Community Radio

Radio, Print, and Online Regional, Community and International Radio
4246

I was about to say… better organise a Full Time License first! Should have had non frequency dependent branding years a go just in case! But what would I know… :wink: BTW isn’t the “modern short term” for Gold Coast = GC? Never liked Goldie either! What’s next - Home Of The White Shoe Brigade?

Back to serous Hat on now…
If we are calling 94.1 a Brisbane channel. So are all the others used on the GC including Hot Tomato’s 102.9. You need to know some of the history to know why things rolled out the way they did.

94.1 is the last channel that can operate at the same GC pattern as all others. Currently there are about 4 different patterns coming from Tambo Golf Course. Kinda defeats the purpose of having everyone on the same tower. Next issue is 94.1 has been allocated just out near Crows Nest. So it ain’t moving to Brisbane without a lot of fuss. I do have a fix… but it requires ACMA to grow a pair… and force HT to move to 94.1. ARN will cry and sook and kick and scream about branding etc… But it will fix the crappy notch they need towards Toowoomba (that only they need). I’m pretty sure (although no one will say I’m right or not) that all others plumbed into that array get the same notch - when they don’t need it! The current TCBL guys won’t like it either… but they need to move too, more on that in a sec.

If the notch is removed the guys on 107.3 and 105.7 (which are only 10kw instead of 25kw) are already 3dB down over all. They have been fighting co channel “punch through” from the ABC from Mowbullan from day one. Taking out the notch improves them in the direction they need it the most. Personally I’d have been refusing to pay the rent all these years!

Now for the rest of it… 102.9 racks off to Brisbane! It can be used area wide but a move is needed to 102.5 for the Toowoomba guys. Give it to Switch to convert from AM. This is why I said ACMA needs to grow a pair! Someone else needs a move too. Either 102.9 goes to Mt Cootha as a Brisbane wide channel and the Toowoomba community boys move to 102.5. The other solution is.. the Redland Bay community boys on 99.7 get the 102.9 channel and 99.7 goes to Mt Cootha for an FM conversion for Switch. Thus leaving Toowoomba alone.

What about the guys on 94.1 now? I’m glade you asked… :wink: The GC can have 101.7 put out as a TCBL channel or ACMA could just pull the plug on all TCBL’s. Even they can’t follow thier own rule book. Generally after a group has failed the channel comes back out as a HPON (generally). Well that hasn’t happened after the spectacular implosion of Hope Island years ago. With 4CRB being allowed to change it’s “community purpose” in the following years as well. The current mob have already been passed over a few years back when the ACMA decided to “not allocate”. So the process for Full Time allocation has actually been and gone once more since then and today. The chance to give the GC a true “block programmed community service” has been missed once more. It should be no surprises who I am. So I’ll say it publically - me and community radio = never again! I did my time running on raw enthusiam (to old now for that crap) and putting in the effort to have it stolen from you (no thanks). But would like to see things fixed so everyone can have a go… as radio is a great medium. Because you can’t really call any of the current operators true communty services - narrowcasters yes and this needs fixing!

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4247

@MrX

Maybe you should write a strongly worded email with your findings to the ACMA and tell them how you feel

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4248

I did ask ACMA for a more detailed reason why they decided not to allocate. I got a sharp reminder of the political speak that says nothing and decided life is better away from it.

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4249

Yeah ACMA is pretty arrogant when (if) they reply to the public - aka their owners. Yet they tiptoe around operators (particularly commercial ones) who they are supposed to regulate for the ultimate benefit of the public. I think it was Paul Keating who coined the term “unrepresentative swill” which I think applies here.

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4250

A very sad day for the Mallee with 3MBR-FM closing down I have very fond memories going out to Murrayville & helping out with the station we seem to be losing a lot of community stations lately.

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4251

3MBR is one of the only stations in Australia I’ve never, ever heard; I’ve never been close enough to Murrayville, Ouyen etc. to hear them on FM. They’ve never streamed, and I’ve never heard them via skip.

About the only other station I can think of that falls into this category is Radio Lord Howe on 100.1. I tried to hear them from North Brother Mountain a few years ago when tropo was big but sadly, no luck. They may be possible via Es once in a blue moon, too, but at only 985 km from Bungendore it’s a tall order, especially given the low power and relatively high frequency (shorter Es hops are more common at the low end of the dial).

You can add 6CKI Cocos/Keeling too…and I recently discovered 6RCI Christmas Island has a stream, so strike that one off!

4252

Its probably the only community or commercial station in VIC or NSW I’ve never received terrestrially too.

There’s a few in most other states I’ve never heard terrestrially. And for me, streaming doesn’t count in that respect since it’s too easy.

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4253

If I had unlimited time and money I’d like to personally visit every community radio station in the country. Some of the remote stations in WA and NT would be hard work, though.

Maybe I should just aim for every station between Adelaide and Brisbane, plus Tassie, to start off with.

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4254

It’s an emotional day for me today with 3MBR-FM going off-air I was hoping getting back involved once I got out of hospital In June & got my health under control, I have very fond memories of the stations inserting music onto their playout system & doing a couple of on-air shifts.

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4255

I have noticed that 2BAB (Bay and Basin FM) has dropped the power recently. At Bawley Point yesterday I was getting Artsound in the clear on 92.7; even around Tomerong there was some flutter on 2BAB’s signal.

I could get 2BAB all the time during my last few years at Oatley (when they switched from vertical to mixed pol).

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4256

Interesting, I’ll keep an ear out for that.

I always seem to get 2BAB best vertically, often it’ll be there and when I turn my rabbit ears horizontal that’ll disappear and I’ll get 1ART or the Port Macquarie HPON instead.

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4257

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Celebrations as 3CR turns 50

3CR in Melbourne is celebrating 50 years of giving voice to those denied one in mainstream media with a Community Day to be held on July 4. The station is also holding a Radiothon across June with the aim of raising $300,000.

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4258

Sydney community radio station 2SER will avoid being switched off in July under a reduced capacity model put to the station’s owners, the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

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