Yes.
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That probably wouldn’t be fair, but I guess there is almost no one in the 2GGO licence area south west of the TX site that would be impacted.
I still can’t work why 2GGO or 2GN didn’t seemingly push for an alternate frequency for the 2GN conversion to avoid all of this. 97.9 has been suggested here before which would appear to not impact on any other service.
Radio National Goulburn which is proposed on 97.9 at 5kw would have a better chance of finding a more suitable frequency at its lower power.
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Just out of interest what is the signal strength of 2GGO compared to the other Central Coast Commercial fm’s at your location?
You would have thought ACMA would have allowed 2GGO to use a more directional antenna pointing NE to allow them to keep their 16KW to the north and only have the 5KW restriction towards Goulburn.
Anyway, any reduction of signal to the north for 2GGO around The Entrance is compensated by being able to receive Triple M Newcastle, and they run the same music log.
It’s the opposite of the Sydney experiences.
107.7 is strongest (58db), then 104.5 (55db) and then 101.3 (52db) is the weakest. But all are still very strong - on a clear day I can see the Mt Penang TX with a good pair of binoculars from my balcony (62km).
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I guess if you can see the towers the 6KW reduction won’t make much of a difference.
Have the power decreases already happened or are they to coincide with the start of 2GN fm?
Another thing 2GN fm licence spec is for their antenna to be placed at 25m, the same height and same tower as Eagle fm. This can’t work as both services require very different broadcast antennas for their different specs. They would have to use different towers.
2XL and Snow fm had the same thing, both very different antennas at the same height on the same tower at Mt Roberts according to their different licence specs.
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Mt Gambier is now open for consultation:
https://www.acma.gov.au/consultations/2022-02/proposal-vary-mount-gambier-licence-area-plan-consultation-062022
I just realise that if this proposal goes ahead, it will mean that every commercial radio licence in Regional SA will be available on FM.
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Since when did any Capital Radio FM service operate at spec? All the intermod, what a mess.
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Excellent observation @RFBurns.
When was the consultation on this change to Gosford RA1?
There wasn’t any consultation on this change.
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They have fixed the intermod at Mt Roberts since 96.1 XL went to air. 98.5 is now a clear frequency free of intermod even at Bredbo with LOS to Mt Roberts.
Funny you mention them not running to spec. XL fm is better received in Canberra then Snow fm and it has a significantly lower ERP towards Canberra then Snow fm.
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Why would the 2GGO licensee agree to a reduction in coverage?
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Unless there was an error made on the ACMA website. A good example of an error is the licence for 2WIN (i98). On the PDF licence they have done a typo, instead of 4KW towards Nowra and the Southern Highlands they have them at 40kW.
The 2UUL licence is correct with the 4KW towards Nowra and the Southern Highlands.
However the 2GGO licence specs are very different from the others.
Another example is the licence specs for 2KKO, ACMA has them at a maximum ERP of 8KW and 2KW towards Sydney.
New Fm and 2XXX (Hit 106.9) licence says 20KW / 2KW.
So more inconsistencies compared to what is in the final Newcastle LAP.
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Probably another typo… 2KKO 2NEW and 2XXX are all at a similar strength here and there’s no obvious difference in coverage anywhere around here.
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New FM is the weakest of the Sugarloaf commercials in Sydney by far…here it’s the opposite with New by far the easiest to receive (NX is quite difficult; I usually hear Vox FM). Triple M/KO is hard because of 2ST, though.
I have noticed New FM is strong into places like Sunny Corner too, so there is a definite westward bias in its coverage.
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I haven’t noticed a new antenna going up, some 5G was put on the tower about 6 months ago, (not far below the 2GO antenna), but in my passing I don’t remember seeing any antenna works for 2GO, I might drop past the site on my way home today & see if it looks new? I don’t have access inside the 2GO site, (only the HIT/SEA 101.3 site), so can’t say if 2GO have reduced their transmit power?
It wouldn’t be SCA doing anything anyway, BAI own & operate all of it now, so new antenna & turning the power down would be up to BAI to do.
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Are they recent readings? 101.3 replaced their transmitter in November last year, the old one was the original transmitter & couldn’t make the 5kW output needed for their 16kW ERP, the new transmitter is a 7.5kW one running at the full 5kW, so they will definitely be at full 16kW ERP now, I noticed a difference in signal at home when they changed transmitters (I knew the date it was being replaced so could compare).
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No not really in this case -6kW is less than 3db reduction.
They’d just put the antennas at a different height, 10m or so won’t make much difference, if it came right down to it, ACMA would just make them slightly reduce power to meed the ERP.
ERP is an estimated calculated power figure, you can’t actually measure it, so it’s highly unlikely it’ll make any difference in coverage & no one will complain about it.
As has been answered, there was no consultation to my knowledge?
That came about when they installed a new backup transmitter, I don’t know the reasoning behind it or what it means, their backup transmitter is only 2.5kW. I think their main runs at about 6kW, NEW FM runs at 5kW, but NEW has a 6 bay antenna with higher gain over KO’s 4 bay antenna.
I have previously asked SCA tech’s but couldn’t get an answer out of them?
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Speaking of the Central Coast Commercials, these are my observations at my location on my Sony Portable about 145KM away from the Broadcast Tower in a Highland Area without any tropo.
2GGO: Moderate to Good (RDS cannot be decoded)
2CFM: Moderate to Good (RDS cannot be decoded)
2GOS: Moderate (If 2UUU Nowra at 40km is nulled out)
So when 2GN goes on the air on 107.7 in a couple of weeks, it will be very similar to what happens on 104.5 at my location.
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I have put up my new fm antenna now, unfortunately the one I wanted to get the Alcad fm 200 that @matt86 uses is no longer available so I ended up getting the same Matchmaster omni again.
So without the Wollongong UHF antenna and the fm antenna mounted at the top of the mast I now get very weak permanent Triple M /KO without any hint of 2ST.
What is interesting about this is with the same previous antenna hooked over the mast in a vertical position, but at the same height on the mast I received 102.9 2ST in stereo with RDS at time. I also then got very weak Kix Country on 105.3 from Brokers Nose. I wonder if both 2ST Bowral and Kix are using Vertical polarity broadcast antennas even though they are both licenced for mixed polarity?
It is a fair assumption as both stations can be nulled out completely by changing the polarity of my fm antenna. Anyone familiar with 2ST and Kix’s setups?
When strong tropo hits it will be interesting to see what damage 2GN fm does to my signal of Triple M CC. I now have my fm antenna in the optimal position for Receiving Wollongong, Canberra , and Eagle fm Goulburn.
Between the Mediaspy spectrum planning team, an alternative for a 5kW RN service away from 97.9 was identified, however, cannot find it via search.
Does anyone remember what alternative you/another member came up with?