With the spring like temperatures over the next couple of days, I’m not surprised that there’s some tropo about. I even checked the coastal targets yesterday as we had a NE wind on the coast which is very unusual in July. There’s no enhancement this morning here despite fog patches, 9C, and a very warm airmass aloft.
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Inland tropo alert. Good signals into Brisbane, might be similar elsewhere.
There is inland tropo around here tonight at my location (NW Sydney). It is coming in from the NW, spot on with the Hepburn tropo forecast. It is enhancing the Orange Fm, and Central West National fm stations.
KO Fm is also stronger then usual and fading up into stereo. Nothing special though.
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Tonight Cootamundra high powers into Brisbane, that’s just short of 600k. Mt Dowe ABC were strong clear signals. Also Breeze from Tenterfiled, GEM from Inverall plus Coffs Harbour commercials.
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Gee- what frequencies? The distance is actually 951 km. Were the signals weak and fadey or strong at times? We’re near the peak time for mid winter Es which is why I ask. 88.3 Classic from Ulandra is a common catch via Es in summer in SEQ. If it was tropo that’s one hell of a duct for mid winter; I don’t think I’ve even heard reports of Mt Ulandra-Brisbane tropo in summer to be honest.
I’m not trying to be adversarial, but this is a classic case of the Marcello Truzzi/Carl Sagan rule:
‘Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence’.
Oops - not Cootamundra but Coonabarabran - It was Mt Mount Cenn Cruaich at 590km distance.
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1386 is still being heard at 10am in Logan City.
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Have been down in Tasmania for the last week and a half and was station surfing with my transistor radio and astounded me the stations I was picking up on the AM band.
2CA from Canberra
3AW from Melboune
Quite a few ABCs from as far away as Adelaide
I don’t remember the call sign of it but a station in Bendeigo too
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I think that would’ve been Gold Central Victoria on 1071AM.
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I think that was it
Daytime or evening reception? I was able to get all of the above at noon from Bridport with my loop.
That would be a bit of a benefit as the TX is at Mt Cottrell. West of Melbourne and happens to have an almost unobstructed path out onto the bay. I found that 3AW cut out for me just outside of Inglewood, north west of Bendigo.
Same for 5AN (ABC Adelaide), there’s not many obstructions.
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These were at night while trying to get to sleep
1386 identify as switchwebcast .com. They can’t be heard in the northern suburbs of Brisbane but can be heard in Logan. In the car with the motor turned off it can be heard but with the motor running all you get is engine noise. So I wonder where their transmitter site is?
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I can tell you that it won’t be Peter Tate,
What it appears is one of the ‘hangers on’ from his community days.
There were a few ‘boys’ who would bounce between Station X which Peter was the leader of as a TCBL. A decent, good sounding station that filled a gap the commercial stations were not doing. The other TCBL was in Brisbane and was the embarrassing Switch FM.
Looking through the website that @AustralianAerial has helpfully found, there’s a likely name or two there.
It’s not the first time some of the likely types will have dabbled in piracy. Likely they are in Logan or close by too.
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Equally surprised to see no mention of the AM frequency on the website. Would half expected whoever’s running it to be flaunting that fact.
My favourite line is this one here:
switchwebcast.com has been aquired (sic) by XRN
Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t appear on Peter’s website. Someone’s telling porkies.
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It must be very low power. Consider that ABC Coast FM used to be on the AM band as 4SO and its power output was just 50w. and it could be received in Brisbane (not very well though).
1386 is now off the air