History of 2MaxFM 91.3
Narrabri Shire Community Radio Inc was founded by public meeting in March 1993.
The first test broadcast was conducted in September 1993. In June 1993 there were 17 Committee members and 4 Executive Members and 40 announcers. We conducted a total of 12, 30-day test broadcasts and 6 months of weekend broadcasting between March and September 1997.
The test broadcasts were conducted from our first studio at 2 Lloyd St Narrabri. The transmitter has been permanently located at Mt Dowe transmitting site. The building was provided by the Narrabri Shire Council and we renovated it to suit our needs. We then moved on to The West side of town where the Woodhams fuel is now located. Our Big Morning Tea days were spectacular over there. Finally, we purchased the old Anderson Carpet building in Barwan St where we are now.
We received our first 5-year licence in November 2000 after many hours of hard work and dedication.
Narrabri Shire Community Radio was founded to provide a local voice for the community and since its founding has served the community by broadcasting emergency information during natural disasters such as bushfires and floods, providing outside broadcast coverage of local sporting events, festivals and other events, providing access to government and community bodies to broadcast information on a range of services and of course entertaining the community. Training and encouraging the youth of the community to learn about media and confidence in public speaking.
Narrabri Shire Community Radio was applauded on its dedication to duty and accuracy reporting during the floods and bushfires that devastated NW NSW in the 1990’s. During this period, the volunteer announcers worked around the clock to maintain and distribute accurate reports to small communities in remote lying areas.
In June 2008 Narrabri Shire Council gave permission for 2MaxFM to stage a fund-raising convoy to raise funds for kids wards at the local hospitals. They did another convoy in October 2008 and again in December 2008 for the Salvation Army toy run with Christmas hampers and gifts for kids. This continued for several years and was very well received by the community.
Of course, this was only part of the community activities we were engaged in. We would do outside broadcasts at the Drover’s Camp Fire in Boggabri, Tamworth Country Music Festival, Narrabri and Wee Waa Ag Shows, and the Christmas Carnivals at Narrabri and Wee Waa. We were known around the shire for our yellow van which was covered in our sponsors logo’s and was extremely popular at outside events.
Today in 2020 we provide a 24hr radio service, announcers are on air from 6/7am to 10pm every day except Christmas Day and Good Friday. After 10pm we have a playlist running which is created at our studio by our hard-working volunteers. We remain on air due to the dedication of our volunteers and the financial support from our sponsors and members. Our focus is still to provide an essential service to the Narrabri Shire as well as entertainment.
In October 2020 there are 6 committee members and 4 executive members with 32 announcers.