Forgot to add to my list… re SBS
92.1 at Narrabri - not on air
103.9 at Gunnedah - is still on air… seems to running SBS Chill and is in stereo.
Moree, Murrurundi and Tamworth as noted further above.
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Interested to see how far north Now fm gets you into QLD. Around the New England region are there any spots where the Port Macquarie or Coffs make it through or are they completely blocked by the terrain? Mindful there is co channeling with central west services
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I too am interested to see what i get around Goondiwindi Warwick and Stanthorpe.
I’ve also been up the New England a few times in the past and am coming back that way on Friday.
But the only North Coast stations I’ve received there in the past are a bit of Lismore around Tenterfield and that’s it. The terrain seems to block everything else.
Will post updates later.
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I’ve heard NOW FM at Point Lookout about 70km from Coffs Harbour (in a straight line). At 1570m ASL, that helps too.
The ranges do kill off the Coffs and Kempsey signals.
The only way you could hear NOW FM on the coastline is in a plane at a decent height.
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Armidale seems to get through a gap in the ranges and makes it to parts of the Kempsey bypass and I think maybe Macksville as well. Mount Dowe can penetrate into certain spots of the coast such as Bonville Headland. But yes- going the other way it is slim pickings, which I guess is why Tamworth and Middle Brother/Taree can occupy the same channels.
The greater HAAT of the New England transmitters is obviously a factor here; puny Mount Cairncross and Sealy Lookout can’t compete with the might of Mount Dowe.
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Look out Mt Gray (Goulburn), you have a challenger for the title of the “King Of Spurs”
Mt Marlay here in Stanthorpe has staked its claim. As the TX site is right on the very edge of town and has 8 local in band stations, I heard spurs on the following frequencies on the car radio going down the main street
93.9, 94.7, 95.5, 96.3, 101.1, 101.9, 102.7 and 104.3
Hit97.9 was heard in most of them.
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I see Granite Belt Fitness is still in business. The place to go for those rock hard abs.
Would anyone like to parlay anything on the resolution of the spurs at Marlay? I’m guessing the 12th of Smarch.
And yes, Stanthorpe has a level of service that is the envy of other small towns. That comes with the territory (pardon the pun) of landing in an overlap zone between the Darling Downs (Toowoomba/Warwick), the remote zone and Tenterfield.
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Long post incoming…
An AM DX post covering Tamworth to Warwick
Tamworth Oxley Lookout 1pm Monday
Gunnedah Porcupine Lookout 9am Tuesday
Narrabri near Visitor Centre 1pm Tuesday
Goondiwindi in Redwood Park 11am Wednesday
Warwick Victoria Park 2pm Wednesday
531 - 2PM Kempsey weak in Tamworth, Gunnedah, nothing elsewhere
540 - 4QL Longreach weak in Goondiwindi, nothing elsewhere
549 - 2CR Orange clear in Tamworth, Gunnedah, good in Narrabri and Goondiwindi, nothing in Warwick
576 - 2RN Sydney good in Tamworth, Gunnedah, nothing elsewhere
585 - 2WEB Bourke good in Tamworth, Gunnedah, clear in Narrabri and Goondiwindi, weak in Warwick
612 - 4QR Brisbane fair in Gunnedah, Narrabri, good in Goondiwindi and Warwick
621 - 3RN Melbourne weak in Tamworth, Gunnedah, not in Narrabri,
630 - 2PB Sydney fair in Tamworth, good in Gunnedah, fair in Narrabri, very weak in Goondiwindi
648 - 2NU local in Tamworth, very good in Gunnedah, good in Narrabri, OK in Goondiwindi
657 - 2BY Byrock fair under minor 2NU splatter in Narrabri, good in Goondiwindi
684 - 2KP Kempsey fair in Tamworth, good in Gunnedah, fair in Narrabri, very weak in Goondiwindi
702 - 2BL Sydney good in Tamworth, Gunnedah, fair under 711 splatter in Narrabri
711 - 4QW St George good in Tamworth, Gunnedah, very good in Narrabri and Goondiwindi, fair in Warwick
