Community Radio

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Recently been having trouble getting a good signal from Logan 101 radio - on the SDR the signal seems to extend past 200 KHz bandwidth.

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Hawkesbury Gold 89.9 looks to have had to made it to air… signal is much stronger than all the other community stations, wonder if they got their broadcast conditions updated… last I saw the apparatus license was not granted and they were using Hawkesbury radios transmitter :man_shrugging:

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S/N Ratio only 10-12dB (weak) closer to CBD here. Hawkesbury Radio, usually the strongest of the lot here, was also weak this past week, so maybe using their weaker tx/site.

A quick peek at ACMA RRF, still showing ‘H.Gold’ licence as not granted… :person_shrugging:

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Glad you’ve noticed that too, it still sounds terrible, and the overdeviation now means clear reception of 100.9 (either Lismore or Wide Bay) is exceedingly difficult across most of Brisbane.

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I agree, a great site for DRM MW tests. The ABC’s Wangaratta DRM transmission on 747KHz has terrific coverage. They recently switched from running Radio National (mono) to relaying Double J in stereo. The sound quality is excellent, and even at night when the Two other stations that share the frequency come in, no drop outs. It is really robust.


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Took them long enough, wonder if you can pick up the transmission across Sydney?

Where you get that radio @Brad1, how good is the quality of the transmission, where is it broadcasting from?

Radio is from https://www.tecsunradios.com.au/store/product/tecsun-drm-radio/

I can’t answer the quality of the transmission but going by some of his other posts in other threads it’s very good.

That one he’s posted above is from the ABC MW (BAI Site) in Wangaratta, ABC/BAI have another DRM test transmission on the FM band at Albury.

I intend on buying one of those radios & seeing what I can get in Newcastle.

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I will check it out $450 is a bit pricey, someone send me 2 so I can pull on apart and see what makes it tick :joy: , what about an SDR would that also pick up the signals with the right antenna? I got all the software to decode it…

On a side note, a DRM trial in the Hawkesbury on 89.9fm might solve the community radio problem…
ACMA can keep reviewing it and assessing it til the cows come home, and everyone is on the radio… who would of thought :man_shrugging:

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Almost didn’t have a CoastFM Gosford this morning, some nut job set fire to the security camera at the front door in the early hours of this morning which then dropped molten flaming plastic onto the door bell & light switches & set them on fire, with the Breakfast announcer arriving to find the fire, which he had to put out. A lot of smoke damage around the front door/front porch area, luckily the building is brick, so only smoke damage to that, but if it wasn’t for the asbestos eves, the fire would’ve got into the roof & burnt the entire studio building down.

It’s nice getting out of bed with a phone call at 6:30am on a Sunday morning saying there’s a fire at the studio with damage to some lights/power circuits & I’m needed to make safe/repair. Luckily I’m a licensed electrician as well as a broadcast technician.

Got nice clear footage of the guys face as he stood in front of the security camera setting it alight, that’s with the police, pretty intelligent person obviously, standing in front of the camera, looking directly into it, while setting it on fire.

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I can smell the irony from here (and it’s smoke tainted).

Glad you managed to narrowly avert catastrophe there. I do worry about the security of Braidwood FM at times as it’s tucked around the back of the club; there was a break in to the golf club’s shed a while ago. Needless to say I always say to myself ‘it’s locked’ before leaving the studio.

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Thanks for bringing this to my attention. We’ll immediately start plugging it on RAMFM

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The Radio is a Gospell 216 from Tescun Radios in Sydney. The quality of the receiver is very good and the extra receiving data such as signal, bandwidth deviation etc is excellent. The 747KHz DRM transmission is from the Radio National Site at Dockers Plains near Wangaratta sharing the same mast as 756 KHz Radio National Analogue Service.

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Lucy posted on her Instagram yesterday that she and Kel had tied the knot.
image

https://www.instagram.com/p/CfCu2A6vdJB/

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The breakfast/workday music mix on SWR 99.9 is pretty good. Although in terms of ads/station sponsors it’s sounding a little too commercial.

Have the rules relaxed? There are a few live reads for places like Car City and I don’t hear “station sponsor” too often.

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SWR sail a little close to the wind- it’s true- but the greater sin is the abandonment of western Sydney by commercial radio. SWR is filling the void left by 2KA/One and WS FM.

There is nothing wrong with sounding slick as a community station. I would be careful of those sponsor tags, though.

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Yup! Good move. Trying to roll it out across 3APL but is hard because everyone is so used to TuneIn.

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Anyone heard of the program Contact on the CBAA Comrad network? I heard it last night on 2SSR FM from 2:00 to 3:00, hosted by andrew. I was looking for a podcast or replay, but no results on google or duckduckgo, anyone know if this guy has a webpage? Only heard the last ten minutes, it wasn’t too bad.

Sorry to hear about that, some real low life around. Just checked your radio station’s premises on google street-view, and it seems to be opposite an NSW Department of Community and Justice. This used to be the old Housing NSW. I’ve been in there a few times (for job interviews), and though the offices are clean, the outside foyers and entrance area are often vandalized and spray painted, one has to remember that many folk who come to these places are hard down on their luck, and some are pretty bitter about their life situation. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was some druggie or misfit whose visited the DCJ, most probably couldn’t get the help they desired, and lunged out, on this occasion, your community radio station’s entrance. Not a certainty, but a possibility.

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This is what I’ve found from the Community Radio Network:
The long-running left-of-centre specialist music program hosted by Andrew Lambkin. Beginning on 2RDJ-FM, Burwood NSW from 1988 until 2002, it has been produced directly from CRN’s studios since October 1999.

That’s closing on 30 continuous years of volunteer-radio music programmes from someone who must love music quite a bit. Great music with a sense of history; wide reading for your record collection.

Facebook page/group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/contactcrn

List of shows including the one you’re asking about on Mixcloud https://www.mixcloud.com/feverpitch96/

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