As a citizen of the Disaster State I often forget that after Byron, the coast bows west again. Once you get to Cairns, you’re as far west as outer eastern Melbourne!
Bit of unusual inland troppo tonight with Hit FM Dalby 97.5 stronger than usual.
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Yes, you don’t get inland tropo up there in QLD as much as what NSW or the southern states do…
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On holidays at the moment and doing a road trip down the South Coast, hopefully onto Melbourne by Friday assuming the latest COVID outbreak doesn’t get any worse.
Tonight is Wollongong, so gave me a chance to test out 91.7 2ST … In car reception is patchy down to about Warrawong and is pretty decent after that.
Nothing new to report, but at Flagstaff Point Lighthouse I did get the following notables:
96.3 Coast FM, though weak
107.5 2EAR Moruya faint
(104.3 was RN, not Power FM, nothing on 105.9)
I also tried Hill 60 at Port Kembla, spot was isolated so I whipped out the Teccy and tested a few stations for signal strength.
Wollongong ABCs 58db
Wave FM 52db
Power FM 41db
2VOX 33db
Sydney commercials 29db
105.3 KIX 23db
KIX seems to be weaker than 2VOX everywhere, not just to the north as previously noted.
I am keen to see how far south the Illawarra ABCs make it given 150kw and 780m ASL.
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Usually there right down to Eden, though reception isn’t always consistent. I have had reception between Cann River and Genoa.
They would make it to Tassie in summer that’s for sure.
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Yes, I’m expecting they would be permanent in Eden town, which is a bit elevated.
Curious to also see how far south Power 94,9 gets too, similar ASL to ABCs though only 50kw.
I’ve received it before in Batemans Bay, perhaps Narooma town, which is also elevated, may be its limit. Time will tell!
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Power 94.9 is permanent on the headlands as far south as Tathra, maybe Merimbula. Inland it drops off of course.
The absolute southern limit for 2BRW is a hill between Pambula and Eden. I haven’t tried south of Eden admittedly. Quite good reception can be obtained between Cobargo and Bega at the locality of Quaama (around Dummett Jessops Road). There is an ideal path through the mountains.
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95.7, 97.3 and 98.9 (Outside of Devonport) Mostly.
90.9 would be blocked in Tassie by 7JJJ Launceston. Always interesting how far my locals can be received with the help of Tropo/E-Skip.
Speaking of which, back in January a Dxer on the South Island of New Zealand (Paul Ormandy) did receive both 2ST Bowral and Highland FM via E-Skip!
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A bit of enhancement here in Bowral.
Mt Uluara and Brown Mountain were in this morning as well as Manning River.
106.9 Newcastle was in a null of 2VOX. Tried for 105.3 as well.
Sydney Community Stations stronger than usual.
Had to cut my DX session short due to some Karen asking me what I was doing.
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95.7 is now blocked by 7SD, at least in the NE part of Tassie. This would be the part that receives Illawarra most often, though. 97.3 and 98.9 have stuff on them too, but could probably be nulled in parts of NE Tassie.
Flinders Island may be the only part of Tassie that gets semi regular reception from NSW.
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102.5 Edge FM from Deniliquin in Traralgon Last Night…
Gold 104.3 from Melbourne is clear as usual (Turns out my antenna was broken and in the end 104.3 reception is clear and permanent at my location). Although once you walk inside Reception is dodgy… Still trying to figure out how I could get Melbourne VHF TV aswell because with the quality of the FM Signal I see no reason why TV isn’t possible.
During the day 693 3AW is obviously clear but a 80s music sounding station is overlapping it at night and I would assume that would be 4KQ.
SEN 1116 was strangely not audible last night which could be interference from something else but I couldn’t hear what it was.
Nothing new on Shortwave.
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That could be 4BC from Brisbane.
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Drove from Wollongong to Batemans Bay today
Highlights
Mt Pleasant Lookout near Kiama
ABCs Mid North Coast 95.5, 97.1 and 98.7 good, 94.7 faint. 96.3 blocked by Coast FM Gosford
97.5 faint. Assumed 2HD FM Port Stephens
99.7 2UUU Ulladulla with RDS
ABCs Newcastle 102.1 and 106,1 Good
103.9 Power FM Eden weak
104.5 was Star Gosford, not 2UUU
107.5 2EAR Moruya with RDS
Huskisson
92.5 Music FM Moss Vale fair
ABCs Newcastle 102.1 and 106.1, still there but faint
Sydney stations slightly stronger but weak
107.7 Triple M Gosford weak
Ulladulla - at the high point of town, a good spot for DXing, so a longer list here
88.9 suspect Braidwood FM, I think I had this at Huskisson too, good
89.7, 99.3, 100.1 and 100.9 ABCs South East - fair
92.3 UUU with RDS, good
92.5 Music FM, fair
93.5 and 94.3 Goulburn weak, Eagle was slightly better
94.5 2EC with RDS, good.
