Is this a temporary arrangement or permanent?
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Permanent.
Further information can be found below.
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Yes youâre right- 558 Invercargill was a Radio Sport frequency. So what- if anything- is replacing Trackside?
Interesting about Gold. I see they will run a slightly different format on AM and FM. The AMs are replacing Radio Sport but the FMs seem to have mostly replaced Mix FMs. Auckland is on 105.4, with Coast moving down to 98.2 to replace Mix.
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1521 was turned off for a few days here in Tauranga but returned with Newstalk ZB simulcast of what was in 1008 but with the modulation about 3-4db down of what 1008 is⌠I did noticed that at times there was sports broadcasts that 1008 didnât have on.
Will turn on my AM radio later and have a listen what is on 1521 Tauranga now that Gold AM has meant to have launched on 1521
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Driving towards Dubbo on the Golden Highway last night gave a selection of a few ABC AM stations. As I was driving I wasnât able to note them down but I did end up listening to 774 Melbourne (which was great to escape Saturday Night Country).
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I headed to Windsor today. The Scheyville national park for a lagoon walk. I am sure that the dab repeater is being used out there on my dab radios. My car has pretty good reception there. My pocket radio marginal. 702 am was a better choice for the footy, as what @RFBurns has mentioned, the repeaters are pretty weak . 99.1 FM had âbetterâ reception than dab. 96.1 FM boomed in. 101.1, and 99.5 FM were ok too. Not as good as 96.1 FM as expected. Hawkesbury FM had disappointing audio and was not much better than SWR FM reception wise. The Sydney low power community stations like 90.5 FM and 99.3 FM struggled. SWR was the best. The Sydney blowtorches struggle a bit. Whilst better than 101.1 FM and 99.5 FM, it really depends on what spot you were at. 96.1 FM was your only local clear station. All tested with my two Sangean pocket radios. One with dab, the other with am.
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Was down in the Gong this weekend with the family. Got a great deal at the Novotel North Beach, so of course did some dxing on the car radio and on my Sangean dpr-35 Dan+ radio.
Here are the highlights of the trip.
Firstly on the way down between Wilton and Mt Keira, Eagle fm came in quite well in patches. It was revivable until the Mt Keira turnoff.
North Wollongong is not the best spot for Knights Hill reception. This was evident from listening to Power fm. On the car radio it was generally Ok, but there were quite a few dead spots around North Wollongong / Wollongong City. You would have a good stereo signal and then when you drive into a dead spot Power Fm would almost completely loose signal. On the Sangean Dpr-35 from the 8th floor of the Novotel North Beach facing south all I could get of Power fm was a static mono signal. BTW i98 and Waves signal fluctuated madly depended on the positioning of the headphone lead.
Power fm did not become very good until around Port Kembla.
Another interest observation Sydney tv was received better then the local channels.
The Novotel North Beach has a phased Array UHF antenna pointed at Brokers Nose, and a 14 element band 3 VHF antenna pointed towards Sydney, I had to watch the Sydney channels as the local broadcasts from Brokers Nose kept pixelating. Sydney did not pixelate. I was even able to receive weak dab+ on the wrong side of the building on the Sangean.
2ST 91.7 came in quite well on the car radio near Coniston. I wonder how well it will be received once it moves to Cambewarra Mountain?
All major Sydney fm stations were good around North Wollongong / Wollongong Sydney. This included 2MFm, 2LND, 2SER, 2000 fm. C91.3 and the Edge 96.1 could also be received, but not as well due the escarpment. Of the Sydney stations 102.5 Fine Music, and WS fm had the best signal.
Kiama bends, I managed to received Power fm through the bends with no co-channel from Rhema CC. Knights Hill fm reception was quite ordinary in Gerringong too, most people had their Tv antenna pointed at Nowra.
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Your notes are very similar to what experience (with radio) back in mid to late 90s. Kiama itself would have great reception for i98fm then Gerringong you would struggle to get local grade reception. It was like the border of Wollongong. North Wollongong I remember the same thing too. The only thing was , I think Power FM was better in those days.
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I would have thought you wouldnât have any issues getting Wave or i98 in that location, being 8 floors up and south facing.
Can only wonder how residents further north would fare getting indoor reception.
Does make me wonder why Wave and i98 werenât put on Brokers Nose instead of Knights Hill.
