ABC Local Radio

Did they mention DAB?

Yes DAB had been mentioned.

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Yes, I wondered when DAB+ would receive a mention and finally it did when needed.

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Yes exactly, only mention it when they absolutely have to the ABC.

After struggling to find a map of ABC Local transmitters in NSW, I decided to make my own. There’s no fixed region boundaries from what I can see, so I’ve mapped them mostly based on what the nearest transmitter is relaying, with some manual adjustments; namely, limiting ABC Central Coast to the Central Coast LGA as it was going into the Sydney and Newcastle metropolitan areas.

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That’s really neat. What software did you use to plot the coverage? A lot of the borders look super specific (based on terrain?).

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Not based on coverage, unfortunately. Just distance to the closest transmitter. The specificity of the boundaries is because I’ve aligned them to census mesh block boundaries to allow for reporting of demographics, e.g. population, for each of those areas.

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You can probably make a version with coverage from: https://reception.abc.net.au/

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The problem with using coverage is that there’ll be a lot of overlap between the different transmitters, which is one of the reasons why I just used which programme the nearest transmitter relays.

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This is fantastic. I’d love to see some callsigns on that chart :yum:

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Enjoy.

Does anyone how the ACMA decides whether to assign the generic 2ABCRR callsign versus the localised callsign for that particular local radio service?

Interesting that ABC Coffs Coast has the same callsign as the Mid North Coast ones even though it’s localised. Same with Gosford and Sydney. I suppose because these were splilt out later on.

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It’s a good question & I can’t fathom why 91.1 Bendigo doesn’t have a unique callsign. :thinking:

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it used to, I think?

EDIT: Old ACMA listing from 2005 still has it as 3ABCRR :man_shrugging:

Bendigo 
945 HPON V OD 2k -36 42 26 144 13 14 1153494
3BPH 88.7 Community M OD 10k -36 59 31 144 18 26 1170346
3CCC 89.5 Community M OD 10k -36 59 31 144 18 26 1328434
3JJJ 90.3 National M DA 250k -36 59 37 144 18 25 1153095
3ABCRR 91.1 National M DA 250k -36 59 37 144 18 25 1150222
3BDG 91.9 Commercial M DA 120k -36 59 37 144 18 25 1170027
3ABCFM 92.7 National M DA 250k -36 59 37 144 18 25 1150224
3BBO 93.5 Commercial M DA 120k -36 59 37 144 18 25 1384924

Bendigo (City) 
3EON 96.5 Community M DA 1k -36 51 45 144 14 26 1170172
3EL 98.3 Commercial M OD 100 -36 46 1 144 14 34 1158819

EDIT EDIT:

Sorry, I may have thinking of Ballarat

Ballarat (Lookout Hill) 
3ABCFM 105.5 National M DA 100k -37 17 2 143 14 47 1150237
3JJJ 107.1 National M DA 100k -37 17 2 143 14 47 1153093
3CRR 107.9 National M DA 100k -37 17 2 143 14 47 1150240

I assume it’s ABC directed. Same reason on TV they are ā€œABCā€ now, not ABV, ABN, etc.

Just extra paperwork to cross reference different callsigns, while a simple content based name just tells you easily if it’s local radio or jjj etc.

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This is awesome! Thank you. You can do Victoria next :clap::rofl:

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That’s a mystery, because when ABC Bendigo launched, it was known on-air as ā€œCRR-FMā€. After a couple of years it changed its on-air identity, but the ACMA callsign was always the horrible generic 3ABCRR.

Yet a decade or so later when ABC Ballarat launched, it was called ā€œ107.9 ABC Ballaratā€. And it’s ACMA callsign? 3CRR.

I’ve always wondered myself.

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Awesome work, thanks. I love a good map.

You could add Captains Flat (88.5) and Braidwood (100.3) as relays of Canberra DAB but you could be forgiven for this as they are still listed as 2PB (NewsRadio) relays. Technically they are self help retransmissions. They did relay PB for a little while before switching to 2CN (initially off AM 666 with horrendous AM buzz and then off DAB).

There are also the mining relays in the Hunter Valley and possibly elsewhere. But this map definitely covers the main sites.

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Saw this article from James Cridland re running the ABC Local Radio program on FM during disasters, and how that is in effect an admission that AM broadcasting doesn’t reach enough people to be effective in times of emergency:

He has some good points, as well as some good analysis of the coverage implications.

I guess my one counterargument is that a simulcast on FM is arguably a greater waste of precious FM spectrum - I think I’d still prefer a Double J-type service in the place of Classic to add to variety. But there is a strong argument that the premier ABC service should be the most accessible, and that means being on FM.

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Ive read the article and he’s right about device availability. I had a DAB+ radio with spare batteries and a wind-up torch with radio. the problem with the wind-up radio was that it was FM only.

however, there needs to be wholesale change to the ABC’s radio offerings. Moving ABC local to FM (and not just simulcasting it) can be done but it should be done with the following changes, although i’d prefer to see JJ on FM:

1 - Move Classic FM to DAB only and give it enough bit rate to actully do the music justice.

2 - Merge Newsradio and & Radio National

3 - Create a Parliament Mux on DAB that has at a minimum HOR, Senate and your state parliament

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Could be an issue as Federal and State parliaments more often than not sit on the same day. Which one takes preference? Also, the Speaker of a particular state parliament may not allow live audio coverage of the sittings.

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