Titahi Bay Transmitter
Encyclopedia
Titahi Bay
Titahi Bay is a suburb of Porirua in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located at the foot of a short peninsula along the west coast of the Porirua Harbour, to the north of Porirua city centre. The suburb's population in 2006 was 7,527...
in New Zealand. There are now five stations transmitting from the site, Radio New Zealand National, the parliamentary network, Newstalk ZB
Newstalk ZB
Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk radio network operated by The Radio Network of New Zealand . It is available in almost every radio market in the country, and has news reporters based in many of them...
, an Iwi radio station and Wellington Access Radio; see List of radio stations in New Zealand and Radio Stations in Wellington
Radio stations in Wellington
This is a list of radio stations in the Wellington Region of New Zealand.Note: Several FM stations changed their frequency during October 2010, as broadcast licenses were renewed and spacing standardized to 0.8 MHz....
. The tower and its surrounding buildings were opened in 1937.
In 2004 the tower was refurnished, badly corroded parts were removed and replaced, the whole tower was sand blasted and repainted, and an array of LED warning lights were added at the behest of the NZCAA
Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand
The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand is the government agency tasked with establishing civil aviation safety and security standards in New Zealand....
.
According to workers refurbishing it, scaling the tower takes 45 minutes. From the top there are views of the entire Kapiti coast region.
The site used to provide Radio New Zealand's shortwave service, these broadcasts used a series of shorter free standing masts supporting curtain arrays.
The land surrounding the tower is owned by the Department of Conservation, and is leased to Radio NZ for the transmitting towers, to the local Titahi Golf Club, and as farm land. The site is located within Whitirea Park, and is planned to come under the control of the Greater Wellington Regional Council.
Interestingly, only in recent years has the station's emergency power generator been replaced. The previous one was supplied by the American military after the Second World War, and was part of the driving machinery of a submarine which was no longer required.
The site was never used for overseas telephone links, which (before the advent of undersea cables and satellites) were provided by two New Zealand Post Office
New Zealand Post Office
The New Zealand Post Office was a New Zealand government department.As a Government Department, the New Zealand Post Office or N.Z.P.O., previously the Post and Telegraph Department or P & T, had as the political head the Postmaster General who was a member of Cabinet, and, when it was a separate...
radio stations, Makara Radio (receiving) west of Wellington and Himitangi Radio (transmitting) near Himatangi Beach. Only a limited number of voice circuits were available, and overseas toll calls were expensive.