Tropo alert
3 Likes
I heard you and got a small hull tonight.
Very good Brown Mountain, but no XLFM/Snow FM Cooma tonight in nulls of Sydney.
Middle Brother once again.
2EAR showed up with RDS with the presenters talking about Computer games (Silent Hill 2)
And the low powered ABC service on 100.3 from Braidwood carrying the evening quiz in a null of 2MCR.
4 Likes
Apart from the Garden variety Newcastle Tropo, I am getting moderate to good strength Batemans Bay nationals from Wandera Mountain.
103.5 2BA was the strongest, and for the first time ever 2EC Batemans Bay faded up on 105.9 just above the noise floor and the splatter of Triple J.
This probably explains the strong Nationals from Wandera Mountain into Sydney
2 Likes
A bit of an update, Canberra is really strong tonight including DAB up to 72 signal strength!
99.5 the Canberra Ramadan Station had RDS as âAMV Canbâ
5 Likes
Some strong signals tonight, although mostly coastal, there was some rarer catches and a bit of inland stuff too.
List
87.6 LPON playing country music in stereo over local Faith FM no RDS - not sure where this is coming from
87.8 local HPON (Newy FM)
88.0 local HPON (Raw FM)
88.1 2RDJ Burwood stereo - was mostly fair to good
88.3 2ABC SW Slopes - stereo at times, only slightly better than average
88.5 2RRR Ryde - still mono, was fair to good signal mostly.
88.7 HPON Campbelltown Vintage FM with RDS, mostly dominating the regular 2MWM. Couldnât detect 2JJJ Goulburn though.
88.9 2BRW Braidwood, had it up to 30db on the TEF signal meter, stereo with RDS, dominating 2RE
89.1 2BLU Katoomba stereo, but 2ABCRN could be nulled in at times.
89.3 2GLF Liverpool stereo, good signal, RDS still appears to be off, could also null in Power FM Bulga mining relay, also helps that the Newcastle pirate is off air again
89.5 2ABC Goulburn, fair stereo at times
89.7 2PNN Bega/Cooma, good to strong, dominated 2RES Waverley
89.9 2HWK Windsor, but 2RVR SW Slopes could be nulled in
90.1 2NBC Narwee, stereo with RDS, good at times but 2HVR Bulga mine could be nulled in.
90.3 this was a smorgasboard⌠got first time catch of 2PQQ (Triple M) Laurieton, weak stereo, no RDS. Also heard 2MWM Manly and 2ABCRR Goulburn
90.5 2HD Belmont North (local)
90.7 heard both 2JJJ SW Slopes and 2PNN Coffs Harbour (Coffs started to become more dominant at the night went on)
90.9 2PNN Wollongong, very strong, over 60db on the TEF signal meter
91.1 1CMS Canberra, weak to fair stereo, signal improved as the night went on.
91.3 2MAC Campbelltown, RDS good stereo, strong at times
91.5 was both 2PNN SW Slopes and 2JJJ Coffs Harbour (as with 90.7 became more dominant, was also in stereo)
91.7 2ST Nowra, was good stereo with RDS all evening
91.9 1WAY Canberra, good stereo with RDS, improved as the evening went on as well
92.1 2MFM Sydney, couldnât null anything in
92.3 heard both 2MCE Bathurst, weak, but 2MRR (ABC) Coffs was in stereo as the night went on
92.5 2BL Gosford, seems like 2WYR Moss Vale is off air, not a peep out of it
92.7 was another smorgasboard, HPON Port Macquarie faded to give way to 2BAB St Georges Basin, 1ART Canberra could be nulled in as well.
92.9 2ABC Sydney, very strong
93.1 2GEE Mudgee, only weak, no stereo or RDS
93.3 2SNR Gosford could be nulled out to get 2RPH Wollongong
93.5 2SNO (Eagle FM) Goulburn was good stereo with RDS all night, but not especially strong.
93.7 2LND Sydney, couldnât null anything in
93.9 2ABCRN Tamworth, weak, no 2LFF Young
94.1 2CCM Gosford could be nulled out to get 2LIV Wollongong with RDS and stereo
94.3 HPON Goulburn, donât remember seeing RDS though
94.5 2FBI could be nulled out to get 2EC Bega with stereo RDS
94.7 2PNN Taree, was quite strong earlier in the evening.
94.9 2WSK (Power FM) Nowra was dominating Rhema, this doesnât happen often, strong stereo with RDS. Signal was over 50db.
