They get amazing MW DX from Scandinavia due to signal paths across the darkened North Pole. See this page for further information (including some logs). I think 2CP Cooma was logged a while ago on 1602 kHz which is an even more impressive catch due to the <1 kW tx power. 1215 kHz ABC Northam has also been logged in the Arctic, though it was from Galena in western Alaska.
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Just landed in Cairns and jumped in the hire car to find perfect reception of 4TOFM! A bandscan revealed all Townsville stations loud and clear
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Are you sure you caught the right plane? 
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What is the reception of Tablelands and Innisfail FM services? Or further beyond?
Interested if anyone up Cairns and further north has DX reception at times of PNG stations, FM or AM.
In the days before satellite, there were some very keen types in PNG, PM with too much time on their hands, they built gigantic arrays to receive TV off Bellenden Ker when conditions were right.
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Tropo going on at the moment in Sydney. The Newcastle commercials are coming in over the top of the Wollongong stations. Plus:
94.7 ABC News - Manning River - 5kW
95.1 ABC News - Port Stephens - 0.25kW
95.5 ABC Local - Manning River - 26kW
95.9 ABC Local - Port Stephens - 0.25kW
97.1 ABC RN - Manning River - 100kW
97.5 - 2HD - Port Stephens - 0.25kW
98.3 ABC Local - Port Stephens - 0.25kW
98.7 ABC Classic - Manning River - 100kW
101.5 Great Lakes FM - Forster - 10kW
101.9 Triple J - Central Tablelands - 80kW
102.3 Triple J - Central Western Slopes - 220kW
102.7 ABC Classic - Central Tablelands - 80kW
103.7 - 2NUR - Newcastle - 10kW
104.3 - ABC RN - Central Tablelands - 80kW
105.5 ABC Classic - Central Western Slopes - 220kW
106.3 ABC News - Central Western Slopes - 220kW
106.7 Racing - Orange - 5kW
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And vice versa, Wollongong is coming into Newcastle very clearly right now tooā¦
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Inland troppo tonight in Brisbane with GEM-FM 95.1 Inverell of note.
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There was a bit of enhancement last night, with Canberra ABCs receivable.
This was on my NEW radio (I guess Iām not called Radiohead for nothing!), the Tecsun PL-310ET available from Tecsun Australia for $80 plus postage.
And a very good radio it is too!
It is VERY light, screen is easy to read, and on FM, sensitivity is very good, whilst selectivity is EXCELLENT
It will isolate weak signals like SWR 99.9 Blacktown next to my local (very strong) Rhema 99.7.
The only negatives I can find are the telescopic antenna is shorter than other units (because it is smaller I suppose) and I donāt think the sound quality is quite as good as my other Tecsun radios. The shorter antenna doesnāt SEEM to have a noticeable effect on reception quality though.
The fast/slow tuning wheel is still a bit of a pain to use (I would prefer separate wheels or a fast/slow button to toggle between modes), but the direct entry keypad is very good.
I havenāt done a back to back test with my other radios yet.
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GEM can come in quite strong to Brisbane, no worry that River is next down on 94.9.
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Gem FMās tx site at Inverell is on a north facing hill just on the west side of town as youāre coming in from Moree. The tx has very poor coverage to the south because there is a (higher) southern spur of the hill in the way. I have never received a peep from Gem FM in Sydney and you can barely hear it around Armidale.
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I have received GEM FM in the car between Tamworth and Gunnedah on the Oxley Highway.
Not sure if that was enhanced reception or not, may have been.
GEM FMās coverage to the west isnāt very good either, in my experience it is not receivable in Moree at all, though i could receive the 102.9 Warialda translator there okay.
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I went for a spin down to Marie Byles Lookout at Killcare Heights, at the southern end of the NSW Central Coast today.
Some notes
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107.9 seemed to be a blank carrier - perhaps VOI are preparing for another broadcast?
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Hawkesbury GOLD 89.9 was not received at all - every other Sydney community station could be received except 2SSR 99.7, due to Rhema Newcastle. Even 2BACR Bankstown could be received - though it wasnāt very strong.
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Faint ABCs from Orange, Canberra and Batemans Bay could be heard. Even weak reception of MIX106.3 Canberra was present, as was 2ST 91.7 from Huskisson.
They never switched it off after their last temporary broadcast. I think itās txing from Bridge Street, Hurstville, atop the blue and white building at the crest of the big hill on King Georges Road for those who know the area. This definitely isnāt the first time that this has happened; I think I will have to complain to the ACMA.
I will be out of action for a while as far as my home DX setup goes due to a lightning strike on my antenna 2 weeks ago. My preamp is fried and the rotator has no power.
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Thanks for the reply, and sorry to hear about the damage to your set up!!
Hope you can get it fixed cheaply enough.
Bugger, is there any way you can rig it up to still work while you source replacement parts? (Iām thinking set it at a fixed direction and skip the preamp so thereās still signal coming in?)
Also, while you mention it, how does one complain about interference to the ACMA? Thereās a gym nearby that seems to be rebroadcasting TV audio and it infects a large portion of the FM band over nearly a kilometre (the IF can be heard the other side of the Brisbane River). And thatās before we even go into the massive overdeviation of 4MBS of Coot-tha - 103.5 and 103.9 are practically destroyed even on a good receiver
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They are a nuisance, those flea powered broadcastsā¦
I think I came across a 2nd pirate here in Newcastle yesterday on 90.5ā¦ I will get in the car today and see if I can get a better idea of where that, and the one thatās been on 88.9 for a few weeks now are coming from, and report therm both. Iāll post my findings in the Pirate Radio thread.
NEW FM Newcastle still over deviates very noisily onto 105.1 and 105.5, only my car radio seems to be able to reject these. Not even my Tecsun radio handles these, and they are nigh on impossible to null out. Though thatās much preferable to the dreadful spurs it was pumping out on 104.9 and 105.7 that could be heard almost as far as the main 105.3 signal.
I will have to get my installer to have a look before Christmas; Iām hoping itās just a blown fuse in the rotator. The preamp isnāt essential as you say; Iāll DX without it this season just to compare results. I did suffer some overload- which desensitised the Sony- aiming towards the Pacific. If the rotator is kaput I think I will simply get him to reorient the ant towards the east; Iāll get both NZ and a little of the Pacific that way.
The ant is currently stuck aiming towards the SW (Canberra) so not much good for Es.
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Hopefully you can sort it - that sounds like a reasonable compromise. Itāll still be better than what Iām using 
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Canberra, Goulburn, Manning River and Orange stations were coming into Sydney this morning.
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