Could 95.9 work in Calbooulture? 89.9 for Ioswich & 89.1 for Logan?
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Moving Hot Tomato to 102.5 to fit in a new commercial FM Brisbane license on 102.9 wonât happen, it would be unprecedented and vehemently opposed by Grant Broadcasters, not to mention some of the other Brisbane licensees like SCA and ABC.
You could still fit a high powered FM station on 101.3 if 101.5 and 101.1 are moved where they wonât cause interference to Toowoomba/Gympie stations.
I like your second potential solution, moving Bridge FM to 88.3 so that 99.7 could be a high-powered license for Brisbane.
I think 101.3 and 99.7 are the only realistic options for Brisbane. 102.9 would end up being a political hot-potato that ACMA wouldnât want to touch.
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Would need the Murwillumbah TCBL on 101.3 to relocate Iâd imagine.
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Surely they can consolidate the ABC FM services I the Sunshine Coast? Do they really need 2 lots of transmitters?
Surely a height increase and upping the power level at Black Mountain would be sufficient? Is that enough to make Dulong redundant?
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And 4NSA Noosa Heads.
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Black Mountain also covers Gympie.
It would be nigh on impossible for one site to adequately cover Caloundra to Gympie due to terrain and distance.
An option could be to consolidate the ABCs at Dulong to cover Caloundra to Noosa and a low power infill for Gympie.
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95.9 wonât work for Caboolture because of Zinc 96.1; 89.1 is not suitable for Logan because of 4CRB on 89.3 adjacent market; 89.9 is adjacent to 4TAB Beaudesert so not suitable for Ipswich.
Noosa Community Station that is on 101.3 would also have to find a new frequency.
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So essentially 4 community stations would have to move frequencies for 101.3 to be a high-powered commercial license for Brisbane. The chances of it happening are small.
I would say Rebel FM would also have to move to 99.3 at Mount Tamborine to accommodate a 99.7 high-powered commercial license for Brisbane.
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Also, the provisional community station at Terranora would also have to move off 101.3 and the Beudesert community licence (currently not operating) would have to be moved off 101.5.
Not sure about 99.4 as ACMA seems happy to have it with a station on 99.7 in Redcliffe plus Breeze on 100.6 is 0.3 away from Bay FM on 100.3 which puts a fair signal towards the norther GC area. So they may be OK with an 0.3 separation.
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Originally. Then 5 Toowoomba moved to 5A.
Toowoomba may be known as top of the range, but most of the population is on the west facing slope of East Creek or the east facing slope of the West Creek catchment.
This makes signals from Mt Coot-tha or Mowbullan difficult, hence the high gain antennae at Downs Radio & TV down on the banks of West Creek on Herries St.
I marvel at this setup every time I visit the garden city.
So DDQ began a low powered translator on 5 from their link tower as many Toowoomba residents could receive Mt Coot-tha (BNE) signals better than the Darling Downs site of Mt Mowbullan.
The coverage wasnât great and finally the ABT or predecessor agreed to 5A from Picnic Pt. Similar elevation, less surrounding vegetation and more central to the town grid, along with signal east off the range to the upper Lockyer Valley which helped with extending the licence area east when it was defined.
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I understand your theory @TV.Cynic , however, there would be mutual interference on high altitude areas.
FM 102.7 is not a strong signal, it falls out the RDS list within the two story buildings of the Toowoomba town centre and in other urban areas. Along the eastern suburbs on the range, from Highfields to Top Camp, Hot Tomato is clearly heard, RDS and all, easily decodes.
If your selectivity is up to scratch, FM 102.7 is likewise clear on Mt Tamborine.
Could shift Hot Tomato to a vacant 0.4 offset elsewhere in band?
102.9 was allocated to the Gold Coast as itâs the harmonic of ABC TV when on analogue VHF 2. Thatâs been cleared, so nothing to worry about now.
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is it time to scrap HPONâs and move them to DAB only?
this would free up (from vision alone) 87.6, 87.8 , 88 just in brisbane
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HPONs arenât on those frequencies ⌠theyâre LPON âŚ
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i stand corrected. still is it time to scrap these sub metro licences? they seem to be getting hoovered up by the same players and not beign used as intended
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⌠they are being âreviewedâ by the ACMA at the end of 2025 - review originally 2012 then moved to 2020 - weâll see what happens then âŚ
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No I think thatâs where the 0.4 spacing would work in that case.
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I hope someone from ACMA is reading this thread - weâre doing their job for them 
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Unlikely. For all the tyre kicking going on in this thread, they are unlikely to notice. Nevertheless it is fun to discuss and a good logic puzzle if nothing else- and perhaps rising to the level of a zen Koan in the case of SEQ.
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Covers Gympie Shire. Gympie is like all gold mining town, a mixture of ridges and flood prone valleys.
Gympie TV in analogue Days was covered by Black Mtn for Noosa hinterland and Tozer Hill for the town itself.
The twin site national radio setup is a misuse of spectrum, highly inefficient and unnecessary.
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Due to 4BAY not operating within spec since they moved to their current tower.