95.1 could null in 2BS Bathurst weak though, over 2PNN Port Stephens
95.3 2PTV Sydney, very strong all night
95.5 2MRR Taree, strong earlier, signal weakened a bit as the night went on
95.7 2ABC Wollongong, very strong stereo with RDS all night
95.9 2NC Port Stephens, couldnât null anything in
96.1 2ONE Katoomba, good to strong stereo all night
96.3 could null in 2JJJ Taree over 2CCC Gosford, but that faded as the night went on too
96.5 2UUL Wollongong, strong stereo with RDS all night, hit over 60db on the signal meter
96.7 2ABC Upper Namoi, weak
96.9 2SYD Sydney, very strong stereo RDS all night
97.1 2ABCRN Taree, very strong earlier, even later in the evening, strong enough to prevent 2MG Mudgee being received
97.3 2ILA Wollongong, completed wiped out 2OLD Lake Macquarie
97.5 2HD Port Stephens and RDS is back!
97.7 2SBS Sydney, very strong all night
97.9 2ABCRN Goulburn earlier, 2ABC Coffs Harbour became stronger later
98.1 2WIN Wollongong dominated with stereo RDS, wiping out 2PNN Gosford. Was also over 60db on the TEF meter
98.3 did have 1XXR Canberra over 2ABCRN Port Stephens, but no RDS
98.5 2OOO Sydney, strong all night
98.7 2ABC Taree
98.9 2JJJ Wollongong, also very strong
99.1 2UUS Winmalee, strong all night
99.3 2ABC Bega/Cooma, strong all night, dominated 2NSB Chatswood.
99.5 2ICE Katoomba, good signal all night
99.7 2RFM Newcastle
99.9 could get 2PNN Goulburn in a null of 2SWR Blacktown earlier
100.1 2JJJ Bega/Cooma good stereo dominated 2HHH all night
100.3 2MCR Campbelltown, strong all night
100.5 could get 2RPH Sydney City in a null of the local 2RPH, content just slightly out of sync, could almost pass for an SFN for the shared programming
100.7 2WOW Penrith dominated, but could get 2PQQ Port Macquarie in a null, stereo but no RDS. Tried for Goulburn HPON (KIX) but nothing
100.9 2BAC Bankstown dominated with stereo RDS
101.1 could get HPON Nowra (KIX) in a null of 2LT Katoomba
101.3 Hit Gosford
101.5 had 2JJJ Canberra stereo with RDS in a null of 2GLA Forster later in the evening
101.7 2UUS Sydney
101.9 2ABC Batemans Bay was strong, dominated⌠no 2JJJ Orange tonight
102.1 2JJJ Newcastle
102.3 did have 2ROX Port Macquarie ST no RDS and 2JJJ CW Slopes earlier, but 2ABC Canberra dominated later
102.5 2MBS Sydney, could almost but not quite null in 2EEE Bega
102.7 2ABC Orange, fair
102.9 had 2ST Bowral in a null of local 2KKO Newcastle with partial RDS capture earlier. Saw the 2ST PI code of 202A.
103.1 nothing (only vacant frequency tonight)
103.3 had first time RDS catch 2GCR Goulburn earlier. This faded and HPON Muswellbrook returned
103.5 2BA Batemans Bay, good to strong all night
103.7 2NUR Newcastle
103.9 had 2EEE Eden, stereo but no RDS earlier, 2PNN Canberra dominated later
104.1 2DAY Sydney
104.3 fair 2RN Orange earlier gave way to 2EEE Batemans Bay stereo with RDS
104.5 2GOS Gosford
104.7 2BOB Taree stereo gave way to 2ROC Canberra stereo with RDS later
104.9 2MMM Sydney was mostly strong, but there was a brief fade during which I heard 2PNN Muswellbrook
105.1 2ABCRN Batemans Bay was good to strong
105.3 2NEW Newcastle local
105.5 had 2EC Eden earlier, 2SBS Canberra dominated later
105.7 2JJJ Sydney strong all night
105.9 2EC Batemans Bay with RDS
106.1 2ABC Newcastle
106.3 was 2PNN CW Slopes earlier, but 1MIX Canberra dominated later
106.5 2WFM Sydney strong all night
106.7 was weak SKY Orange earlier, had 2ST Ulladulla with RDS later
106.9 had 2VOX interfering with 2XXX Newcastle. Corrupted the Hit106.9 RDS in nulls.
107.1 2WKT Bowral. good stereo with RDS
107.3 2SER Sydney, good stereo with RDS
107.5 2EAR Moruya, fair stereo with RDS
107.7 2GGO Gosford
107.9 2ICE Katoomba dominated, but could null in Sydney SE HPON.
7 Likes
Amazing log list. Well done & thanks for typing up such a long list for us all.
87.6 LPON with country music is sure to be River FM up in the heights of the Hawkesbury I would imagine. It transmits with a stereo pilot.
I had very good reception of 103.5 & 105.1MHz. Power FM on 104.3 was just there for me too. Canberra was enhanced. I had RDS from Eagle FM, but there wasnât an AF on 93.5MHz, maybe there is on their Crookwell Eagle FM outlet, unless they switched it off re on-air announcement reports of AF functionality, announced here some time ago, unless it pertained to GN FM only? 