720 - 2RN Armidale fair in Tamworth, weak in Gunnedah, nothing elsewhere
738 - 2NR Grafton fair in Tamworth, good in Gunnedah, weak in Narrabri, very weak under 4QS splatter, fair in Warwick
747 - 4QS Toowoomba weak in Tamworth, Gunnedah, fair in Narrabri, good in Goondiwindi, very good in Warwick
756 - 2TR Taree fair in Tamworth, Gunnedah, weak in Narrabri, nothing elsewhere
792 - 4RN Brisbane very weak in Narrabri, fair in Goondiwindi, good in Warwick
801 - HPON Gosford weak in Tamworth, Gunnedah, nothing elsewhere
819 - 2GL Glen Innes fair in Tamworth, good in Gunnedah, Narrabri, OK in Goondiwindi and Warwick
855 - 4QO Eidsvold - very weak in Gunnedah, weak in Narrabri, OK in Goondiwindi
864. - 4GR Toowoomba very weak in Gunnedah, fair in Narrabri, good in Goondiwindi, very good in Warwick
873 - 2GB Sydney very weak in Tamworth, nothing elsewhere
882 - 4BC Brisbane fair in Goondiwindi, OK in Warwick
900 - 2LM Lismore very weak in Gunnedah, fair in Goondiwindi and Warwick
936 - 4PB Brisbane fair in Goondiwindi, OK in Warwick
963 - 4WK Warwick fair in Goondiwindi, local at Warwick
981 - 2NM Muswellbrook good in Tamworth, Gunnedah, weak in Narrabri, very weak in Goondiwindi
1008 - 4TAB fair in Goondiwindi, OK in Warwick
1017 - 2KY Sydney weak in Tamworth, Gunnedah
1044 - 2UH Muswellbrook good in Tamworth, Gunnedah, weak in Narrabri, very weak in Goondiwindi
1053 - SEN Track Brisbane fair in Warwick
1053 to 1125 was 2MO splatter in Gunnedah
1071 - 4SB Kingaroy fair in Goondiwindi and Warwick
1080 - 2MO Gunnedah good in Tamworth, local in Gunnedah, good in Narrabri, fair in Goondiwindi
1116 - 4BH Brisbane fair in Goondiwindi, OK in Warwick
1134 - 2AD Armidale good in Tamworth, fair in Gunnedah, Narrabri
1143 - 2HD Newcastle fair in Tamworth, OK in Gunnedah
1170 - SEN Sydney weak in Tamworth, nothing elsewhere
1188 - 2NZ Inverell weak in Tamworth, Gunnedah, OK in Narrabri
1197 - 4BI Brisbane fair in Warwick
1206 - 2GF Grafton weak in Warwick
1224 to 1350:was 2TM splatter in Tamworth
1233 - 2NC Newcastle weak in Tamworth, Gunnedah, very weak in Narrabri
1242 - 4AK Toowoomba very weak in Narrabri, good in Goondiwindi, clear in Warwick
1251 - 2DU Dubbo weak in Tamworth, Gunnedah, nothing elsewhere
1269 - 2SM very weak in Gunnedah, nothing elsewhere
1287 - 2TM Tamworth local in Tamworth, very good in Gunnedah, good in Narrabri, fair in Goondiwindi
1296 - 4RPH Brisbane weak in Goondiwindi, fair in Warwick
1413 - 2EA Newcastle weak in Tamworth, nothing elsewhere
1449 - 2MG Mudgee weak in Tamworth, nothing elsewhere
1476 - 4ZR Roma fair in Goondiwindi
1512 - 2RN Newcastle weak in Tamworth, nothing elsewhere
1530 - 2VM Moree fair in Tamworth, OK in Gunnedah, very good in Narrabri, Goondiwindi, weak in Warwick
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Yeah it’s absolutely terrible there isn’t it, and as you say there’s no escaping them while in town either. Some even have the RDS of their main station, they’re that strong. The only saving grace is that all the transmissions are only 100W so once you do leave the shadow of Mt Marlay they die off pretty quickly (as do the main signals).
And yep, got to be the envy of most cities in terms of radio variety. Six commercial and one near-commercial all on FM in town, it’s got to be the best concentration of stations per population anywhere in the country I would think.
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Some notes on where FM reception (including Mt Dowe) fades out from Moree northwards
I think there may have been some enhancement at play as Central West Slopes ABCs and Tamworth FMs could be heard in Moree when I left at 8am today
97.5 2GGG - faded out about 60kms north of Moree
98.3 2NOW - faded out just south of Boggabilla (near QLD border).
103.7 SKY Sports Moree - faded out about 70kms north of Moree
The mighty Mt Dowe ABCs just kept going… still pretty stable in Goondiwindi, they eventually faded about 30 kms south west of Inglewood. Not far the other side of Inglewood, some Mt Dowe frequencies were taken by South QLD stations such as News Radio 96.7 Toowoomba and Hit100.7 Toowoomba. The terrain started to get hillier which made it more difficult for Mt Dowe.
