Out of complete interest, is this an actually logical solution or fantasy land? Anyone with actual technical understanding know?
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The major problem I see is the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast stations being on the same frequency. The are way too close for that to be a viable solution.
You also need to include the other stations in the area that can be received or have an impact in Brisbane such as Lismore, Warwick high powers, Toowoomba and Wide Bay high powers.
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Though this then becomes a potentially national exercise, as if you change Wide Bay etc frequencies, that might impact on Rocky which impacts on Mackay etc.
Perth was a lot easier since there were more spare frequencies and is a lot more isolated.
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Thatâs why presumably youâd need to start with a very specific goal and then just the minimum moves to achieve that.
ABC local radio to FM seems like the only achievable thing, with there being nearly no chance for the much needed additional commercial stations.
Canberra and surrounds might be the next place where there might be actual movement on something close to a restack, ABC getting Local Radio on FM and thereâs already the in market agreement for 2CA/2CC to convert to FM, just none of those markets with competition seem to have progressed at all.
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To start the exercise, you basically have to put all the existing stations from Lismore, Wide Bay etc into the band without moving them and then fit the restack around them. Which means you probably have to start with the current 800 kHz spaced frequencies.
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Itâs A fun exercise. But really should be done in the context of the current odd numbered frequencies. 88.1 88.3 etc.
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I wonder if a universal SFN for Black Mountain/ Tuggeranong would work. That would free up a lot of frequencies. Failing that, just scrap the Tuggers repeaters altogether. Black Mountain is largely fine on the car radio there and thereâs blanket 5G coverage in Tuggers for streaming to make up for any slight signal deficiency these days.
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I donât think we need to rule out the even frequencies, especially in SEQ as theyâre already using them for stations like Breeze 100.6 and Rebel 99.4 on the Gold Coast
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Those two stations could be restacked into the usual odd numbered frequencies with a clean up. I donât know why 2CBA in Sydney was kept on an even frequency after analog ATN7 closed, as that was the issue there.
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Possibly because 103.3 had already been allocated to Muswellbrook and Goulburn⌠they could of course have been given other frequencies⌠Hope may have also been reluctant to move given the cost to rebrand (eg. updating logos etc) and the potential loss of listeners and so on.
And therein lies an issue. Not wanting to allocate the same frequency because thereâs other stations using them, even though theyâre way out of each otherâs service areas and would have little to no co-channel interference. A characteristic of FM radios is the âcapture effectâ where the stronger signal on the same frequency wins out.
Also, with respect, a 100kHz change to 2CBAâs frequency would not result in the loss of listeners. Many radios wouldnât even notice it!
With Tropo Gold Coast stations can be received into the Sunshine Coast so this wonât work.
In Canberra they need to do a restack of the fm band and clear the Tuggeranong relays. There is only a few spots in Canberra with very poor fm reception from Black Mountain, particularly the suburbs on the southern slopes of Mt Taylor. DAB+ simulcasts from Tuggeranong Hill should be sufficient to fill these gaps.
I think the Tuggeranong relays are more a protection racket for the incumbent fm stations preventing AM to FM conversions of existing players and any new entrants such as Nova ent entering the market.
Basically Canberra is a very boring market that needs a massive shake up.
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Agree! Those relays are a protection racket, and Canberra FM needs a big shake up.
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When the ABA made the Canberra LAP variation back in 2003 which saw ABC NewsRadio moved from 1440 (which is now used by SBS Radio) to 103.9, surely it wouldâve made more sense back then to move ABC Canberra to that frequency, and that ABC NewsRadio takes over the 666 frequency instead.
Hereâs the Discussion Paper/Draft LAP from back then, which explained why ABC NewsRadio converted its Canberra service to FM:
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Thank you as always. An interesting read at the time and again now.
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I am a strong advocate for ABC local radio to stay on AM, being AM sites are more resilient to adverse weather and bushfires instead of mountain top FM. And as Canberra only has a single transmission site for FM, that makes it even more the case ABC Local Radio stays on AM. Speaking of, does anyone know if ABC Local Radio in Perth after itâs recent move to FM will have site diversity, same as TV?
It works the other way too, FM is not as suspectible to flooding as AM sites are. I recall during a Canberra flood some years back, Local Radio on 666 had to be switched off and temporarily replace Classic on 102.3
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Point taken. With AM sites far easier to get into. than FM sites. Like how Mt Belleden Ker can not be accessed if wind is too cyclonic to stop the cable car operating up to there. Otherwise it is a 6 hour walk through dense bush to access that site, impossible through the night.
Same thing in Brisbane, flooding is more of a problem than bushfires. Usually ABC Brisbane simulcasts on 106.1 during weather events.
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Not sure what you mean, all our VHF high-powered transmitters are in the same vicinity on the east Perth hills, the main sites being in Carmel and Bickley. Fires would definitely be a problem because the Perth hills are all bush. Would probably take out all the commercial TV and FM radio stations, leaving only AM and low powered community FM radio stations running.