However these Illawarra/SHs stations came on air much later than the Newcastle outlets. I’m not sure when Vox FM started (late 90s?) but 105.3 Mac FM was around 2000 and 2ST converted to 102.9 in 1999 I think.
I remember trying New FM from near Catherine Hill (near Mittagong) in the late 90s and I could just hear it.
Didn’t know that re. Ulladulla. I know 94.1 (Pulse, then known as Living Sound) tested on 106.1 since I have a recording.
I remember it being on air in October 1992, still on 106.9, but whether that was a permanent licence I’m not sure. 2XXX was on air in May 1992, so there is a chance 2VOX might have been in first, hence the power restriction.
When did Mac FM flip to Hot Country/Kix?
Still find it peculiar that a similar (if not identical) station leases the 103.3 HPON in Perth off ARN - surely there’s more money in putting Kix or iHeartCountry onto that frequency.
Didn’t ever notice Vox in Oatley until around 2000- perhaps they had a power increase and/or a site change to Brokers Nose later? Back then when in the Illawarra, I was mostly tuned to either Power FM or i98 and didn’t really sample the other offerings. I didn’t come across the WIN3 audio carrier until the late 90s either.
MAC FM was around until the mid, maybe late 00s from memory- @TV-Expert will probably know the precise date. That wasn’t even the only Macedonian station in town- there were a couple of LPONs as well on 99.7 (name unknown) and 100.7 (Radio Hertz). There was also a Greek station on 93.3 in the early 2000s, I think that was Radio Symban, and 2MM was on 99.3.
On ACMA Radcom, it shows an authorisation date of 1986 for Vox: https://web.acma.gov.au/rrl/assignment_search.lookup?pEFL_ID=1600443
This box of Vox FM’s records date back to the early 1980s – but potentially some things might pre-date them getting a permanent licence:
https://documents.uow.edu.au/content/groups/public/@web/@lib/documents/doc/uow256785.pdf
@tvcl - have you been hacked by @TV-Expert ? Wonderful research, thanks.
Looks like I was way off the mark! 2VOX has been around longer than I have.
I could be wrong, but even if they weren’t in use when the Newcastle ones started, ('89 for NEW FM & '92 if memory serves for NX & KO FM conversions), the Illawarra frequencies would have been reserved for use there? Also when did VHF Ch.5 stop being used in Wollongong, the Newcastle FM radio frequencies would’ve interfered with that too, if they were 20kW South.
I thought ABWN was 5A by at least the early-mid 1980s if not earlier? (co channelling with Newcastle) as otherwise there may have been interference to/from the Sydney FM stations that were from 102-107 mhz by then?
Did a bit of research and ABWN was on 5A from when it first came onto the air in 1963 until around the late 80s when it switched to UHF.
ABWN switched off its 5A service (along with WIN-4) on March 31, 1991. It was originally meant to be switched off in 1989, but the delay on getting the Ulladulla TV translator built meant that WIN & ABWN’s VHF services remained on air for longer than intended.
Yeah I think this came up before; Wollongong never used Ch5 which I had wrong as well. Newcastle (ABHN) did use Ch. 5 before moving to 5A in the late 70s I think.
All of this is probably for the TV History thread…
More SpE catches:
For people in Sydney and surrounds, just wondering what locations you’ve received E-skip from?
I’ve had Es from Far North Queensland, the Adelaide area, Tasmania and (long ago) analogue TV from New Zealand. Are there any other likely E-skip targets in the Sydney area? I know in Queensland, reception from New Caledonia is possible - but does this ever extend down to Sydney?
The Es (and tropo) I’ve received so far this year:
It feels like the FNQ path is the most common, followed by SA and then TAS is relatively rarity. Haven’t caught any NZ yet – but that might be because of skyscrapers blocking my view to the east.
t’s possible to receive Nowra’s Power FM 94.9 FM radio signal at Weereewa Lookout, which is located near Lake George and Canberra, Australia, using a car radio system
Also received from the northern side of Mt Ainslie, Sydney fm can also be received there too.
I betta try that too
thank for you Information
Yes, you can get a lot of stations up at Mt Ainslie…
I think I’ve received ABC Riverina up there from Griffith on 100.5, 2YYY Young on 92.3, 2XL/XLFM on 98.7 from Perisher Valley to name a few.
Out of curiosity, is it just the height that contributes to good long distance reception in that particular location, or is it something else?
Height and power are both important.
As for which is more important, I think, it’s hard to say.
The Mildura TXs (in my experience) don’t really travel that far compared to other sites of a similar power since it’s very flat out there and the Yatpool site isn’t really much higher than the average terrain around there.
The main Sydney TXs are in a similar position, relies on power for most of it’s coverage.
At the other end of the scale, the TXs in the Blue Mountains travel well for it’s low/modest power due to it’s height.
