Are you involved with 2GN/Eagle or do
you just live in Goulburn? I was in the area earlier this week (Bungendore).
ABCRN Crookwell has to move off 107.7 first, which it hadn’t done in early December. Not sure if it’s off yet.
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I live in the NSW Southern Highlands and that is probably my prediction. And I never thought of the flea powered ABC station from Crookwell, my mistake.
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If the ABC Reception page set to Crookwell is any guide, it’s still on 107.7. That planned outage for the Wades Hill site that occurred on Tuesday 21st January which I mentioned a while back didn’t seem to result on a frequency change for RN.
It has been nearly a year (believe it or not!) since ACMA released the consultation paper re AM-FM conversion for 2GN Goulburn (along with 2EC Bega & 2XL Cooma), which had been finalised in late May. Since that time, there was movement that paved the way for 2EC & 2XL’s FM conversions. This included 2XL themselves moving their Jindabyne FM service from 96.3 to 107.3 to allow its main 918AM service to move to 96.1FM, and Braidwood FM moving from 94.5 to 88.9 (and getting a significant power increase as a result) to give 2EC a clear run on converting its main Bega service to FM. But when it came to 2GN’s FM conversion, it’s been a bit difficult, having to deal with the ABC to change the frequency of its RN service in Crookwell. According to its submission, dated 26th April last year:
The ABC consents to the frequency shift in Crookwell to facilitate the proposed AM to FM conversion for 2GN on the proviso that the Goulburn commercial licensee for 2GN meets all of the ABC’s reasonable costs for this frequency shift.
Given how long this has been taking, at this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if 2ST (which is still under consultation & accepting submissions until Friday 28th February) converts its main Nowra service to FM before 2GN does! 
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A much more efficient option would be
- 2GN moves to 97.9 (the frequency proposed for Radio National in Goulburn at 5kw, currently at low power on 1098AM) but 97.9 be 40kw to match the specs for Eagle 93.5.
- RN in Crookwell moves from 107.7 to 104.5
- RN in Goulburn moves to 107.7 at 5kw.
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Absolutely spot on Radiohead. Why would 2GN want to be stuck up the end of the dial at 107.7? And 2GN’s specs should indeed match those of Eagle 93.5’s. Why can’t ACMA see the logic of these things?
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For all we know, they could be nutting something similar out with ACMA. I’ve backed 97.9 for 2GN from the start.
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The FYSO 2019-23 Progress Report has been released.
In relation to the upcoming AM-FM conversions:
-
Taree (2RE) has been delayed due to further engagement with industry, with consultation to be expected in Q2 2020 (Apr-Jun).
-
Grafton (2GF) is awaiting strategic business decisions of licensees & has no new projected timeline.
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Both Caralis licenses. Is 2AD still on track?
Yes. Its LAP had been finalised late last month, meaning that 2AD’s FM conversion has been given the green light: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2020L00058
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Continuing the discussion from the AM and FM DX - #4094 by tamago_otoko thread about 3NE Wangaratta:
It’s not a great signal once you head east - by the time you’re deep into the Ovens Valley it’s hit and miss. There’s no sign of RN Wangaratta on 756, and unsurprisingly 2AY doesn’t get out either (nor does RN Albury).
Speaking of the Valley, one thing I hope the FM conversion will also clear up is the absolute mess of allocations in the area.
Bright & surroundings—Five services are licensed from Apex Lookout at 50w: ABC Classic (88.1), RN (88.9), Local Radio (89.7), Edge FM (92.1) and Alpine Radio (92.9). AFAIK the Edge FM relay was never activated, despite the loss of Mt Stanley FM reception along a fair bit of the Great Alpine Road.
3NE, on the other hand, has a 200w signal booming off Mt Buffalo on 99.1 which covers Bright and the surrounding towns much more adequately. From memory, 99.1 covers the stretch of the Great Alpine Road between Myrtleford and Bright almost entirely, which none of the four active Apex Lookout services do.
