Yes I was also surprised the first time I got 96.1 here, its not a usual catch in my area and took me a while to work out what it was, not helped by ABC News Radio having identical content at the time due to Australian of the Year awards
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Has anyone received any winter solstice Sporadic E fm dx recently?
Iāve been too busy to check of late.
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I personally donāt bother actively looking for it. It takes up too much of your time (as you allude to) and the results are generally less spectacular than in summer. Overwhelmingly, winter Es is of the single hop, garden variety nature.
The only notable catch I have had in winter is New Caledonia on the car radio from Dungog, in August of all months. I was just doing a band scan from the lookout when I came across French on 90.0ā¦thought I was hallucinating!
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Sorry, late to this post as Iāve been away all weekend.
Itās been a while since Iāve actually been a Tamborine man, but from the DX checks down towards the Coast itself Iād suggest 88.9 is on-air at Eagle Heights but not 91.3, while 88.9 is likely not on air from Canungra, but 93.7 definitely is. Eagle Heights being more on the eastern side of the mountain gets out a lot better to the east and the north as well - itās clearly audible in Brisbane in places 93.7 Canungra is not.
91.3 is in use by an RN relay in Bonalbo or somewhere like that - Iāve not heard it in Brisbane or surrounds myself but Iām assured it exists. Itās actually one of the few good DX channels for us here.
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It does and is in fact an ABC Local Radio relay. During skip to the Gold Coast last summer I briefly had it fade up with the cricket. One of those transmitters that doesnāt make the journey out of its home valley, a bit like Omeo.
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Last year around that time I had SpE Hobart fm. So far Winter SpE has only been a once off.
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Amazing that Bonalbo even makes it to being DX - last time I was there it was a 100W NEC into a two or three bay penetrator antenna and is surrounded by mountains. Not a site you would expect DX from.
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I sometimes pick it up in Brisbane, usually along with 2LM Kyogle, Richmond Valley Radio etc.
Speaking of low power DX catches, common catches when there is an opening to the Rockhampton area are the two 50w ABC stations from Miriam Vale 88.3 and 89.9 both rare clear frequencies in Brisbane.
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Also commonly received via Es down this way.
Skip was happening to the Gold Coast (89.3, 90.1 etc.) at the same time as I had 91.3; from memory I donāt think I was receiving anything from further north, so it was almost certainly Bonalbo. Itās been a while since Iāve been north of Ballina but in 2017, I donāt recall getting Bonalbo from the Border Loop lookout.
Reception was extremely brief and I only identified it because of the cricket.
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In Sydney for a couple of nights.
Staying at a serviced apartment near Chinatown 32 floors up that has a good view to the west and south, so I did an FM band scan on my Tecsun and Sangean radios.
88.1 2RDJ 18db stereo no RDS (donāt think they have it anyway).
88.3 WSFM Camden 10db stereo. Stereo was fairly clear though, in many ways easier to listen to than 101.7 as that suffered from significant multipath issues, as did most major Sydney FM stations.
88.5 2RRR 22db stereo no RDS (again donāt think they have it).
88.9 2RDR 49db, still running in mono only with no RDS
89.1 2BLU Katoomba, was weak at only 5db, not strong enough for stereo or RDS.
89.3 2GLF Liverpool, 19db stereo, doesnāt look like they have RDS
89.7 2RES Waverley, 32db clear stereo, no RDS. Itās a wonder they donāt use their DAB info for RDS like other stations do?
89.9 TCBL from Hawkesbury, was weak at only 3db, no stereo or RDS detected
90.1 2NBC Narwee, 25db clean stereo with 2NBC RDS
90.5 2CCR Parramatta 15db stereo with ALIVE905 RDS
90.9 2PNN Wollongong 31db, good signal
91.3 2MAC Campbelltown 15db, hissy stereo just good enough to get C91.3 FM RDS
91.7 was static, not a peep from 2ST. I thought this might have been a chance here.
92.1 2MFM 40db with RDS but with Mulipath issues making clean stereo more difficult to get.
92.5 2WYR Moss Vale, this was a bit harder to get a read on, my Tecsun only showed 5db strength, but the Sangean gave me listenable stereo. No RDS though. Still it was the best signal from the Highlands.
92.9 2ABC Sydney, 54db but M/P issues.
93.3 2RPH Wollongong 14db fairly clean mono
93.5 nothing here, tried for Eagle FM Goulburn.
93.7 2LND Sydney, 43db M/P issues here too
94.1 2LIV Wollongong 20db with stereo and Pulse941 RDS
94.5 2FBI Sydney 44db with MP, doesnāt seem to be running RDS at the moment. I noticed it was blank on Wednesday.
94.9 2WSK Nowra 15db hissy stereo with Power-FM RDS
95.3 2PTV Sydney 49db MP issues. Stereo and RDS
95.7 2ABC Wollongong 31db clean stereo
96.1 2ONE Katoomba 27db clean stereo with RDS
96.5 2UUL Wollongong 35db clean stereo with Wave-FM RDS. Noted that the signal strength seemed a bit stronger than the Gong ABCsā¦? Same with 98.1
96.9 2SYD same notes as 95.3
97.3 2ILA same as 90.9 and 95.7
97.7 2SBS 46db MP issues but now seem to be running the dreaded SBS / Radio Dynamic RDS (same as Melbourne).
98.1 2WIN Wollongong 33db stereo with i98FM RDS, slightly weaker than 96.5, but stronger than the ABCs
98.5 2OOO Sydney 43db MP
98.9 2JJJ Wollongong similar to other Gong ABCs
99.1 2UUS Hawkesbury 15db, hissy stereo
99.3 2NSB 22db cleanish stereo with FM99.3 RDS
99.5 2ICE Katoomba only 4db, weaker than 101.1 2LT
99.7 2SSR Sutherland 19db hissy stereo, doesnāt look to have RDS yet.
