MONDAY, 1.25PM:
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RESIDENTS in Orange are now receiving normal broadcasts from ABC and SBS, however the commercial networks remain off air in the central west as technicians continue to work on transmitters located atop Mount Canobolas.
At present there is no timetable for when these services will resume.
MONDAY, 11.20AM:
TECHNICIANS are working in blizzard-like conditions on Mount Canobolas to restore power affecting television and radio transmitters and Essential Energy says it is unable to advise when the power will be restored.
Central Western Daily reporter Janice Harris and photographer Steve Gosh have just returned from the back road to the mountain, however access is blocked as the road is covered with snow up to half a metre in places.
Cabonne Council is turning back vehicles while Essential Energy is continuing to get its vehicles as close to the summit as possible.
"Some of the technicians have had to get out and walk," a Cabonne Council spokesman said.
A fault occurred on the high voltage electricity network about 2am overnight, shutting off power to 75 customers in Nashdale and Mount Canobolas.
Crews from Orange's Essential Energy depot responded during the night and 30 customers in the area had power restored at 4am.
Poor visibility and heavy snow caused further patrolling of the powerline to be postponed until first light this morning.
Crews are now patrolling the powerline on foot in the areas which are accessible.
Essential Energy says road closures means much of the area remains inaccessible to crews.
MONDAY, 10.50AM:
PRIME is reporting that the grader being used to clear a path for technicians up Mount Canobolas has been unable to reach the summit.
The technicians are climbing the remainder of the journey to the mountain's summit on foot, which will increase delays in repairing the issues with the broadcast towers.
At this stage there is no timetable for when the issues affecting both radio and television broadcasts in Orange and the central west will be repaired.
MONDAY, 9.40AM:
CABONNE Council is in the process of securing a grader to clear a path to the top of Mount Canobolas which will allow access by technicians who need to repair the outage.
Thousands of Central West residents are affected, with no local television or radio coverage in the region.
ABC radio is transmitting a broadcast signal from Dubbo.
MONDAY, 8.30AM:
Residents across the central west have awoken to find television and radio transmission has been affected by an outage of signal towers on Mount Canobolas.
Fairfax Media understands emergency services are now involved in discussions to determine if access can be gained to the top of the mountain, with police to oversee the opening of the gates to the top of the mountain which have been locked since Friday.
Cabonne Council are now in the process of clearing the backroad to see if access is possible.
Meanwhile, the Great Western Highway has been reopened near Yetholme, with police escorting convoys of vehicles along the icy surface.
Police are urging people to call 13 27 01 for road closure details.