The original plan for 2WS on FM was from a Western Sydney site (don’t know which one) on 97.7 … but being away from the Artarmon / Gore Hill area meant it would interfere with Channel 9 analogue TV reception, so that didn’t happen.
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2NSB (99.3) actually has pretty good coverage these days; I heard it clearly in Bowral the other week.
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Yeah number one in coverage would be 2NSB 99.3 followed by SWR , number 3 is Alive FM on 90.5 or 88.1 FM 2RDJ or 2NBC fm 90.1 FM. Who is your number 3 for coverage?
Or maybe you disagree with 1. 99. 3 followed by 99.9.
I’d say the northern beaches stations are the weakest or provide the least fortuitous coverage ie, 90.3 FM and 88.7 FM.
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88.7 2MWM from Bilgola Plateau is good up here too north, but poor to the south.
2VTR 89.9 (the original 750 watt TX) was good for me, Eastside Radio 2RES 89.7 is OK here too.
2MCR 100.3 isn’t too bad here either considering though it is the furthest away for me.
2BLU 89.1 Katoomba is OK here as well.
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Was SWR’s reception better or worse when it was coming from Space Probe 7 at Wonderland? @matt86
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The strongest sub metro here (tropo only) is unsurprisingly 2MCR, followed by Alive 90.5. Though it’s harder to get a clean signal from 2MCR now that 100.3 Braidwood is on air…and that peaks off direction because it’s vertically polarised. Unfortunately I can’t get SWR as I have 2x NewsRadios on there (so wouldn’t even work with the co-channel canceller).
I can also hear 2RDJ on occasions and I’ve had 2SSR once or twice. 99.3 and 90.1 are dominated by the Bathurst area stations; 2NSB is possibly vertical to mitigate interference from B-Rock (which is mixed).
2GLF also comes through on 89.3 since it’s a nice clear channel; I rarely hear Blayney there (not even sure it’s on air at the moment).
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It would be good if Northside Radio could get a spot on DAB+, similar to what Eastside have done. It will give them Sydney-wide coverage on DAB+ with better sound quality.
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The strongest for me in order are-
-
Alive 90.5 I am just outside the licence area
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2SWR - in Licence area but obstructed LOS and vertical polarity
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Northside Radio
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WOW fm
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2SSR
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2MCR, much stronger then C91.3
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2BLU
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2HHH
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2NBC
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2RRR
-
2GLF
No 2RDJ because of Faith fm
No Radio Northern Beaches.
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…the McNair radio ratings, which reveals the station has grown by 20,000 overall listeners per week.
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Proposal to vary the Charleville licence area plan
We would like to make changes to community radio broadcasting services in the Charleville, Augathella, Cunnamulla and Morven areas.
We want to vary the Charleville radio licence area plan (LAP). This will involve:
- adding technical specifications for current transmissions of 4RR community broadcasting services at Augathella, Cunnamulla and Morven
- extending the Charleville RA2 licence area to include the areas of Augathella, Cunnamulla and Morven
- removing the technical specification planned for the now unused community broadcasting service in Cunnamulla RA1. This licence area will also be removed.
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They’re IDing this week.
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2MBS FM have been testing on & off at Artarmon for a week or 2, but as of today, I believe they are happy with everything & are now full time from Artarmon, albeit at around 1/3 of their normal full power.
Currently operating at lower than normal power on their smaller backup transmitter, while they move the rest of their PIE Racks & main transmitter from the CBD site to Artarmon over the next few weeks.
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Cool. Thanks for the update.
Earlier during my initial typing their was a high RDS BER during higher modulation levels, but that seams to have now disappeared.
RE RDS: Their ‘standby transmitter’ distinguishable with Group 0B data blocks instead of usual Group 0A. Also AF set with frequencies: 90.7 & 96.1MHz.
Else sounding fine 
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Since you’ve noted that, I’ve started monitoring the signal here at work on our mod monitor, & am seeing some things, that I’ll have to let them know about. TXA have no control over what’s going into or the operation of their transmitter/s.
Do you have time to do some further monitoring & let me know what you find?
I’m seeing high RDS BER too at times, but I’m not surprised, their Stereo Pilot levels look to be quite high, I’m seeing up to 15kHz Pilot during loud periods & RDS levels up into 25-26kHz during the same, which I think is what’s causing the high RDS BER, the receivers are getting RDS overload because the RDS levels are too loud?
I’m also seeing the Group 0B data blocks, but I’m not seeing any Alternate frequencies?
There’s no RT either, do they normally have that?
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There’s some loud music on now & the RDS is breaking up bad with high BER, stereo pilot levels up close to 20kHz & I’ve seen RDS levels hit 37kHz.
Date & time have just popped up on my mod monitor & they are out by a long way too but that could be due to the RDS errors? Do you see RDS time (CT) on 2MBS & is it correct?
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Not a lot, but a little right now
I went digging in my archives & found a 2019 pic from SDR Console of 2MBS MPX & compared to current MPX. Also compared RDS level from our Australian RDS List.
Here’s what I note.
19kHz Stereo pilot level is the same as current -21dBFS normal.
RDS level was: -46dB FS now -40dB FS so RDS modulation level is higher.
Now comparing MPX shots I see a lot of power in the 19kHz harmonics on their standby TX. Big audio harmonics on 57, 76 & 95kHz.
Huge RDS harmonic on 76kHz.
I cannot measure modulation % indexes here or deviation, only MPX levels.
2MBS has never had RT (at least in recent years)
The AF frequencies are detected in RDS Spy with Method A.
The AF frequencies don’t show with SDR software program ‘SDR Console’.
2MBS does not have Date & Time (CT - Group 4A) & never has at least in recent years.
I’ve done another check & only Group 0B being transmitted.
RT uses Group 2A or 2B.
CT uses Group 4A (or 4b, never seen)
Hope that helps.
I wouldn’t worry about the AF frequencies, since it’s only a standby TX & no other station using 2MBS’s PI code of 2056.
It’s only the unfiltered 19/38kHz harmonics that is affecting the RDS. BW on medium modulation is very roughly around 280kHz.
Late Edit: 76kHz RDS harmonic is just -6dB below that of the 57kHz RDS subcarrier.
Hope this helps a bit.
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Yes noticing the lower signals in NW Sydney, quite weak in spots around Box Hill / Rouse Hill. The RDS is doing quite well hanging in except in the most weakest of spots.
Would the ERP be approximately 15-16KW in the 50KW zones?
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It will be slightly more than 2MFM.
2MFM have a TX power of 2.14kW, 2MBS is currently at 2.5kW
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Some more observations while driving home from work from Rouse Hill.
There is very little stereo separation in the audio, even on my Hifi with the dx setup.
Also the signal was suffering from continuous multipath. There was very few places where there wasn’t multipath interference.
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89.9 Light FM will broadcast live from Melbourne Royal Show every day, from 12pm to 6pm AEST, according to the Show Guide inside Herald Sun today. The Royal Show runs from September 22 to October 2.
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