Possibly in some areas, although there are parts of Western Sydney that can receive some of the Illawarra FM stations quite strongly. Places such as Campbelltown, Liverpool or possibly even Bankstown would be able to receive Wave FM strong enough for it too interfere, IMO.
The south-eastern suburbs of Sydney, such as around Maroubra & Randwick, can get the Illawarra FM (& TV) stations very strongly, mainly due to having clear LOS towards Knights Hill. The same goes for the Hills District in Sydneyâs north-west, particularly around Castle Hill & West Pennant Hills, for the same reason, with the addition of its high elevation of the area, which is around 150-200m above sea level.
There was interference to 106.9 from 106.1 and 107.7 on lower end radios due to the difference in signal strengths
I was making a comparison with Brisbane when star 106.9 was on air, given The edge is sandwiched between smooth and nova. I know the edge would never complain as it is owned by same group as WSFM and KISSfm. 
They donât mind to have average reception at Penrith if they can tap into other areas of Sydney with good line of site with the blue mountains.
The only place in Sydney I know where 95.3 and 96.9 interfere with 96.1 is underneath the ABC Gore Hill tower, as both 95.3 and 96.9 are putting out 150kw from this site.
As far as I know there is no interference from 95.7 or 96.5 to the Edge in Sydney. The Edge is even clear on the car radio at Cronulla Beach where the Illawarra fmâs are strong.
I have received fortuitous reception of The Edge in Wollongong and even at Knights Hill on the car stereo on the south side of the Win fm tower. 96.5 is restricted to 4kw in this direction which makes reception possible.
On a side note 96.1 reception at Macquarie Park is quite poor as there is no line of site to Wentworth Falls from this location. How would the Edge microwave their signal from Macquarie Park to the transmitter, directly or to another point and then to the transmitter?
Even being only a few streets away in the same suburb can make quite a difference in reception.
Two possibilities:
The microwave link from Macquarie Park back to Wentworth Falls may be on a taller mast.
OR
It could even make a trip via Artarmon - it could be sent there with WS and KIIS feeds and then another microwave link sends The Edge up the mountains from there.
Yeah this makes The Edge not really having a defined licence area as far good reception goes in the Sydney Metro area. It is very hot and cold reception. One or two streets can make a big difference. Its official area around Penrith is shaded somewhat from the lower blue mountains. The only place there is consistent reception is around the upper blue mountains. Perhaps around St Maryâs to Blacktown is not bad too.
This one.
ARN are licensed for 3 analogue and 1 digital link from North Ryde to Artarmon, and then 1 analogue link from Artarmon to Wentworth Falls.
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Thanks for clearing that up. I gathered that it would have gone via Artarmon considering LOS from Macquarie Park to Wentworth Falls is so bad, even on the car stereo.
96.1 is equal in strength to Artatmon / Gore Hill in Stanhope Gardens. It is also strong in Oatley where I use to live, but once you got on the other side of the Hurstville ridge around Rockdale the signal strength was poor. I will post up an Edge 96.1 coverage map to show the good the bad and the ugly areas of coverage.
Correct Re: 96.1 STL. Its bounced via Artarmon. Iâd say the digital link from Byfield St to Artarmon is the main feed for all three stations (Edge, WS, Kiis) while the three analogue links are respective standbys. According to the Emission designator in the ACMA database, the link from Artarmon up to Wentworth Falls for the Edge is digitised.
I know ACMA database stuff isnât necessarily gospel, but Iâve read a post in the radio greenroom (I think it was) that the Edge has or had an Omnia 6 for processing at Wentworth Falls, which is a strong clue that the feed to it is not analogue. If it was analogue, the processing would most likely be located ahead of the link at Artarmon (or even Byfield St).
Re: 96.1 reception in Sydney. In many parts of Western and North Western Sydney, 96.1 has the best reception, hands down. Its simply not plagued with the multi-path issues that Artarmon coverage has. At my location, 96.1 is the strongest FM station. Imagine a big circle encompassing Blacktown, Castle Hill, Windsor, Penrith and 96.1 pretty is pretty much supreme within it.
Ironically but in no way surprising, in the Lower Blue Mountains closer to 96.1, Artarmon coverage is better than Wentworth Falls.
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Donât wonder what the hops are, look on ACMAâs Radcom database or ring the engineers yourself and talk direct. Most love the interest and a chat if youâre genuine and ask worthwhile questions.