Re Goondiwindi stations, some interesting observations
88.7 NOW and 89.5 2VM had the best coverage - heard from 70 kms out of Goondiwindi to the south and north-east
92.7 and 94.3 ABCs, heard from 45 kms south of Goondiwindi to about 65 kms north east.
96,3 Rebel and 98.7 Breeze were the worst performers both ways. Only received about 25 kms on both ways, RDS didn’t kick in until about 15 kms out. They were momentarily lost in Boggabilla near the NOW / 2VM TX site.
This surprises me as RBL and Breeze are 500 watts, but the ABCs are only 200 watts and have better coverage. Must be due to antenna height? For comparison, NOW and 2VM are 600 watts.
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So THAT explains why Rebel always drops out in Boggabilla! I always wondered why it dropped out for a bit then came back once you turned right to go to Moree. It all makes sense now if there are other TXs there.
My experiences exactly with those stations through there. Rebel is better now than it used to be too, but is so ordinary out of town, one time I had DX from PNG on 96.3 coming over the top of it at the first rest stop 30km south of Goondiwindi. Driving into town from the QLD side, it’s always that gamble of how soon to try for it so as to not be disappointed by just hearing static.
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Did you also pick up 90.1 Breeze FM and 91.5 4WK?
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Yes I did.
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On my first visit to Stanthorpe in 1998, it was just the Southern Downs ABCs and a scratchy 89.7 2TEN. The bevy of translators came later, though I’m not sure who was first.
Stanthorpe has the best climate in Queensland too by a country mile. I have never been to Goondiwindi or Moree, though I have received the Goondi ABCs weakly from Guyra.
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They were all on air around 2000-01, which was the last time I was in Stanthorpe, apart from Breeze. Back then 97.1 was SUN FM.
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Some observations on the drive from Stanthorpe to Armidale.
Coffs ABCs could be heard at times south of Tenterfield to Ben Lomond, even still on the higher peaks around the southern side of Armidale.
Atop Ben Lomond hill (around 1400m ASL) Middle Brother 96.3, 97.1 and 98.7 could be heard, even very weak Hit and Triple M from Coffs Harbour. They didn’t last long though. Didn’t hear them again after that.
Down the descent into Guyra, Central West Slopes ABCs could be faintly heard.
The Ben Lomond Hill stops almost everything from the north. Southern Downs ABCs, Glen Innes and Tenterfield stations could be heard until then, but were gone by Guyra and not heard again.
Mt Dowe ABCs started to appear south of Tenterfield and were regularly received into Armidale. Even GGG and NOW were heard around Glen Innes and Guyra (GGG seemed to be the stronger of the two).
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I’ve had faint signal of Mt Dowe from the top of Mt Marlay in Stanthorpe itself in my visits there, but these were in the heights of summer so enhancement may have been about. And I did notice on my last trip up the New England Hwy that there was a sweet spot or two for Mt Moombil reception along the road, but it dies before you get to Tenterfield. Mt Nardi is fairly constant from there though and is present around the Granite Belt too from memory.
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I didn’t even try to DX from Mt Marlay given all the hash I heard in town.
Yes, Lismore ABCs were good around Tenterfield, and fair around Glen Innes and atop Ben Lomond, but were gone after that.
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The drive on the New England from Glen Innes to Guyra is interesting as the alignment switches from side to side of the watershed of the divide. Move up onto the ridge where the old rail alignment is and Dowe signals improve as you move onto the inland draining side of the divide.
Did you notice the rapid roll off of Mt Nardi signals south of Bolivia Hill? Mt Nardi national signals start to appear when on the plateau of the Granite Belt, again near to the top of the watershed.
South of there, arriving in Deepwater is when I noticed the NW signals beginning to arrive. Dowe, Inverell and Armidale begin to be received.
Fantastic descriptions @Radiohead, most interesting.
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I would not mind living in Guyra- interesting from a DX perspective and a cool climate. With a Yagi and preamp I reckon you’d get stuff to the north, though of course weaker than on Ben Lomond. Potentially in single Es range of Vanuatu and Port Moresby, too, especially given the high elevation. Higher elevation tends to slightly increase the range for single hop Es in my experience.
The regular spring/summer thunderstorms and frequent cloud-to-ground lightning (not good for DX equipment) would be the only worry. They had a tornado in Armidale last year.
Also a chance of that wonderful incongruity of snow falling outside, whilst listening to FM from Queensland.
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