99.9 2SWR Blacktown 32db clean stereo with SWR 99.9 RDS
100.1 nothing here, tried for 2HHH or hoping for 2BCB Bathurst
100.3 2MCR Campbelltown only 6db.
100.5 2RPH Sydney City, 40db
100.7 nothing here, tried for 2WOW Penrith
100.9 2BAC Bankstown, 29db clean stereo no RDS running still
101.1 2LT Katoomba 6db, mono
101.3 very weak 2CFM Gosford, didnāt register a reading on the Tecsun
101.7 2UUS 45db, MP
102.5 2MBS 54db, didnāt suffer as much MP issues as the others.
102.9 weak 2ST Bowral, didnāt register a reading on the Tecsun
103.2 2CBA 48db MP issues
104.1 2DAY 48db MP issues
104.5 2GOS Gosford, very weak, didnāt register a reading on the Tecsun
104.9 2MMM same as 104.1
105.3 HPON Wollongong, 3db scratchy mono
105.7 2JJJ 48db MP issues
106.5 2WFM same as 101.7
106.9 2VOX Wollongong, 13db clean mono but couldnāt get RDS
107.3 2SER Sydney, now this thing is a blowtorch here as the TX is 600 metres away with line of sight. It set a new signal strength record for me, a whopping 72db. Yet itās the weakest of all Sydney wide community stations at home. Weird
107.7 2GGO Gosford, 5db scratchy mono
107.9 2ICE Lithgow 9db, mono
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Interesting readings, quite surprised about the Central Coast commercials being so weak as they are generally received quite well over most of Sydney.
i98 and Wave fm stronger then the Illawarra national fmās. I donāt have signal strength readings but there is no stereo hiss on i98 and Wave fm, where there is a slight hiss on 98.9 JJJ and 95.7 Classic.
All I can think of is the Illawarra national fm ās must always be below specs. They should be stronger at 167m antenna height and 40KW towards NW Sydney.
Wave and i98 are at 69m and only 20KW towards me.
MP is very bad throughout the Sydney CBD. I remember listening to fm radio on my old Sony Walkman when going to school in the city. Reception was dreadful except for 2MBS and 2SER. Both of these stations were so strong they seeked with the stereo pilot light on without the ear plugs (antenna) plugged in.
2MBS will no longer have itās excellent reception in the CBD when it moves to Artarmon.
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I think if I was on the north side of this building, Central Coast and Wollongong would be the opposite ie. 50Plus instead of 2RPH, strong Hit101.3, Star and MMM and all major Wollongong stations would be weak.
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You will have to test it, but from experience Wollongong / Illawarra comes into the Sydney CBD better then the Central Coast. I think the north shore obstructs the signal where there is less obstruction towards the Gong.
Before Rhema CC started up, and Power fm was using their original antenna, reception was possible on a car radio in the Sydney CBD.
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2RSR aka the evil station that blocks Braidwood FM in Sydney. I think I found your deliberate mistake 
This transmits from the Town Hall. The ground near St. Andrews Cathedral slopes away to the south; Wollongong FM was always clearer than Central Coast inside the SACS buildings.
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Oh yes, typo, good pick up.
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In Yarragon VIC for the next couple of nights. I can confirm that 104.9 is a pirate in Bairnsdale; it was airing 80s New Wave off LISTNR. Only lasted for a couple of km outside Bairnsdale. Also visited Bemm River.
Videos of 104.5 Bemm and the pirate to follow soon.
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Thanks for confirming that.
I thought it was odd too when I was there a few weeks ago.
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The pirate was still airing 80s New Wave when I passed through today. I took the Bruthen diversion on the way back (rather than the Lakes Entrance route) and it lasted to about Sarsfield.
Melbourne FM was a lot better on the way back, probably due to the vagaries of my antenna. The last gasp of Smooth was basically Bairnsdale and the last gasp of ABCFM was around Nowa Nowa. Also had suspected 90.9 Illawarra coming down the hill near Newmerella (the Victorian one, just west of Orbost). It was replaced with weak Launceston on the other side of town.
Typical westerly blow conditions so nothing to report on the tropo front. The ā5 starā Tassie tropo location at Lakes Entrance where TVT6 was famously received by RC (the lookout on the west side of town) yielded only Launceston this time.
dxer2_2000 is editing all the videos (I drove; he filmed). So once I have those I can post them. It will be a nerdās delight.
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Im currently up in North Queensland
While not necessary a unusual catch considering the imminent end of 4KQ i thought i would post this video of night time reception from Home Hill QLD.
Nulling out 4KZ has been fairly easy.
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Some good old Winter inland tropo happening this morning into NW Sydney.
Eagle fm enhanced, seeking and hitting the stereo freehold on my hifi with dx setup.
Unfortunately no CCI to Triple M CC. I will try it on the car radio when dropping the kids to school this morning, it always receives better Goulburn fm reception then my hifi.
Very strong mono signal of 2BS.
Interestingly Orange is weaker then normal.
Weak Canberra national fmās.
Weak Middle Brother
Illawarra tv signals also enhanced.
Update: some very slight CCI to Triple M CC from GNFM at the high points near Acacia Gardens water tower, but never cut over. When this CCI was received the 1KW 94.3 Sky Sports Goulburn service was received.
It looks like only the most extreme tropo events normally experienced in Summer could achieve a cut over.
ACMA planned this service well to protect Triple M CC.
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