AM and FM DX

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7972

Got into WA on Sunday … haven’t been able to post much until now as the last two nights in the Swan Valley have had almost no internet coverage as I was staying in a metal cabin.

In Perth (Swan Valley around 9pm) AM was pretty much just this - almost all WA only and nothing overseas.

531 6DL Dalwallinu good
558 6WA Wagin good
603 6PH Port Hedland fair
612 6RN Dalwallinu fair
621 6EL Bunbury fair
630 6AL Albany good
657 SEN Perth local
666 6LN Carnarvon weak
675 6BE Broome weak
684 6BS Busselton good
702 6KP Karratha fair
720 6WF Perth local
747 6SE Esperance fair
756 6TZ Busselton good
783 6VA Albany fair
810 6RN Perth local
828 6GN Geraldton good
846 6CA Carnarvon fair
855 ??? Bunbury fair
864 6AM Northam fair
882 6PR Perth local
900 6BY Bridgetown fair
918 6NA Narrogin fair
963 6TZ Bunbury weak
990 6RPH Perth local
1008:HPON Geraldton good
1044 6BR Bridgetown fair
1080 6IX Perth local
1098 6MD Merredin good
1134 6TZ Collie fair
1152 6PB Busselton fair
1188 6XM Exmouth fair
1206 HPON Perth local
1269 6RN Busselton fair
1296 6RN Wagin fair
1323 Cruise Adelaide weak
1404 HPON Busselton weak
1431 HPON Kalgoorlie weak
1449 HPON Mandurah weak
1494 6EL Busselton weak
1548 4QD Emerald weak

I am now down at Busselton 1 block from the water, so hoping for some overseas and more interstate catches the next couple of nights!

……

On FM, in the Perth area, my only real notes were

Swan Valley - 90.5 and 101.7 6SEN reception was much worse than the others, I know they are lower power and over at Ardross, I barely got stereo on 101.7. The others (including Curtin FM and Noongar FM) from the Bickley TXs were good.

At North Beach, got weak Lancelin 102.9 and 103.9

At Kings Park, got fair Central Agricultural ABCs on 98.1, 98.9 and 99.7… also weak 100.5, may be Hit Bridgetown ??

I did also try Cape Peron at Rockingham, but nothing else to report from there.

…….

In Bunbury at Marlston Hill @Informer I parked on the left! My rental ended up being the grey Subaru, but it was worked well in that it had good reception and DAB! Though sound quality is very average (as with most base model cars these days).

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In terms of stations received at Marlston Hill at 2pm today, I got the additional stations not received in Perth

738 6MJ Manjimup weak
1017 HPON Bunbury local

A special mention to 828 6GN Geraldton making an appearance at Marlston Hill!

I’ll post my FM log from Marlston Hill a bit later tonight.

6 Likes
7973

Does Marlston Hill still have that funky looking purple tower at the top? I distinctly remember that from my visit in 2001 (as well as that ‘skyscraper’ in the centre of the shot).

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7974

It still has the tower, nice views from up there too, can’t remember if it was funky looking or not!

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7975

Marlston Hill Bunbury FM log

91.3 Sport FM fair
91.7 The Wave Mandurah good with RDS
92.1 6RTR Perth fair
92.9 6MMM Perth weak
93.3 6ABC Bunbury local
93.7 6PER Perth weak
94.1 6JJJ Bunbury local
94.5 6MIX Perth weak
95.3 6EBA Perth very weak
95.7 Hit95.7 Bunbury local with RDS
96.1 6NOW Perth weak
96.5 6HRV Harvey good
96.9 6SBS Perth fair
97.3 6CST Mandurah good
97.7 6ABC Perth fair
98.1 6JJJ Central Agricultural fair
98.5 6SON Perth weak
98.9 6ABC Central Agricultural fair
99.3 triple j Perth fair somehow managed RDS
99.7 6PNN Central Agricultural fair
100.1 6NR Perth fair
100.5 6BET Bridgetown weak
100.9 6NME Perth fair
101.3 101.3 FM Collie good with RDS
101.7 6SEN Perth fair
102.1 DBCR Donnybrook good with RDS
103.7 TCBL Bunbury local
107.9 6FCR Fremantle weak

Main takeaway for me was getting Perth community stations better than the commercials…. I think the Perth commercials must have a null to the south for some reason, despite being easy to get in Mandurah .???