Edge FM (102.1) from Wangaratta is patchy outside of the main Bright township, and would benefit from activating its 92.1 service.
Overlap signals: In-car reception of Albury FM signals is hit and miss, and in some cases Shepparton FM signals are more consistently reliable. In Porepunkah, for example, I can more often that not pick up either Triple M (95.3) or Hit (96.9) but struggle for the Albury equivalents.
Myrtleford—Two services are licensed from Lookout Hill at 50w: 3NE (90.1) and ABC Local Radio (91.7). SBS Radio (97.3) also serves the area on 200w from Mt Stanley, albeit from a different site than Edge FM’s Wangaratta service.
From this point heading west along the Great Alpine Road, Edge FM’s main 102.1 service is a good quality FM stereo signal. It is logical then that no repeater service was licensed for Edge FM in Myrtleford.
Mount Beauty/Falls Creek—Two services are licensed from Mount Beauty at 10w: 3NE (90.1) and Edge FM (93.3). Of note is that 3NE is a SFN with the Myrtleford service, although multipath is not notable presumably due to LOS with 90.1 Myrtleford being blocked by the mountains around Towonga Gap.
One service is licensed from Big Hill at 100w: Alpine Radio (96.5). This service has good coverage throughout the Kiewa Valley, but struggles into the Ovens Valley at times, thus the presence of a repeater at Bright.
Two services are licensed from Falls Creek at 1kw: Triple M (94.1) and Hit (100.5). These fall within the Albury licence area, and due to their proximity to Mount Beauty can be considered local signals in this area. Haven’t had a chance to try for 2AY reception, but given the 1494 signal struggles even within Albury city centre I would expect some justification for a 2AY repeater at Falls Creek.
A few thoughts then at this stage…
- Considering coverage alone, Myrtleford FM repeaters may benefit from being co-located on Mount Buffalo.
- Additionally, the site’s coverage into the Bright area could justify moving ABC FM signals from Apex Lookout to Mount Buffalo, freeing up allocations on 91.7
- The downside to this would be that both Apex Lookout and Lookout Hill FM services would no longer be co-located with TV services at the same location.
- Freeing up 91.7 at Myrtleford could allow a 2AY repeater to be installed at Falls Creek, but would require reallocating 3HCR Swifts Creek.
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Was ABC Upper Hunter on 1044 AM meant to be switched off? Given 105.7 FM is on air.
Not to my knowledge, both have been on air for probably 27 years now.
Always thought 1044 should be Radio National.
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Thanks Radiohead should’ve posted this one on Random thread 
.
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Quick one (and apologies if it’s been mentioned before) but was 2QN Deniliquin ever considered for an FM conversion? Would appear to be a solus market, especially if Wang is eligible, unless there’s too much overlap with Shep. Or do Ace not want to lose the coverage of the AM service?
2QN Deniliquin is considered to be ineligible for AM-FM conversion, due to having 60% overlap with Shepparton, as well as just over 30% overlap with Bendigo.
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Thanks TV_E, thought it might have been ruled out for that reason
ah don’t worry, the ACMA will do double monkey backflips to make it happen…
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do we think that 1089 3wm will be eventually go to fm?
Perhaps this following point, as written on ACMA’s “Future of Radio” paper released last month, might have something to do with it:
- Develop with industry a sub-program for regional competitive licence area
conversions, to commence when the solus market program is complete, most likely
in 2020–21.
That would probably include stations such as 2QN Deniliquin & 2NM Muswellbrook, which hugely overlap with a neighbouring licence area and therefore were deemed ineligible for AM-FM conversion under the current ‘solus market’ program.
On a related note, I could see at least one of the Bunbury commercial AM stations convert to FM under the upcoming sub-program.
That could happen if 3WM wants to do so. 
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So Canberra and Newcastle conversions would be theoretically possible?