AM and FM DX

I find the western side of Mt Ainslie a bit more interesting, Bathurst and Young is there as well as Wagga and Griffith.

Maybe because i come down from up north?

Black Mountain overload can be an issue on the west side though.

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There was in the Sydney - Orange/Bathurst region overnight.

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It been a while since there has been any activity in this thread.

Anyway some weak inland Winter Tropo. Suppose to be doing the shopping on my day off today, but have been distracted.

On the car radio in the car park at Stanhope Gardens shopping centre

89.7 switching between News Radio Bega / Cooma and 2RES

92.7 Zoo Fm weak just above noise floor when received

93.1 Real Fm weak

93.5 Switching between. Eagle fm and Triple M Dubbo

94.7 Triple J Tamworth, peaks just above the noise floor

96.7 Classic fm Mt Dowe just above noise floor on peaks

97.1 and 98.7 Middle Brothers, moderate strength on Peaks

100.1 Triple J Bega / Cooma, over Bathurst but just above noise floor.

101.5 Triple J Canberra

102.3 Classic / Triple J

103.5 2BA just above the noise floor

103.9 News Radio Canberra

105.5 Classic fm / SBS Canberra

106.3 News Radio CWS

Orange fm, nationals and commercials also enhanced.

The current Hepburn Tropo Forecast map shows the current inland tropo. It should hang around into tomorrow. Before becoming more coastal tropo on Thursday when the warmer weather hits the coast.

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BTW what is everyone’s thoughts on the upcoming El Niño, do we get better tropo then in neutral or La Nino phases?

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I think better tropo overall as there’s more high pressure. What really matters for intense tropo is whether blocking highs form. I’d expect to see NZ tropo this summer as there will be a lot of heat inland.

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I was think along the same lines aswell, the past two La Nino years has been Ok, I guess. With El Niño there would be less cold fronts, the highs would push them well south of Australia , and less strong NW winds that kill tropo.

A few interesting catches from my backyard in suburban Geelong.

88.5 - Coming in quite well ABC Local Radio on King Island.
93.3 - Very weak, matched ABC Classic FM most likely NE Tassie as I’ve never head Mt Dundas which seems the other possibility.
103.3 - Very weak, seemed to match Triple J, Albury/Wodonga?
106.5 - unidentified very weak, some sport-related talk as part of a news segment. Potentially ABC Goulburn Murray given 103.3 catch

Also picked up commercials and nationals from Bendigo, Ballarat and Latrobe Valley on various frequencies. Most of these are often reasonable signals into the Geelong area but not in my particular location, showing some lift.

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Went up to Brownhill Heights lookout in Geelong this morning and had some good tropo results. Good opening to to the north/north-east generally, stations making it in well from Gippsland all the way round to Bendigo/Echuca. I had both Edge FM stations (102.1 Wangaratta and 102.5 Deniliquin) coming in with RDS. Also got hit104.9 Albury (RDS) and a swath of other Albury/Wodonga stations including 106.5 ABC Goulburn Murray which was strong and stable in the car on the commute to work in Melbourne this morning, still going strong about 9am.

Late last night I was getting hit100.9 Hobart and a few others but no whiff of any Tassie stations this morning.

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I have got a ridiculously long whip on my TEF tuner now. No time this week to DX but hopefully I can give it a go next week from a suitably high location. Indoors there is a huge signal boost: now getting Sydney FM quite well and Braidwood is readily received with RDS.

This fat high is really enhancing the tropo; I expect to see more of this as we head into the next drought phase.

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Did a spot of DXing on the car radio at Braye Park Lookout in Newcastle today.

Conditions favoured the north west, so meant 94.7 JJJ Tamworth over News Radio Taree, and 100.7 ABC RN Mt Dowe over MMM Port Macquarie.

Nothing from Orange, Central West Slopes or Armidale though.

Will keep an ear out over the next few days as the clear mild weather conditions continue.

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Back in my Geelong days I always found inland north/northeast was pretty reliable during most openings, along with northern Tassie. Getting Albury at RDS levels is pretty good though. My indicator was if Shepparton was strong enough to be audible or get to RDS under the locals (95.3 always cops it from K-Rock for instance) then something was up.

On the topic, and seeing a few of them featured here, are those TEF radios worth the investment? I have the little Tecsun and Sangean and they’re ok, but wondering if I try and justify the present to myself of getting the modern ‘you beaut’ edition.

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I have been wondering the same thing!

I do have a couple of questions for anyone who has a TEF radio…

  1. I think I recall the sound via headphones is FM stereo?
  2. If so, how does it handle any static in an FM stereo signal? Does it leave the static in, or does it dial down the stereo effect closer to mono (like the Tecsun radios do).
  3. How does the sound quality compare to the Tecsuns, or Sonys/Sangeans or other units? That’s the main downfall with the Tecsuns (along with no RDS), sound quality is only OK rather than decent.
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Without a doubt. It’s basically the portable version of the Sony XDR (with better RDS capability). You can get longer whip antennae off AliExpress, pair that with the radio and you’ll save on shipping.

Sound quality is average but for a radio this good- who cares.

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Do you mean from Passchendaele Ridge (Southern Downs) or Mt Marlay (Stanthorpe town)? Or both?

Would be great if the replan was enacted sooner than later. Same for over in SE Qld

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Amazing, thank you @Informer

@Radiohead Boomerang Road in Braye Park?

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@crankymedia Howdy there Cranky, haven’t heard from you for a while?

Yes, that’s it… Street View below…

The site updated with login beyond the iOS until I updated there, been logged out for months frustratingly.

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Driving home this afternoon I had something pop up underneath 702 ABC Sydney twice. I couldn’t identify what it was but I could hear it was a woman talking over music.

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I will be heading over to Perth / WA for a week on Sunday.

Will have a rental car (probably a Toyota Camry) and plan to drive down as far as Cape Leeuwin lighthouse…

Any tips for some accessible DX spots from Perth to Cape Leeuwin? @informer might know?

Car should have DAB+, so I’ll also be interested to see how far Perth and Mandurah get out.

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