players, all existing studio equipment was removed, cleaned, serviced and reinstalled within a four-day period. Furthermore, customized wiring looms and system interconnects were fabricated and installed. After a smooth switchover from their back up studio, the new system has been met with enthusiasm from the many presenters who have struggled along with the old equipment for so long.

Rewired, serviced and running

Buck Broadcast looks forward to the opportunity of implementing a more comprehensive digital solution in the year to come but in the meantime are satisfied that Bush Radio now has a more reliable interim system in place to see them though to the digital phase.

– post courtesy of  The Buck Broadcast Blog

* The studio upgrade was made possible through a joint project by Bush Radio and the  UNESCO International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) which included a “Women and Technology” training course.