Got some RDS from the Illawarra and Central Coast:
2GO remains as the weakest of the big 3 Central Coast stations for me (reflected in the quality of RDS being decoded) although it is coming in loud and clear tonight.
Bigger DXs are like SCTV Triple J and Classic FM:
For me tonight it is the Central Coast fm stations that are really booming in, with all the community stations at close to local strength. Coast Fm which is normally the hardest to receive due to the splatter of 96.1 is tonight splatter free with full RDS.
KO Fm strong but none of the other Newcastle commercial or community stations being received. Newcastle Tv completely wiping out Wollongong Tv at my location at present.
The Matchaster Omi FM antenna went up yesterday and seems to be going quite well. Will needs a few adjustments and definitely a better amp.
Some good DX this morning. Using the new antenna, picking up Rockhampton 103.1 RN, 104.7 JJJ, 105.5 PNN, 106.3 Classic and 107.9 hit; good strength in stereo with little static.
Also picking up Mackay at 800km distance with 97.9 Classic (over the top of Hot FM Noosa), 98.7 MMM, 99.5 JJJ and 104.3 News also good strength with little noise.
Some good pick ups there! Sounds like there must be a bit of ducting going on there too⌠Canât imagine youâd get Mackay in normal conditions with the new antenna?
Definite opening to the north this morning. The furthest north on the new antenna is Bundaberg stations 93.1, 93.9 94.7 which is pretty good given they are around 3kw at 300km.
I would suggest getting a Matchmaster 10MM-UA30PDF this is what I use and you can amplify Fm upto 30db. They are around $70 fron JR Turk.
By the way what way did you orientate the antenna? If you want to focus on dxing in north / south direction point the front of the antenna east and the side of the antenna will capture north / south signals best.
This works well for me as Sydney is in this direction and gives me Central Coast, Newcastle, Middle Bro, Wollongong and Goulburn to the south and eskip from NZ from the east.
This is the FM preamp I use
How much do they cost?
Gladstone commercial duo of 93.5 and 95.1 received in stereo last night. Mackay at very low levels.
I have the ânullâ to the east at the moment to potentially receive north, south and west.
What is non tropo reception like for Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Mt Nardi etc. Do you get much overload from Mt Coot-tha?
Where I am those are all permanent and relatively strong, with signals from the south better than those from the north (so for instance 94.5 here is ABC Lismore not News Sunshine Coast, and 96.1 JJJ not Zinc Gympie). Although @TV.Cynic is east of the city closer to the bay, so Mt Coot-tha would be less of a problem there and youâd have better reception from the north
Pretty much any FM/TV antenna in Brisbane will deliver some reception from Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Darling Downs plus River 949; relative strength depending on location.
As @ tamago_otoko mentioned, at my location, recpetion is more from the north so that most of the Mt Nardi stations are not available due to co-channels - so I get News Radio 94.5, Coast FM 95.3 (Gympie), Zinc FM on 96.1 while 98.5 is possible with a south facing antenna. With the omni directional 98.5 fights with Classic FM Wide Bay.
This is 91.5 - 92.7 today; however relation strengths vary all the time. Kix FM dominates 92.3 and 4GCR dominate 91.5 (a very crowded frequency)
This is 100.1 - 102.1
Aiming for the north in your part of the world certainly makes more sense, with the tropo from the tropics.
On a good to very good day, Townsville and maybe Cairns could be achieved with your new setup?
Yes. I have received Port Moresby a couple of times as well with the 4 element Fm antenna facing north (currently facing south).
From the other thread:
They also had 107.5 Classic FM on air at one stage in Jindabyne but this too has been nixed.
So what happened to them?? Did the council not maintain the transmitters, or did they shut them down as a cost cutting measure?
As Jindabyne is down in a valley and quite a distance from Brown Mountain, Triple J, and Classic Fm which are transmitted at 90kw in itâs direction are quite weak and not well received. These services are necessary to complement the other national services that are broadcasted from Jinderboine Hill.
Itâs possible that the tx went âbungâ and they never bothered to fix it because nobody bothered to complain! Thatâs one way to gauge how many people actually listen to a radio service.
Iâm sure people would have complained as Triple J generally has a good following everywhere and Jindabyne isnât quite Sticksville, particularly in winter.
Just a heads up NEW FM has been on the back-up antenna which is further down the tower for a few weeks while work has been getting done to the towerâŚ
It was swapped back to the main array higher up the tower late Sunday Afternoon.
Also Tuesday it went over to a new FM TX aswellâŚ
So signals should be back to where they once were if not improved slightly.
NEW FM has been much better in the last 18 months since they fixed the issues with spurs appearing in various spots on the dial from 104.5 up to 105.9.
It also improved a bit again in April when they switched on their RDS.
