Given that Saddleback Mountain is 530m ASL at its summit, a 5 watt service will cover Kiama pretty well, as well as providing a bit of overspill towards Wollongong. On a good radio, it can be heard across much of Wollongong pretty well.
I imagine 102.9 will cover for Robertson and Bundanoon pretty much as it does now?
Not sure about Kangaroo Valley.
It would currently be served by 999 AM from Nowra. 91.7 would be the primary frequency for that area when it converts to FM.
Go to page 788 of this thread for the coverage maps for 2ST Nowra / Kiama on the 19th Jan.
Here is a summary of these maps to answer your question.
Kangaroo Valley
91.7 will get into Kangaroo Valley much better then 94.9 Power fm from Knights Hill.
Robertson
In Robertson 91.7 should be equal to or better then 102.9
Kiama
88.5 would be at rural grade or above in Kiama. A good car radio should have no problems getting 91.7 in Kiama.
91.7 Would probably get into Wollongong better then 88.5
Ulladulla
106.7 will continue to broadcast in Ulladulla but 91.7 will overlap nicely into the coverage area of 106.7 providing continuous coverage from Nowra to Ulladulla.
Bundanoon
91.7 will be at 1.6kw in this direction but should get into Bundanoon as well. So you would have the choice of 102.9 and 91.7
With 2ST soon to be on 88.5, 91.7, and the current frequencies of 102.9 and 106.7 Grant should enable RDS with AF on all their frequencies, so an RDS enabled car radio can automatically tune to the strongest frequency within the south coast / highlands licence area.
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Do any stations is Australia use AF? I think stations like Triple J would benefit from it a lot.
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Problem is very few jjj stations have RDS.
This is Zinc 96 with AF.
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Triple M Mid North Coast (100.7 and 106.7, possibly 90.3 as well) did (may still do).
I turned it off in my car as I prefer knowing what frequency I’m on!
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Rockhampton/Gladstone Southern Cross stations have/had AF. Plus SC Adelaide/Adelaide Ft Hills.
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2ST could easily implement AF now with their three FM frequencies (don’t forget 91.7 is on air from Huskisson; the conversion is basically a site change with an ERP increase). The only addition will be the flea powered Kiama service. I doubt very much whether they’ll bother with AF if they haven’t already.
It makes sense for Triple J and Classic FM to roll out RDS with AF nationwide. The penchant for aping the UK hasn’t materialised here. It can’t be done with the other networks since they are a mix of AM and FM.
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As far as I know it is only capital cities with Canberra the last to be enabled.
You would think they would do Wollongong, Newcastle, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast where most of the population lives.
I guess not in the budget / interest of the ABC to update transmitters to enable RDS for their Triple J / Classic network nationally.
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That 88.5 is pointless. Would cost more to set up and run than it’s worth. I agree any of these conversions should match the existing s39 specs. Anyway I’d prefer 91.7 on Knights Hill just so I can hear it in Sydney. 
The existing 91.7 gets into the gong about equal to if not slightly better than 101.1 from Camberwarra so the FM conversion may not give the gong the ‘real music variety’ it needs.
We’ve discussed the proposed arrangement before because of 102.9 but long term is the Highlands going to maintain separate breakaway programming in years to come?
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The 91.7 service from Cambewarra Mountain at 65m above ground will transmit at 5kW towards Wollongong, whereas the 101.1 Kix Country from the same site at 30m above ground transmit at 1kW in the same direction.
In fact, last Monday, at O’Hares Lookout at Dharawal National Park in Wedderburn (south of Campbelltown), I’ve managed to get a fairly audible signal of 103.7 Sky Sports Radio on my Sangean DPR-34 pocket radio, which transmit at 1kW towards there from 15m above ground. The lookout has a good view towards the Southern Highlands, and is located approx 280m ASL.
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That’s exactly my point.
Licensee requests to convert to FM to be on level playing field with FM service, why would you then accept a worse allocation for the FM conversion? It defeats the purpose of a level playing field.
Instead, the licensee is desperate to move to FM and also block competitors from using the allocation. This is the dated and mad thinking they thrive on.
The Kiama translator will run well over 5 watts, it’ll be over spec like many FM translators are of commercial licensees or simply very fortunate.
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Currently in Kiama and it appears 2ST is doing a test transmission on 88.5.
Open carrier with stereo pilot. Received at Kiama Blow Hole with direct LOS to Saddleback Mt.
Car stereo is not receiving it to well with the signal fluctuating from stereo to mono.
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Cancel that 88.5 is not testing, some local RF only receivable at that one spot.
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RN is still on 107.7 in Crookwell. Nothing on 104.5. So it seems that the 2GN conversion is moving slower than a doped up @turdall
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ACMA has released its consultation paper for Taree, which mainly deals with the AM-FM conversion for 2RE: https://www.acma.gov.au/consultations/2020-07/proposal-vary-taree-licence-area-plan-consultation-242020
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Presumably an oversight that 2RE’s FM infills are listed as part of Max (2MVB)'s licence
Bugger… they’ve chosen 88.9 for 2RE. Might smash Braidwood FM in coastal tropo.
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I wonder how bad co-channel interference will be to 2RSR in Sydney when we get the extreme tropo from the mid north coast in summer?
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