96.1 XLFM Cooma fair, 97.7 was SBS Sydney though
96.9 Nova Sydney fair, no RDS
101.7, 104.1, 104.9 Sydney were weak, 106.5 was a bit better
102.7 ABC Classic Orange faint
103.9 had Power Eden and News Canberra mixing
105.5 2EC fair no RDS
106.3 Mix Canberra weak
107.7 Triple M Gosford weak
Batemans Bay riverside
88.9 Braidwood FM fair
91.7 2ST with RDS Good
92.7 2BAB good
93.5 Eagle good. 94.3 SKY was weak though
94.1 Pulse fair
94.5 2EC with RDS good
94.9 Power with RDS Good
95.7, 97.3, 98.9 ABC Illawarra all good
96.1 XLFM fair, Snow 97.7 now also received fair
96.5 Wave FM good but no RDS, though i98 did have RDS
96.9 SKY Cooma weak
ABC South East 89.7, 99.3, 100.1 and 100.9 all fair
101.1 and 103.7 Nowra HPONs both good
ABC Canberra’s 101.5, 102.3, 103.9 and SBS 105.5 all fair
Power Bega 102.5 good with RDS
102.9 2ST Bowral weak
104.5 UUU Nowra good
104.7 and 106.3 Canberra weak
107.1 SKY Eden weak
Another note 96.3 SKY Batemans Bay is off air.
Another note Part 2 - Planned Victorian excursion now cancelled due to Melbourne COVID outbreak, now coming back via Canberra (after Eden tomorrow night).
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Surprising 95.3 Smooth isn’t there at all given the others?
WSFM, 2DAY & Triple M are at Artarmon currently with KIIS at Gore Hill, I wonder if that had any effect on your result of KIIS being a bit better (even though KIIS is 5kW less Transmitter power at Gore Hill)?
Depends on what time of the day you did these though, as 2DAY & Triple M were at Gore Hill between 9:10am & 2:50pm yesterday while we did maintenance at Artarmon.
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It would have been around 2pm, can’t be sure that Smooth wasn’t there, if it was, it was faint.
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Did you catch any of my show from Batemans Bay or was reception too weak at your accommodation?
Not sure what day you’re planning to head through Canberra; if it’s Sunday I’ll be around.
Apparently, according to his post below, he forgot about it.
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Yes just saw that post! That’s an issue with community radio; we need a central directory or app which makes shows easier to find. Apparently one is in the works?
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Now for today’s post.
From Batemans Bay down to Eden - DX highlights
Narooma - near the Golf Club as one of the higher points in town
88.9 Braidwood FM fair no RDS
ABCs South East 89.7, 99.3, 100.1, 100.9 Good
ABC Illawarra 90.9, 95.7, 97.3 and 98.9 all good
91.7 2ST Nowra RDS Good
93.3 2MNO Nimmitabel weak
93.5 Eagle FM RDS fair
93.7 Edge FM Bega good
94.9 Power FM RDS good
96.1 XLFM and Snow 97,7 both good and with RDS
96.5 and 98.1 Wollongong weak no RDS
98.5 SKY Moruya weak
101.1 and 103.7 Nowra HPONs good
103.9 Power and 105.5 2EC Eden good with RDS
104.7 2SEA Eden good
106.7 2ST Ulladulla with RDS
107.1 SKY Eden good
Also on AM, 2EC 1584 not on air, but 105.9 and also 94,5 have perfectly adequate coverage in Narooma.
Bega Valley Lookout
ABCs Illawarra 90.9, 95.7, 97.3, 98.9 now only fair
91.7 Snow FM Bombala no RDS fair
92.5 XLFM Bombala no RDS fair
93.3 2MNO Nimmitabel fair
94.1 2BA Bombala fair
94.9 Power FM faint no RDS
96,1 XLFM no RDS fair, but Snow 97.7 was good with RDS
97.5 Sapphire FM Merimbula fair
ABCs Batemans Bay 100,5, 101.9, 103.5 and 105.1 good
101.1 KIX Nowra faint
104.3 and 105.9 Batemans Bay good with RDS
104.5 SKY Bombala fair
106.7 2ST Ulladulla good but no RDS
107.5 2EAR Moruya fair no RDS
I had the lookout to myself, so I whipped out the Teccy for some quick results
94.5 and 102.5 - both 61db near the local Mumbulla Mountain blowtorch
93.7 - 56db
ABCs 89,7, 99.3, 100.1 and 100.9 - 52db
Eden commercials 103.9 and 105.5 - both 30db
Eden ABCs 106.3 and 107.9 - 18db
ABCs Batemans Bay - 15db
104.3 and 105.9 Batemans Bay - 8db
Finally, Eden Lookout
ABC Illawarras 90.9 to 98.9, now faint, gone at ground level
91.7 and 92.5 Bombala - faint
93.3 2MNO fair
94.1 2BA Bombala fair
94.9 Power Nowra - gone
95.1 - something faint - could this be News Gippsland, though nothing on 96,7, 100.7 or 101.5
96.1 XL faint, 97.7 Snow fair no RDS
101.7 3MGB Mallacoota fair
ABCs Batemans Bay 100.5 to 105.1 still good
104.3 and 105.9 Batemans still good no RDS
104.9 ABC Mallacoota weak (nothing on 103.3 though).
107,5 2EAR Moruya still good no RDS now though
And a rarity, a motel room tonight in Eden with no RF noise! On the Teccy inside, noted that Brown Mt ABCs are only about 22db, not much better than Batemans ABCs at 15db.
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I had a similar experience when I went to Eden in October 2015.
Also, whilst I was there, 102.5 Power FM from Bega was getting co-channel interference with 2MBS Sydney, which was when there was tropo. It’s no wonder why Eden needed a Power FM translator there.
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