Greetings all,
I enjoy reading about DXing on the other side of the globe. I work in radio in Houston, and while our proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and its humid air creates frequent and sometimes spectacular DX opportunities, reports that everything in the area can be âwiped outâ by tropo is a bit of hyperbole.
The primary FM signals in the market transmit from the âSenior Roadâ tower site (about 18km from the center of the city), all with 100kw. Those signals are practically impervious to interference to a radius of about 60km, so most of the metro population would be blissfully unaware of any interference to those signals.
The station mentioned by the gentleman as âhisâ station, KJIC, is a much smaller 36kw operation whose tower is over 40km south of town, and its protected contour doesnât reach the center of Houston, so its lower power and greater distance from the city makes its signal more susceptible and interference more noticeable to a wider population.
Like most major US metro areas, there are very few dead spots on the Houston dial (over 50 stations showed up in the March ratings alone), and many of those signals are ârimshotsâ - signals that have been moved in from outlying areas as close as our FCC regulations will allow in order to target the market. While these stations are typically full power (100kw), their towers may be 50-70km away from the center of the city - so there is a greater percentage of the population outside of their protected contours. Under normal conditions you would never notice any issues with their signal, but with strong DX conditions, you could wake up one morning and wonder why your favorite sports program was suddenly playing Justin Beiber and Katy Perry.
There have been occasions where weâve had listeners call in and ask why we were suddenly giving traffic reports for San Antonio (300km from Houston). When asked where they lived, we find they live in outlying areas (60+ km from the city), well outside our 60dBu contour, and a co-channel was overpowering our signal; meanwhile the vast majority of our listeners never noticed anything was amiss.
In case some of you are not familiar with this website, this gives real-time DX conditions based upon two-way repeater reception and is a pretty accurate gauge of what is happening across the VHF bands: http://aprs.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/
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Thereâs been some inland tropo around the last couple of nights into Brisbane. Nothing spectacular - last night Dalbyâs 4DDD on 89.9 and Hot FM relay on 97.5 were in stereo. Rockhampton was stronger than usual esp on 103.1. Tonight low power 50w ABCâs from Miriam Vale on 88.3 ans 89.9 (mixing with 4DDD) of interest with most inland stations like Crow FM on 90.7 at higher than normal levels.
I looked at the propagation map about 24 hours ago that Huff posted a link to above, and it showed a nice large yellow duct from Rocky down to Brissy which may explain your results.
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Did a scan on my car radio near Benalla VIC on Friday night. Pulled off the Hume into a rest stop about 7.30pm.
Itâs a not a comprehensive list - my radio can only seek by scan, so itâs difficult to get a lock on all frequencies.
Gear is a Kenwood head unit (model unknown, about 6 years old), using the stock aerial in my Nissan Patrol, which to be honest has seen better days.
Quality rating is out of 5 - with 5 being as crystal clear as AM can get (ie. local station quality).
Interestingly, I could receive most Sydney stations, but very few Melbourne stations, despite being considerably closer.
I could also receive SEN on 1116, but not Magic 1278, despite them both transmitting on the same power from the same location.
Iâve been able to get a fairly positive ID on most stations - based on a combination of program matching, stations IDs and ads being for the local area. Obviously some are easier to ID when thereâs less stations that use that frequency also.
