Marine radio communications were started in Whakatane in 1950 by a private family, Herb and Joyce Brabant, from their residence on Hillcrest - a hillside suburb of Whakatane using an ex Army ZC1 set operating on frequencies of around 2Mhz as ZLRE. They operated their station for 21 years, running four skeds a day for 365 day a year, until advancing age forced them to relinquish this role in 1972.