Re WA coastal DX. Noted 97.5, 99.9 & 101.5 Cervantes, WA - all 20W from the Bunbury TEF webserver.
99.9 6FMS carrying the Triple M program & 101.5 6SAT carrying the HIT program.
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Well, today it’s a little bit crowded, thanks to some intense tropo in WA that’s resulting in Geraldton, Lancelin and various other Hit and Triple M full-power and repeater stations to fly in on the Bunbury tuner and are at clear levels in terms of sound.
hit102.3 Lancelin, hit96.5 Geraldton and Triple M Geraldton (98.1 FM) are at OK levels on the Perth webserver.
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Wonder why Hit/MMM Cervantes don’t line up with the correct licence? (as 6FMS should be Hit and 6SAT MMM).
Did someone get their wires crossed (possibly literally)?
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Yeah should be! The same ‘wires crossed’ situation for 6FMS/6SAT Jurien Bay too 
I guess only us radio nerds care about correct callsign/frequency match-ups unless someone alerts ACMA.
Not unusual as you know with mining site & remote region stations to encounter this wrong program feed to tx problem.
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It’s about as small an issue as I can think of! We are probably the only ones who even notice.
Even then, nothing to stop SCA from eg. moving Triple M Sydney to 104.1 on the 2DAY callsign and 2DAY to 104.9 on the 2MMM callsign.
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WA coastal DX now bringing in Kalbarri’s 50W stations, but faded somewhat in the last 2 minutes.
102.9, 104.5 Triple M, 106.1 & 107.7
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Are all the relay Hit/MMMs still mono? Or too weak to tell?
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@ozbark Finally managed to get a decent RDS decode for SONFM 88 out of the SDR, it appears they aren’t running much on there. Interesting to note the PTY also seemed to change quite quickly, though this might be from me being near the edge of its coverage range as its only an LPON.
—/ Program -----------------------------------------------------------------
PI = 3880 (Outstanding)
PS = SONFM 88
TP = 1 TA = 0
M/S = 1
ECC =
LIC =
DI = 1
PIN =
PTY = Country Music / (25)
PTYN =
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A thought is a cheap directional FM outdoor like this.
https://au.element14.com/stellar-labs/30-2460/four-element-directional-outdoor/dp/2802329?cfm=true.
There’s also some online antenna designs if you like to tinker.
Another thought - perhaps direct antenna towards Gippsland & NZ or Western Victoria SA direction, i.e. a direction not served by the other Melb TEF.
Good luck with your decision making.
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What I know is that the WSFM repeater at Camden on 88.3 FM is in Stereo, but the WSFM repeater at Richmond on 99.1 FM is in Mono.
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You’ll still get all the commercial FM stations from Melbourne on the webserver either way, but if you go this route they may come in slightly weaker than the Melbourne TEF tuner, but you might also get stronger reception from Ballarat or Bendigo, and perhaps maybe even aiming for TRFM from Traralgon and a possibly stronger signal from Triple M Gippsland. There’s like a mix of TRFM from Traralgon and Vision Australia Radio from Geelong on 99.5 FM. I suggest use an antenna that aims in all directions, from North to the South, and East to the West. One that can do it all, and one that aims in all directions for reception of radio stations. Or I could suggest this.
(320kbps) Cheltenham Radio Tuner 1 - Signals favouring the West
(320kbps) Cheltenham Radio Tuner 2 - Signals favouring the South
(320kbps) Cheltenham Radio Tuner 3 - Signals favouring all directions
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Thanks, but I meant the regional WA stations mentioned above.
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From my location 99.5 is almost always TRFM and Gippsland stations are very strong (Triple M Bendigo 93.5 is completely blocked out by 3RPH Gippsland most of the time).
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Well then you could try these:
(320kbps) Cheltenham FM Tuner 1 - Signals favouring Gippsland
(320kbps) Cheltenham FM Tuner 2 - Signals favouring all other directions
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Thanks for the antenna suggestion. I think I will aim my directional antenna west towards Mt Gambier or Adelaide.
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ALERT: The Geraldton party may be ending soon, as the 527km signal from Bunbury is starting to slowly fade away.
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The two at Lancelin are mono.
I’m not certain about Jurien Bay, others were too weak to tell.
Just confirmed that 100.5 Geraldton has a stereo carrier.
101.1 Three Springs now heard (Hit program) as duct moves inland, but weak.
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Too late to determine now with most repeater stations having disappeared off the Bunbury FM tuner, any other surviving repeaters will have turned incredibly weak on the tuner to the point that you just can’t understand what the voiceover is saying in the local insert ads during the breaks. Any that do hang on you will need to be quick in determining if they are in Stereo before they fade away. The only real clear survivor now is Triple M Geraldton on 98.1 FM.
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Pay your respects to the last surviving clear long-distance signal that is Triple M Geraldton on 98.1 FM which has now lost its RDS due to the signal weakening further. That signal will too disappear before you know it. It was fun while it lasted.
UPDATE: RDS is still showing up, though it’s weirdly saying Triple V. 
FURTHER UPDATE: The signal is getting weaker as time progresses. But it’s still hanging on for a little bit longer. Stereo sound quality is starting to slowly decline.
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: The sound is getting crappier as the signal declines more. Strangely it’s going up and down. Pictured here it’s at 15.4 dBf.
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Party’s over. The Triple M Geraldton signal slowly morphed into Triple J from Perth during a commercial break. The end of an era.
UPDATE: Triple M Geraldton just came back, albeit it’s not at its best in signal strength anymore.
FURTHER UPDATE: Back to Triple J from Perth again.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Back to Triple M from Geraldton again. I reckon a signal clash has officially begun between the pair in Bunbury. Who will reign supreme?
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