OK so who just randomly tuned TVCL 1 and 2 to Triple J? This is getting annoying… if people keep tuning the tuners to local Sydney stations I can’t listen out for stations on 99.9 FM.
That Number 2 indicator on the very right tells me someone just tried to tune the tuner to a local Sydney station. People simply don’t realise that SWR 99.9 is currently off-air and we’re trying to listen out for anything on that frequency.
Unfortunately some careless people like to end up ruining the fun for us DXers.
ATTENTION DXING COMMUNITY: I’ve got the recordings if anyone is interested in hearing the reception of static and, potentially, a weak signal from another radio station, mostly on TVCL2 where a weak JJJ was present at times as per @tvcl’s post, on 99.9 FM.
Just a couple of snippets from our old friend King Island Radio over the weekend. As I mentioned previously, population: 1,600, and they have no online stream, so receiving their little transmitter is the only way to hear them. Also a few seconds of Hit 100.9 Hobart.
Swan Hill commercial FM antenna is 60m above ground, while Swan Hill FM from Goschen is 101m AGL + more elevation ASL. The former may have been underneath the inversion and thus didn’t duct through.
Blocking high in the Tasman Sea at the end of the week which will last for several days at least. Keep an ear on the following NZ frequencies; Mid North Coast might be the best spot.
The current Hepburn maps have tropo building in the Tasman over the weekend but the duct doesn’t quite reach NZ. So it might be just a stock standard coastal domestic tropo event. Keep an ear on things nonetheless.
We are currently set for at least 3 days above 30C in Bungendore (Saturday-Monday). NE winds in the evening, so that means conditions are conducive to coastal tropo, extending inland to Bungendore overnight. A good NZ tropo event usually involves at least five days above 30C here, so the block may not last long enough this time. The current consensus is for storms to develop next Tuesday, but that is likely to change.
And according to the Hepburn maps, there could be some decent coastal and inland ducting for the greater Newcastle- Wollongong area from Friday night to Sunday (which is as far ahead as the maps go at this point). Given the warm weather is forecast to continue nto next week, there could be some activity then too.
Currently doing a short road trip to the Central West.
In the Hunter, found a couple more mining TXs on air, Power FM on 95.7 and Triple J 98.5 at Warkworth. Both with stereo pilots but didnt hear any stereo separation. Though 94.9 ABC Local wasnt on air.
A bit of ducting too, heard Tamworth FM92.9 near Branxton and Coffs ABCs near Jerrys Plains.
Drove through Ulan, BREEZE 105.9 and REBEL 107.5 on air with stereo separation (but no RDS). but only within a few kms of town, 10 kms out to Gulgong, Hit Orange started wiping out Breeze
I’m not surprised. 138kms line of sight. 5kW vs 15W & the mining antenna 12m AGL & the antenna mast perhaps surround by hills & coal mounds?
Noted Rebel FM in RDS was last observed in 2020 according to RDS List. @Radiohead was your signal of 105.9 & 107.5 definitely strong enough to determine if RDS was there or not? The road looks close enough to mine site to assume so.
If so I’ll delete the Rebel Ulan entry from the RDS list.
I think so, I stopped in Ulan and had 25 dbuv on the TEF on 105.9 & 107.5, still no RDS on either.
No RDS on the car radio at all on from Wilpinjong to Ulan too on either frequency.
ABC Local on 103.9 had stereo pilot, but volume very low. 95.7 at Wilpinjong still carrying Local Radio though callsign is 2JJJ.
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Now in Bathurst, to my surprise I found
In.Sofala, 2BS 90.1 still on air with RDS! Same PI code as 95.1, no AF though.
SBS 91.1 still on air, picked this up 30 km north of Bathurst, and closer to town with stereo separation on the car radio, audio almost solely on the right channel.
Will check other Bathurst RDS for changes after lunch.
Thank you . We needed some extended RDS (details) TEF captures for RDS stations in Bathurst & Sofala for the RDS List. Good to know 2BS Sofala is still on air & with RDS etc.
What was 95.1MHz reception like in Sofala out of interest?
Thanks for confirming Breeze as on air; only Rebel was on when I last passed through. I have a video of Rebel FM Ulan on my YT channel but unfortunately, this was received on my old Holden Astra (sans RDS). So I can’t confirm whether it was running RDS then- from memory it was 2017.
I had 2OCW wiping out Rebel before I got to Gulgong from memory. It’s a pity Gulgong and Mudgee aren’t Rebellious enough to get the Ulan site.
95.1 reception in Sofala is virtually non existent, the township is in a gully, hills all around it.
Will send you extended RDS caps for 2BS, Life and Sky, but the problem of the TEF not detecting RDS resurfaced with B-Rock. A restart gave PS and PTY, but not nothing else, no RT or PI code, had signal of 42dbuv, so definitely strong enough and not too strong. The RDS signal was 3/4, but occasionally turned red.
That’s only the 2nd time I’ve had this happen, the other time was with 7WAY Launceston back in April.
. We needed some extended RDS (details) TEF captures for RDS stations in Bathurst & Sofala for the RDS List. Good to know 2BS Sofala is still on air & with RDS etc.