6 Likes
7976

In summer I had Albany (Southern Ag) mixing with the Perth stations, from Bunbury. Tropo levels would be rock bottom now.

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7977

Yup, that’s the way I hear it as well. In fact, I’d say the community stations are a fraction stronger than the nationals. Snap from this morning…

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I wonder if those shark fin car antenna favor horizontal polarization, rather than vertical?? A couple of vertical stations, permanent on Marslton Hill…
94.9 Katanning
96.7 Collie
107.3 HFM Perth

Wasn’t us. I believe we have 855 as a community allocation but it has never been used. I hear one of the QLD ABCs on 855 at night.

That’s the one. The purple has worn off now and is just concrete and steal. Changing coloured light shine on it at night.

6 Likes
7978

From a technical drawing of a Shark Fin antenna I’ve seen, yes I’d say so, I’m not sure all are made the same way, but the one I saw, the actual antenna runs along the top of the casing following the top line of the shark fin shape, so it’s sloped backwards at sort of a bent 45 degree slope, but somewhat more horizontal than vertical, the rest of the casing below that is fitted sometimes with a signal amplifier & mounting base/cable entry.

5 Likes
7979

Went for a drive down to Cape Leeuwin today and it was cold (10 degrees) wet and windy!

At least if nothing else it establishes a baseline as my lists are very short! Taken 12pm today

AM

558 6WA Wagin OK
585 6PB Perth fair
621 6EL Bunbury fair
630 6AL Albany weak
684 6BS Busselton OK
720 6WF Perth OK
738 6MJ Manjimup good
756 6TZ Margaret River OK
783 6VA Albany very weak
810 6RN Perth weak
900 6BY Bridgetown fair
963 6TZ Bunbury weak
1044 6BR Bridgetown very weak
1071 6WB Katanning very weak
1152 6PB Busselton fair
1269 6RN Busselton fair
1296 6RN Wagin fair

FM

93.3 6ABC Bunbury good
94.1 6JJJ Bunbury good
95.7 Hit95.7 good with RDS
97,1 6AUG Augusta local doesn’t have RDS
98.3 6ABCRN Augusta local
99.1 6ABCRR Augusta local
100.5 6BET Bridgetown weak
101.5 Triple M local with RDS. Had 756 ID….stereo sound, probably fed by web stream?

And that is it!

6 Likes
7980

Isn’t there a (s)hit translator on 100.3 down there (Margaret River, I think)?

For everyone’s sake it would be better if the fronts stopped peaking over WA. The Snowies would kill for that front right about now.

3 Likes
7981

Yes, Hit Margaret River 100.3 (with Hit95.7 RDS) is on air, but only gets out about 20 kms either side of town…. Couldn’t get it at Cape Leeuwin, which is about 50 kms away from Margaret River.

Triple M 101.5 gets out a bit better, about 30 kms north of Augusta it starts to come in.

4 Likes
7982

Having said that, the DAB reception has been very good. And that is vertical. Perhaps DAB has its own antenna in the shark fin casing.

I’m going back to Perth in the morning so I’ll try and check Marlston Hill for those verticals on 94.9, 96,7 and 107.3 again then.

5 Likes
7983

Quite possibly, but then there’s very few aftermarket shark fin aerials that do AM/FM & DAB, mostly the DAB will be a separate aerial, I’m not even sure how many factory shark fin aerials do DAB as well, a lot of the time the DAB aerial will be separate & run up either front A pillar or across the top of the windscreen.

