AM and FM DX

Found the specs for 2000
25kw Directional
12.5Kw Directional

I am assuming from a dxing perspective the coverage will be better from Artarmon V North Sydney?

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For my crappy setup on my work computer using some broken aerial but does the job for DAB radio. It is about 60 of 100 for Triple M/2000 FM/92.1/WSFM. I’d say it would really improve my reception (2000 FM moving from North Sydney) . The northern side of Sydney I think were at a disadvantage (maybe because of the buildings? ) when 2000 was at North Sydney.

As an FYI I use FM Player as software. I never really notice if the power decreases (of the big boys) as Pennant Hills (in my part anyway) it isn’t too far to walk to see the towers. If I got on my roof there is a chance I could see the site, but I am not the type to go on the roof :slight_smile:. Although when I go bushwalking for my legal excercise its not too far away, to go to a stretch of the great north walk which has patchy DAB reception. It is the hills district after all! So it is variable. From overload to patchy, with just a 20-25 min walk :slight_smile:.

I don’t need an outdoor aerial to get TV although you need to play around to get steady reception (ideally I should have an outdoor aerial) unless you put an aerial on a wardrobe then it is pretty steady with minimal issues.

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Getting 2000-FM (or should that be 2TripleO as per DAB station name) at 27db on the Tecsun (was only 15db when at North Sydney). About the same as 2MFM but slightly weaker than Hope (30db).

RDS decodes instantly on the Sangean.

The Tecsun shows a stereo pilot, but the Sangean doesn’t…
Seems like there’s something not right there…

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So the reason why Hope is on 103.2 (an even numbered frequency) in Sydney instead of 103.3 is because of 2GCR Goulburn.

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The MPX from the studio into the TX is not under my control, I’ll look into it & get them to check the Stereo encoder.

Looking at the MPX spectrum, both the mono & the stereo audio looks strange, so I think there might be an issue with the MPX encoder?

The RDS is injected into the MPX in the transmitter (which I control).

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It does look a little odd is as far of the audio baseband (mono & stereo channels) looks sharply filtered to half normal bandwidth, say cut to 7kHz rather than full 15kHz.

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since I am in contact with Marc McCreadie at 2CA, I suggested to him to lobby the ACMA for 103.1 for am AM-FM conversion of 2CA

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That would be good if that was to happen. It would really shake up the market and impact Mix 106.3 the most.
2CA could relaunch as C103. Would they keep the same format on Fm would remain to be seen.

I did a more detailed coverage check on Nautel of 103.3 Ram fm and 103.1 Canberra. 103.1 would come in around 54db on the more elevated hills in the southern parts of Goulburn. At the same location RAM was equal in strength or stronger.
103.1 was below Rural grade strength in Goulburn city so there would be little or no splatter from 103.1 to Ram fm on 103.3.

Maybe ACMA would apply a 10KW restriction on 103.1 towards Goulburn if this service was to go ahead. I don’t know how this would work as all fm stations are omnidirectional from Black Mountain.

Also they would need to take another one of the already allocated Tuggeranong frequencies that has not gone to air. 95.1 or 107.9.

I said in an earlier post if Canberra fm was allocated at 150KW Tuggeranong probably wouldn’t be required and there would be more available frequencies. The higher power would increase overspill into the cities of Goulburn and Cooma…

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I don’t think more power will overcome the multipath issues in Tuggeranong which is caused by the terrain… if anything it will probably only make it worse?

Also noting that the ABCs need repeaters too and they are 80kw.

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At some point- when restrictions are more relaxed- I’ll do a video in the lee of the Mount Taylor ridgeline showing reception from both Black Mountain and the Tuggers translators. When I last went to central Tuggers reception from BM was fine on my car radio.

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From memory it was parts of Kambah where Black Mountain is shielded by Mt Taylor where Fm reception from Black Mountain was bad.

Apart from that I have never had to use the Tuggeranong fm translators when in southern Canberra, That’s on my car radio. Are they really needed???
The incumbent’s would feel they are as it takes up all the Canberra frequencies, and means no new commercial fm stations will ever be allocated. Canberra could have got a new fm station or 2CA could have converted to fm if News Radio stayed on AM.

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re: 2GCR 103.3 - remember Cooma has 106.5 adj to Mix106.3 & there is no QRM between them. The terrain attentuates the signals a lot thus little overspill.

FYI - 106.5 Cooma is relaying a TV station audio at present. 106.5 is a waste of spectrum, electricity & site rent for the TXer.

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Then there is 106.1 2GN at Crookwell, which is also adjacent to Mix 106.3. RN at Crookwell is set to move to 104.5, which would be positioned in-between 104.3 RN from Orange & hit104.7 from Canberra.

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You also have 97.5 Queanbeyan and 97.7 Snow fm, a medium to high powered adjacent to a low powered within a similar distance of Canberra / Goulburn.
There is probably more terrain shielding between Mt Roberts and Queanbeyan then Black Mountain / Goulburn CBD.

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Another transmitter that might be problematic for the use of 103.1 in Canberra is the low powered (s)hit translator at Tumut, also on 103.1. I can’t remember whether any Canberra stations are receivable around Tumut; they might be in higher locations such as Batlow which may depend on the Tumut translators.

Going the other way, there is not a whiff of signal from Tumut in Canberra, even on 96.3 which is a blank channel. The Brindabellas are a fairly effective ā€˜brick wall’ for FM signals.

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According to my Nautel coverage plot, hit would need to change frequencies for their Tumut translator. 20KW from Black Mt on 103.1 would cause significant co-channel interference in the Tumut. Co-Channel would be even worse in Barlow.

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My experience is that Canberra FM is only receivable in elevated spots west of the Divide AND with a good line of sight to the east.

Signals down the Hume disappear pretty quickly west of Bookham.

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I have noticed that too from personal experience.

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Given they did i98 FM and Newsradio plus Power FM in the upper hunter and thats on the coast. With hilly terrain in theory it should be ok in theory to put 2CA on FM 103.1.

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Which is a mess, and should be a lesson in what NOT to do.

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