In a way, I guess it started the trend on a number of people in the Lake Macquarie area tuning in to the Central Coast stations as an alternative to the Newcastle stations. I remember reading a post on the old MediaSpy forums that mentioned a Lake Macquarie newspaper advertising Coast Rock FM back in the 90s, not to mention that 2GO converted to FM a few months before 2KO did the same in 1992.
Then when Star 104.5 went to air in March 2004, it became a more popular alternative to KO/NX than New FM. Prior to the start of SCAās āone size fits allā log sharing, even 2GO & Sea FM were sounding a bit different to KO & NX.
Yeah even probably more consistent reception than the Northern Beaches in Sydney. Although there are some local grade reception locations on the Northern Beaches from the Central Coast. Especially around the headlands at Palm Beach. I think the disadvantage with Sydney (for Central Coast reception) it might get overloaded from the high power stations Sydney stations where Central Coast is on the same āspacingā as Newcastle (with the exception News Radio on 98.1 FM which fights with Power FM from Muswellbrook) . I canāt recall if 92.5 FM is being used up in the Hunter too.
No, itās a clear frequency here thankfullyā¦ originally 2BL was going to be on 98.1 and News on 92.5ā¦ Iām glad they swapped it around given Power and i98 are already on 98.1, as I prefer Local Radio and 1233 can be hard to get cleanly.
Both Hit and Triple M Central Coast sound like they are running absolutely no audio processing today. You can really hear how bad their levels in the studio are
This role at Star 104.5 is most likely for the replacement of Michael McPhee, who has gone to Nova 96.9 in Sydney where heāll be an Announcer & Operations Manager.
I just heard through the grape vine that there will be no Give Me 5 For Kids on 2GO this year. If that is the case itās the end of community involvement for the station that helped so many in the past.
There are some strange choices for cover art on the Star 104.5 online playlist. Just look at the Stars On 54 song
ProSource Karaoke produces soundalike versions of popular hits, so obviously thatās not the version that Star actually played. I wonder where they are pulling the images from?
The ABC website coverage map (still) shows the same (weak) coverage for 98.1 and 92.5 on the coast, but isnāt 92.5 allowed (and has) a stronger signal? That being the reason they swapped the planned local and news frequencies way back when? I imagine the complaints would be a lot more numerous if they hadnātā¦
Not wanting the reverse to happen elsewhere (including northwards with Power FM) is why itās so weak
edit - actually checking ACMA they have the same powered licence. I guess they just swapped to reduce clashes like Petarkco and the letter writer experienced above.
Agree, 92.5 is a clearer frequency, only has a low power community station at Moss Vale to contend with it, and that the swap of frequencies would have been because there would have been a lot more complaints if ABC Central Coast had been subjected to the same amount of interference.
92.5 reception is much better, in the car I can get it clearly up to the east side of Lake Macquarie with no issues.
An SFN of sorts with Wollongong on 90.9 could be a solution for News Radio.