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7984

Thanks as always @RFBurns , appreciate your effort of making a contribution.

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7985

110mm rainfall at farm/station near Busselton yesterday mentioned on ABC RN this morning. Highest ever during August for the area.

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7986

I believe that… didn’t stop raining at all yesterday… sunny again today until Monday)(my last day here as I fly back to Sydney then).

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7987

Apologies, have been meaning to post a reply!

So I’m back in Perth, this time in the CBD.

I tried Marlston Hill Bunbury again quickly on the way back yesterday, and 96.7 Hit Collie could be received weakly on the Subaru car radio, but nothing from 94.9 Katanning or 107.3 Armadale, as noted by @Informer

I’ve also been meaning to post my Tuesday night AM log from Busselton, around 9pm, 1 block from the bay. It was good, but maybe not as good as I had hoped, only 1 overseas station… This was on my Digitech AR-1747

531 6DL Dalwallinu fair
558 6WA Wagin clear
585 6PB fair
594 3WV Horsham good
612 6RN Dalwallinu fair
621 6EL Bunbury good
630 6AL Albany fair
639 5CK Crystal Brook weak
648 6GF Kalgoorlie fair
657 HPON Perth fair
666 6LN Carnarvon fair
684 6BS Busselton local good
720 6WF Perth good
729 5RN Adelaide fair
738 6MJ Manjimup weak
756 6TZ Busselton local good
774 3LO Melbourne fair
783 6VA Albany fair
810 6RN Perth fair
828 6GN Geraldton fair
837 6ED Esperance weak
846 6CA Carnarvon fair
864 6AM Northam fair
882 6PR Perth fair
891 5AN Adelaide fair
900 6BY Bridgetown fair
918 6NA Narrogin fair
936 6FX Fitzroy Crossing fair
963 6TZ Bunbury good
981 6KG Kalgoorlie fair
990 6RPH Perth weak
1008 HPON Geraldton weak
1017 HPON Bunbury good
1044 6BR Bridgetown weak
1071 6WB Katanning weak
1080 6IX Perth weak
1098 6MD Merredin fair
1134 6CI Collie fair
1152 6PNN Busselton local good
1188 6XM Exmouth weak
1206 HPON Perth weak
1215 6NM Northam fair
1269 6RN Busselton local good
1296 6RN Wagin fair
1404 HPON Busselton local good
1431 HPON Kalgoorlie weak
1449 HPON Mandurah weak
1494 6EL Margaret River fair
1575 VOA Thailand (presumed) OK - this was the only overseas station I could detect

And in the Perth CBD, FM reception of community stations is much better than it was in the Swan Valley. Can now get 88.5 VCA (no RDS), 91.3 6WSM, 101.7 6SEN, 102.5 6KCR and 107.9 6FCR much better here….

Mandurah 91,7 and 97.3 are received in reasonable stereo with RDS on 91.7… Even weak to fair Central Agricultural ABCs on 98.1, 98,9 and 99.7

Nothing from 89.7 6TCR and weak 105.7 6IX… Nothing at all from Bunbury though.

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7988

I remember getting something on 1377 from Bunbury that was foreign (presumed Indonesia). Like you I noted strong 774 Melbourne, presumably due to the partial water path across the Bight. Sydney and Brisbane are tougher because the path is mostly over land.

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7989

This might be our chance for some winter FM DX @Radiohead, if you’re still sand groping.

Lancelin 102.3 and 103.9, strong.
Jurien Bay 103.1 and 104.7, weak but able to tell Hit and Triple M still on opposite frequencies.
Geraldton, weak. 94.9. Plus 98.9, 99.7 and 101.3 using SDR# co channel canceller.

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7990

Unfortunately I’m on the plane back to Sydney as I type! Tis always the way!

But I can’t complain really, I’ve had good weather 7 days out of 8 whilst in WA, despite not getting any real DX catches.

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7991

Do you ever try radio reception from inside the plane?

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