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Thatâs correct the Wollongong Radio LAP ends at Gerroa. I98 and Wave are at full Power at Kiama 40kW, but by by Gerringong they are at 20KW. The 4KW bearing starts at Nowra and extends to Mittagong.
Re Power Fm the 10KW bearing starts at Bass Point and extends to Gerroa where the Wollongong LAP ends. Around the Kiama Bends Power Fm is only 10KW V 40KW for i98 / Wave so Power fm suffers more then others with Barren Grounds obstructing the signal, this allows Rhema to cause co-channel interference with only the modest off enhancements.
In Kiama Power Fm has excellent reception at 10KW because Parts of the town have excellent LOS to Knights Hill, You can see the towers from the Kiama Blowhole.
Power Fm is weaker then i98 / Wave in Gerringong because you have 10KW v 20KW and no LOS due to Barren Grounds.
That is why most tv antennas in Gerringong are pointed towards Cambewarra Mountain.
I donât remember the previous reception of Power Fm in Wollongong before they changed towers and antenna, but we all know that their new antenna is more directional to the south, and overspill towards Sydney has been reduced plus the improvement of the Rhema CC signal into Sydney.
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I remember going there in the 90s for camping i think. Power FM/ABC in that spot overpowers Wave and i98 FM (it might be the old array). Cheaper radios it was hard to tune in. Interesting area! I should go back there.
It similar issue (but not as bad) at Crookhaven heads. Cheaper radios struggle to get i98 / wave fm because of the neighbouring ABC Fine Music and ABC local radio (I remember the old clock radio in the caravan park). A decent radio had less issues although on my walkman it wasnât great to listen to i98 fm and wave FM whilst moving around.
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The Novotel North Beach was only one sample point using my pocket radio. I have found in general motels / hotels cause interference to am / fm. However my car radio was able to receive i98 / Wave on the bottom floor of the underground car park. Power fm faded out as soon as I entered to car park.
My coverage maps show around Thirroul is not so good for i98 / Wave, it is tucked in behind the escarpment away from Knights Hill. Power fm is below rural grade in this area.
Brokers Nose has been chosen for future dab+ as it can cover the Wollongong area with minimal power. If they were to use Knights Hill Wollongong Dab+ would overspill into Sydney.
Brokers Nose could have been used for the commercial fm too as Vox and Kix can be received to around Gerringong, but they were quite weak at that location.
If i98 and Wave were to move there they would need to be at a higher power then Vox and use a different antenna arrays to allow commuter coverage to Helensburgh along the M1.
According to Google maps there are three fm panel antennas pointing south and two panels pointing north east. This is to achieve the 2KW to the north and South and 500W to the west.
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I had a similar issue too back in the late 90âs with an old Walkman. Around Albion Park there were spurs on Power fm of i98 / Wave. Does not happen any more with better more sensitive fm tuners.
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A power increase may overcome that issue.
10kw from Brokers could have worked well for Wave and i98.
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Speaking of Brokers Nose, you can actually walk in there. You park at the top of Mount Ousley at the truck rest area and follow a bush track, which joins a fire trail later on. The main vehicular access to Brokers is further north near the top of the hill before Picton Road (locked gate, naturally).
I havenât done the walk myself but @Laoma might wish to do it for his next bushwalk!
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I was up near Oberon yesterday and could get stations from quite far away, presumably because of its elevation.
I didnât have time to do a full bandscan, but most of the Canberra stations came in (~180km), as well as Sydney (~120km), Illawarra (~120km), Central Coast (~150km), Goulburn/Southern Highlands and even the SW Slopes ABC stations (~210km) + Central Western Slopes ABC stations (~280km).
Unless there was tropo yesterday?
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I find Kix to be considerably weaker than Vox in Sydney, despite the same power and transmission site. Anyone know why this is the case?
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We have the same thing here in Brisbane with Sunshine FM and Salt1065 from the Sunshine Coast, both community stations with the same site and power (and same co-channeling with the Southern Downs ABCs). However, the former struggles across a lot of Brisbane while the latter does a lot better.
My guess, one station its transmission running to spec, the other is not. Whether itâs the station running above or below spec is anyoneâs guess⌠
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Different antenna, different processing?
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Great idea! 
. DX and bushwalking is a good way to remain healthy and normally social distance works too (in this modern world) maybe avoid the real popular tracks or during the week.
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