Things are starting to fire up now with enhancements from the south. Power fm over Rhema CC, and Pulse over Todays Country CC on the car radio. Everything else from Knights Hill enhanced.
Hepburn is now going for an extreme 10+ duct to form between Wollongong and Newcastle tonight. There could be significant CCI to Newcastle / Wollongong tv later this evening.
The duct south of Sydney is now starting to appear on the BOM weather radar.
Just got home, and turned on the stereo.
Newcastle starting to pickup, but not strong enough yet for RDS on the commercials / 2NUR.
Middle Brother also starting to pickup too.
101.5 Great Lakes under the splatter of Hit 101.3 and WS fm.
The Wollongong duct is strong enough to protect Wollongong Tv from Newcastle at this stage.
Yes tonight hasn’t been particularly exciting here.
Wollongong and South Coast were strong earlier with Pulse over Todays Country in a null. Also had South Coast ABCs at low stereo levels, 2BAB and 91.7 2ST in mono.
Canberra ABCs in at mono levels, similarly with Eagle FM, but still no RN on 97.9… I’m still waiting to hear that one.
Sydney has been fading up and down a bit too. SWR was received with RDS but not much else to note.
It actually has been pretty good here, tonights Highlights -
97.9 Classic fm Mt Moombil weak, first catch this summer.
Full RDS on Hit 106.9 and 102.9 Triple M
Middle Brother at moderate strength, 98.7 Classic fm in stereo
Nothing south of Knights Hill.
I spent quite a bit of time trying for 91.8 More fm Auckland. Occasionally something popped up above the noise floor but it was so week I could not get an ID. I thought I heard a kiwi accent but I could have been imagining it.
It could have been 91.7. 2ST popping up, or it was More fm Auckland. Previously on the couple of times I have received 91.8 More fm Auckland it has been extremely weak and then pops up from underneath the noise floor.
91.6 More fm Northlands when received here on the couple of occasions by tropo is much stronger and stable and can be better ID.
Unfortunately the TCL on 91.6 spoilt that and splatters onto 91.8 which made IDing what was on 91.8 tonight impossible.
Best chance of NZ tropo tonight would have been right on the coast in an elevated spot and where 91.6 could be nulled.
Also tonight’s Hepburn chart was overcooked.
11:30pm update Eagle fm and Radio National Goulburn on 97.9
The coastal winds are too high for great tropo this evening.
But the coastal winds are set to decrease significantly after 2am tomorrow morning.
Always a chance between 2am & 10am tomorrow of something better, time will tell.
Just the usual Northernly Tropo (Newcastle/Middle Brother) here in Bowral. No NZ here. Checked 90.0 (The Rock) and 90.2 (Today FM) for any sign of NZ but there is none. 91.6 and 91.8 are too close to 2ST Nowra.
I am still waiting for the tropo to be so intense that it looks like severe thunderstorms off the coast. On the BOM radar.
I have not seen that for a few years. When this did happen last, Middle Brother was strong all day. This was also when I last had 91.6 More fm Northland with tropo.
Signals from Orange have been at times been quite good overnight, but signal levels have been varying throughout the period. Also the signal levels from 95.1 Bathurst has been much better than usual. Have had RDS from 95.1 ,103.5, 105.1 & 105.9 overnight.
Looking at the Hepburn maps there is still ‘a chance’ of NZ FM the closer you are to the east coast up until mid morning. Pity the New Plymouth FM signals are mostly shielded from us.
Orange still quite strong this morning here too.
102.7 Classic fm in stereo, and Hit and Triple M just above the noise floor.
That is as good as they get here. I never can get them as strong as you.
102.3 is alternating between Classic fm Canberra and Triple J CWS.
Last night around 11pm the Tropo echoes on the Bom Radar changed. The echoes off the Coast between Wollongong and Newcastle disappeared, they were replaced by white echoes covering Sydney, and extended out to Orange, north to Tamworth, and south to just north of Goulburn. All coastal tropo disappeared and it was replaced with Orange, Goulburn and Canberra which is still hanging around this morning.
Looking a head, on the Sunday Hepburn chart more ducts forecast between NZ and the NSW coast, but this time it is from the west coast of the South Island of NZ. Unfortunately there are no high powered transmission sites located there.
I will keep following the charts to see if they improve over time.
Don’t count out tropo reception from the west coast of the South Island. I have had it strong in the past, even over the semi locals on 89.1 and 89.9. Unfortunately if 91.6 is still on it would be difficult to receive the marker station, the unlisted ‘The Hits’ translator for the Westport region on 91.7. 93.1 ‘The Hits’ Greymouth is another possibility. Your best bet may be RNZ National on 101.1 but that’s difficult now due to 2LT.
That video made news on the ABC News site. 
Intense troppo from the north this morning. Mackay booming in with RDS. Townsville including commercials also at good strength. Wide Bay, Rockhampton, Gladstone as well.
Update - was able to drive around Brisbane listening to Zinc FM this morning. Fraser Coast, Bundaberg and Childers stations were at same strength as major Brisbane signals.
At the peak MMM stations could be heard from Gold Coast, Brisbane, Fraser Coast, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Mackay and Townsville.
Is it possible to video some of these long haul tropo catches (Townsville etc.)? I’m sure a few on here would be interested. Hopefully Cairns comes up for you. Judy (in disguise with glasses) may disrupt the path up there though. Judy’s warm dry sector may be influencing this tropo as well.
Some very good tropo tonight which is enhancing stations with their transmitters close to the coast.
Vox fm from Brokers Nose, strong enough for an RDS decode.
Central Coast Community stations very strong all with full RDS decodes. Coast fm, close to local strength with no splatter from CADA.
97.5 2HD strong enough for Full RDS decode. Have they turned off their stereo pilot?
Newcastle commercials and 2NUR only at moderate strength.
You can see the duct on the BOM weather radar and it is strengthening.
Yes. Last night I was only obtaining tropo enhancement from Illawara area, but tonight it’s Illawara, Central Coast & little further north.
Yes.
The RDS data profile of 96.3 Coast FM has changed quite a bit since I last looked.
PTYN has disappeared. RT+ with group codes 3A & 11A has now been implemented.
Has CT (Group 4A) also disappeared? @RFBurns ?
You’re obviously getting a better capture of it than I.
No chance of RDS decoding that here.
Bit too weak to determine if stereo pilot carrier there or not.
I certainly can’t see it atm.
Has been calm on the coast past couple of nights.
Other than stronger than usual 107.7 Gosford, some over GNFM. Not much down here in Bowral. Usually when tropo is received in Sydney, the signal would reach Bowral.
It was very coastal last night, and there was no enhancements from the Southern Highlands. Even Knights Hill was just out of the duct.
It basically was Port Stephens, Central Coast, Brokers Nose. Like Knights Hill, Mt Sugarloaf was also just outside the duct.
You were too far west of the duct, and the blocking of the Gib.
Nothing but strong westerly winds here on the tablelands, continuing today. Moss Vale reached 28 in NW winds yesterday; Bungendore was only 24. An inversion- pardon the pun- of the usual maximum temperature regime in the warmer months.
We replaced the FM & Streaming processors & RDS encoder about 6 months ago & we’ve just recently replaced the PC/Server that the RDS Encoder is on, so yes things have changed a bit.
Not sure if I’ll put PTYN back & yes I think the CT (Group 4A is turned off at the moment), RT+ was implemented on the old encoder for a while before it got replaced, so that’s not that new.
