I managed a reasonable quality signal of KNX 1070 kHz from northern Wollongong last evening using my Sangean PR-D15+ PK loop. The best time to try for it (and 1580 kHz) is just on and before our sunset (1645-1700).
Any other Sydney DXers notice that 94.9 Power FM from Nowra has come in much weaker than it used to be, especially in recent months? I wonder if it coincided with the move of its transmitter (along with Wave & i98) from the old WIN tower (which has been dismantled over the past couple of months) to the higher commercial DTV transmitter, which was mentioned in the âWollongong Radioâ thread a few weeks back?
To explain why, I was on a short day trip just south of Campbelltown this afternoon & have noticed that Power FM is barely receivable on my parents Forester car radio, even in elevated locations that have a good LOS towards the south such as around Bradbury, Rosemeadow & St Helens Park. In fact, Rhema FM from Gosford, which also broadcasts on 94.9, was better received in those same elevated locations. It wasnât until I reached Appin (15km south of Campbelltown) that Power FM could be heard okay. For the record, Wave & i98 are obviously well received in many parts of Campbelltown.
On my home DX setup with my rotatable antenna currently aimed south, Power FM was coming in quite âhissyâ & doesnât stop on auto seek. All other Knights Hill FM stations could be tuned in fine via auto seek.
I can only get Power FM up here near Newcastle during tropo, in fact, I use Power as a bit of a benchmark for strong tropo, as I know when I get that clearly over Rhema (which is ordinarily near local strength here), then it is very good tropo
On another note, I got my American Insignia HD Radio out for another listen today, and I discovered that the adjacent channel splatter rejection on FM is even better than any of my other radios, even my Tecsuns, as a fairly weak SWR 99.9 was detectable on that, but not audible on the other units due to a very strong Rhema on 99.7.
Yes, Iâm in Sydney and noticed that Rhema now dominates the 94.9 frequency when driving around in the car, whereas previously, Power FM did. I seem to recollect that Rhema also relocated their TX site recently.
The ACMA should really investigate options to remove the Wollongong/Illawarra and Central Coast co-channels:
98.1 - ABC NewsRadio/i98
97.3 - Lake Macquarie FM/ABC Local Radio Illawarra
94.9 - Rhema FM/Power FM
94.1 - todayscountry941/Pulse 94.1
93.3 - Radio 50+/Future 2RPH relay
92.5 - ABC Local Radio Gosford/Youth Radio 92.5 (Moss Vale)
I havenât tuned into Power FM recently, but I can vouch for the strength of Rhema Gosford in Sydney; it is even victorious on the northern slope of Maddens Plains hill- a scant 20 km or so from the spiritual home of the Illawarra Steelers.
As for the co-channel situation, even if I were a fish with infinite lung capacity, Iâd drown before anything gets done about it.
Just tried 94.9 on the Tecsun. Itâs now very difficult to get Power FM even moving the antenna around in sorts of directions; the one spot where I could get it, it was quite staticy. Previously, Power FM would easily dominate Rhema.
Even 94.1 from Wollongong was easier to get over the Gosford station on 94.1 compared to Power FM.
I forgot to mention earlier that in Appin, I got the Central Coast commercial FM stations clearer (and with RDS) than Power FM. And yes, Pulse 94.1 from Saddleback Mountain came in clearer than Power at that same location as well.
Same here at Stanhope Gardens, too, Power Fm is now completely dominated by Rhema Central Coast. Actually I can get Eagle Fm from Goulburn better then Power Fm in some cases.Wave seems to be weaker at my location now as I can no longer receive it with RDS. I98 about the same, however on the car radio seems to have less cochannel interference from News Radio Central Coast.
Is Wave, i98 and Power now on the new win guyed tower at Knights hill, and with the same antenna height as on the previous tower?? Can anyone post up some pictures of the new array??
When I was down in the McDonalds service centre at Sutton Forest (Southern Highlands, NSW) last week, Eagle FM was coming in clear whilst Power FM was nowhere to be heard. Even 2ST from Mt Gibraltar was quite weak in that same location. And yet I was within the 2ST/Power FM licence area!
Very surprising too, in Bowral in many cases, the high powered Comnercial Fmâs from Gore Hill / Artarmon come in at equal strength to Power Fm thanks to the Gib between Bowral and Knights Hill.
Since the change of tower Power Fm is remarkably weaker now. Surprisingly I thought it would improve things with site being slightly higher? Have they reduced the broadcast antenna height and or reduced the ERP?
On a side note Eagle Fm and Hit 93.5 Dubbo are fighting it out on the Main Hifi connected to the outdoor Fm Omni. With Eagle coming in stereo at times. On 94.9, static with Rhema just audiable. Before this Power Fm was received in stereo and seekable with Rhema not being able to be received.
On rather short notice, I went down to the Southern Highlands this afternoon. On the car radio, I didnât get a clear consistent signal of Power FM until just before the Picton Road Interchange when heading south & lost signal just after the same interchange when heading back home towards Sydney. For the record, Power is well received across the Southern Highlands.
There you go, the signal only makes it to the boundary of its NW coverage area. Is there any reduction in signal strength in Wollongong and its northern suburbs now?
Something just popped into my head in realisation. Using Google Earth by using the line from the Knights Hill guyed transmitter & reading the Nowra Licence Area Plan (which includes detailed information of ERPs for various directions), the point where I start getting Power FM well as I headed south was when I crossed to the west of 0°T north from Knights Hill, which I crossed just before the Picton Road Interchange.
Anywhere east of 0°T, Power FMâs ERP is 1.5kW, whereas anywhere west of 0°T at that point, its ERP is 10kW, which explains why Power started to be received okay.
Hereâs the map, with the yellow line marking 0°T from Knights Hill.
Theyâve had those specs since day dot, I think. Power has always been weaker than i98 and Wave at my location, which is well within the 1.5 kW zone. Conversely, out at Penrith and the Blue Mountains, Power lives up to its name, so to speak. The rationale for the restriction is, of course, to restrict overspill within the Wollongong licence area; in practice, this is very difficult.
Now to my own observations. Aiming towards the Riverina/Bendigo with my FM Yagi (i.e, a bit off direction), Power FM comes in at 3 bars as per usual. However, the RDS isnât showing, suggesting that something may be rotten in Denmark. I can also hear some minor co-channel interference from Rhema, though itâs not threatening to boss the frequency.
You realise thatâs theoretical? In reality, an antenna cannot be engineered to roll off so sharply.
What broadcasters must ensure is that they keep within spec, so you draw the theoretical notches and then run a curve inside the notches that more closely matches how the antenna would be designed.
There are examples of this with the Brisbane DRCP that was put out for comment towards the end of December.
Iâve noticed however that those specs donât always seem to be adhered to 100%.
For instance, the Newcastle commercial FMers are supposed to drop from 20kw to 2kw once you get south of the bearing of 160 degrees, but I can still get them very clearly at Forresters Beach, which I am pretty sure is past that 160 degree marker.
I think line of sight is the key at Forresters Beach. Hit / KO and New start to get weak around Morisset on the M1 due to lower signal strength / terrain shading. This is in the 2KW sector.