Iâll post my RDS capture logs tomorrow.
2 Likes
There is a similar AF promo running on Eagle FM too. So thatâs odd youâre not seeing AF. Maybe signal isnât strong enough to see it properly?
3 Likes
I thought so. Thanks for confirming.
The signal was strong enough last night, enough even for surprisingly clear stereo reception of 89.5 2ABCFM Goulburn at the time.
Hereâs a pic post of the TEF (with zero errors). I did detune & retune a couple of times at least to check for an AF as I was expecting the new AF to appear, based on the reported earlier announcements.
So I donât know if they recently deactivated an AF from 93.5 or just relying on tuners to just switch on PI code alone? Maybe @dxnerd may have observed something in recent past with an SDR & software? Maybe they just have an AF on the Crookwell TX?
3 Likes
I would have thought youâd need AF on both TXs? Otherwise when traveling to Crookwell how does the radio know to change frequency if its one that doesnât look at PI codes?
3 Likes
Should have.
I think itâs been mentioned here or over on the RDS forum that a tuner can (could) do it without an AF being defined based on matching PI code. Now it is plausible that a station frequency switch might still occur based on tuner firmware, user settings (eg AF set to âonâ), whether station has previously been stored in tuner preset with matching PI code on other frequency, if tuner has a dual tuner incorporated in it that scans in background for another stronger signal with matching PI. All the above are plausible hypotheticals.
It can be fun to trial this out on a vehicleâs radio, especially if one knows what data is being sent out on the transmitter.
3 Likes
Conditions were pretty flat tonight
BUT in some ways thatâs a good thing, as strong coastal tropo can wipe out 2 weaker signals on the same frequency.
99.3 is a good example, last night ABC Classic Bega/Cooma wiped out everything else, but tonight I had 2NSB Chatswood back in stereo with RDS, and a weak B-Rock Bathurst could be nulled in too.
What I really want is a strong inland duct from the North/Central/South West without the coastal enhancement. But thatâs pretty rare here.
But I did have some lift from Orange around 9.30⌠had all of 103.5, 105.1, 105.9 and 107.5⌠but only 105.9 was stereo no RDS, though it was significantly better than 105.1.
And thatâs what often find with Orange - which made me wonder if any of our Sydney/NSW DXers also find 105.9 Orange a lot easier to get than 105.1, given they are both 5kw SCA stations I would have expected reception to be more similar.
Oh and I had very brief suspected NZ e-skip on 91.2 playing hit music⌠not sure where that was from.
2 Likes
Some more TEF-related content - Sjef Verhoeven (PE5PVB) who created the open source TEF6686 portable radio project, that the Chinese-manufactured versions sold on AliExpress etc are based on, as well as creating and maintaining the software the radios run, is a guest on the latest edition of the US-based VHF DX Podcast -
5 Likes
They are received at similar strength here; if anything itâs easier to get the MMM RDS.
Orange stations are a pest here as well as at Oatley. Not really DX in either location despite being 200 km away in each case 
3 Likes
I find 105.9 a lot easier to receive at my locality or anywhere in Sydney TBH due to Triple J Sydney (105.7) occupying less bandwidth than Triple M 104.9, which causes significant adjacent channel interference to 105.1 Orange.
Itâs difficult to judge signal strength from this distance as all the individual commercial/community Orange FM signals fade at different times/rates etc.
3 Likes
Thanks, I suspect that might be a factor for me as well with NEW FM⌠itâs hard to get a clean DX signal on 105.5, 105.1 is a bit easier. 105.9 is much cleaner than both.
3 Likes
On the Hifi DX setup 105.9 would be the easiest to receive of the 5KWâs, but on the car radio 106.7 SKY Sports is the strongest of the lot. 105.1 Triple M and Hit 105.9 are at similar strength on the car radio, but on occasions 105.1 Triple M has been stronger than Hit 105.9.
Of the nationals 102.7 Classic fm is the strongest of the nationals on both the car radio and DX setup, Triple J and RN are at similar strength.
3 Likes
Yes, the terrain between Orange and Newcastle is very hilly⌠the Yengo/Wollemi National Parks are about 140 kms of continuous hills.
The Orange ABCs are still a weak permanent here though, 102.7 or 104.3 the best. SKY 106.7 is the easiest to receive of the 5kw stations when there is a bit of lift (it doesnât need to be much though to get them), never had News 91.9 here though.
2 Likes
Rockhampton ABCs were coming in last night and again this morning in Brisbane. Mackay just audible as well. Mt Dowe stronger than base level from other direction.
Luckly 4AAA is behaving this morning.
4 Likes
An interesting post for the TEF6686 owners who are technically adept & capable with a soldering iron.
https://fmdx.pl/2024/02/modification-of-the-rf-input-filter-in-tef6686-module/
3 Likes
The Hits Taranaki.
3 Likes