BAI Communications has replaced the nearly 30-year-old AM transmitter serving Torres Strait Islanders Media Association’s Radio 4MW with a Nautel XR3. The installation on Thursday Island forms part of a wider infrastructure upgrade designed to improve coverage and audio quality across the remote Torres Strait region. BAI also installed new program input equipment, studio-to-transmitter links and monitoring systems.
The new transmitter replaces the station’s original unit, which had operated since 1997. The project also addressed long-standing technical faults and a persistent hum affecting reception in the outer island communities. BAI pointed to reports from Saibai Island, around 150 km from Thursday Island, where listeners have noticed a marked improvement in signal clarity.
“The results have been immediate and meaningful,” BAI Communications said on LinkedIn. “Residents on Saibai Island, approximately 150 km from Thursday Island, have already noticed the dramatic improvement in signal clarity.” The coverage improvement is particularly significant in a region where communities are separated by large stretches of water and terrestrial radio provides a common communications service.
Radio 4MW is a 24-hour community service broadcasting on 1260 AM from Thursday Island. Operated by the Torres Strait Islanders Media Association, the station has served the region since 1985 and carries local news, interviews, music and coverage of cultural, sporting and historical events.
The Nautel XR3 is a solid-state medium-wave transmitter rated at 3 kW and designed to operate from 200–260 V single-phase power. Its architecture combines eight broadband RF amplifiers and four modulators in a plug-in RF module, with dual direct digital synthesis exciters and automatic changeover. Nautel specifies a typical efficiency of 83% and an adjustable RF output range from 50 W to 3.75 kW.
Delivering the project required BAI to manage equipment transport, plant-hire constraints and changes to its plans around Tropical Cyclone Maila. “Delivering infrastructure in remote and island communities is never straightforward,” the company noted. “Through careful planning, strong relationships and determination, the project was delivered successfully.”
The transmission work accompanied a broader refurbishment of the TSIMA building, which achieved a 96% Indigenous participation rate and involved local Indigenous contractors. TSIMA’s board and staff are entirely Torres Strait Islander. Six female job seekers also completed a Certificate II in Construction Pathways through the project, with five moving into continuing employment.
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