Frequency Station Location Qual 1-5
1566 3NE Wangaratta VIC 5
1548 ABC Local 4QD Emerald QLD 5
1512 ABC Radio National Newcastle NSW 5
1494 2AY Albury NSW 5
1449 2MG Mudgee NSW 4
1413 ??? HPON Shepparton VIC 5
1368 2GN Goulburn NSW 3
1332 3SH Swan Hill VIC 3
1287 2TM Tamworth NSW 4
1260 3SR Sports Shepparton VIC 5
1251 2DU Dubbo NSW 3
1233 ABC Local 2NC Newcastle NSW 3
1206 2CC Canberra ACT 5
1197 5RPH Adelaide SA 3
1170 Magic 2CH Sydney NSW 5
1125 Mix of 1RPH Canberra & 5MU Murray Bridge 2
1116 SEN Melbourne VIC 3
1107 SBS 2EA Sydney NSW 3
1098 Overspill from 3WM on 1089 3
1089 3WM Horsham VIC 3
1080 RadioTAB Hobart TAS 5
1071 Gold Maryborough VIC 2
1053 2CA Canberra ACT 5
999 2ST??? Nowra NSW 5
963 Maybe 2RG Griffith??? There was another channel coming through, but couldnât identify it. 3
936 Maybe ABC Local Hobart given the strength of the other Tasmania signals received. 5
918 2XL Cooma I assume, but it has a feint 2nd signal coming in under it 4
900 7AD Devonport TAS 3
891 ABC Local 5AN Adelaide SA 5
873 2GB Sydney NSW 4
846 ABC Radio National Canberra ACT 3
810 ABC Local 2BA Bega NSW 3
774 ABC Local 3LO Melbourne VIC 5
756 ABC Radio National Wangaratta VIC 5
738 ABC Local 2NR Grafton NSW 5
729 ABC Radio National Adelaide SA 5
702 ABC Local 2BL Sydney NSW 5
693 3AW Melbourne, with a hint of another signal under it 3
675 ABC Local 2CO Corowa NSW 5
639 Unsure - Maybe ABC Local 5CK Port Pirie 5
621 ABC Radio National Melbourne VIC 5
612 ABC Local 4QR Brisbane QLD 5
603 ABC Radio National Nowra NSW 5
594 ABC Local 3WV Horsham VIC 5
576 ABC Radio National Sydney NSW 5
Thanks for the write up!
1413 Shepparton is I think Vision Radio Network (the Christian one, not the RPH one).
1089 - interesting your radio picks up overspill on 1098 when your rating is â3â but doesnât pick it up for the stronger stations, particularly the nearby 756 and 1566 signals.
Your other 963 is most likely 5SE Mount Gambier.
Nothing below 621, not even 594 ABC Western Vic?
My bad, I missed the last page of my notes. Iâve added the following to the list:
612 ABC Local 4QR Brisbane QLD 5
603 ABC Radio National Nowra NSW 5
594 ABC Local 3WV Horsham VIC 5
576 ABC Radio National Sydney NSW 5
[quote=âRadiohead, post:235, topic:229â]
1089 - interesting your radio picks up overspill on 1098 when your rating is â3â but doesnât pick it up for the stronger stations, particularly the nearby 756 and 1566 signals.
[/quote]I canât guarantee there wasnât any overspill on these channels, but 1089 was definitely the most notable - there was basically no difference between 1089 and 1098.
Good list there.
Itâs strange also, that you got 1512 2RN Newcastle at 5, but only got 1233 2NC Newcastle at 3, considering they both transmit off the same mast, at the same power, & that 2NC is the only station in Australia who use 1233, essentially making it a clear channel station.
Being a higher frequency probably helps 1512⌠part of the reason why 1548 ABC Emerald (4QD) seems to be receivable almost everywhere at night in Oz.
Donât forget 4QD is 50kW & Iâm sure itâs set up to DX at night as itâs Groundwave daytime signal isnât much better than 4HI on 1143 with 5kW, I noticed this a few years back when i spent a few days at a relloâs place about 100km north of Emerald
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If it was earlier in the night, Iâd say yes, but at this time of year, 7:30pm is far enough into the night to make no difference.
The higher frequencies start to skip early/first via Skywave, due to when the D layer in the atmosphere starts to break down, the lower the frequency, the more dependant on the D layer as to Skywave prorogation.
Short Wave radio (higher frequencies), which you might be getting confused with, has a shorter wavelength that goes through the D layer day & night.
In the Medium Wave band (AM), the D layer absorbs the Skywave propagation during the day, so itâs predominately Ground wave propagation. The top of the band, (higher frequency/shorter wavelength), skips first at night, & gradually (but quite fast), moves down the band. By 2 hours after sun set, & before sun rise the entire AM band is almost equal in skip abilities, & skip strength is dependant on the transmitter power, & how much Skywave the antenna is designed to let out.
Well designed AM transmitter sites are built to restrict Skywave propagation both day & night, focusing most of the power into the Ground wave.
In the AM broadcast band, all power/energy in the Skywave is wasted, itâs useless for anything other than DX enthusiasts, because the angle the signal hits the ionosphere & bounces back, throws the signal far out of area.
Short, medium & distant listeners, need the Ground Wave for reception, then thereâll be a dead signal space (actually measurable) & then thereâll be the reflected skywave signal area, (for DXâing use).