Almost as hard to believe that Vintage 88 Penrith is only 1 watt 
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From what I understand, Classichitsfm and Vintage FMâs TXâs are on the top of escarpments in their respective broadcast areasâŚmeaning that they will go out a lot further compared to a TX at sea level. As you would be aware, height is everything when it comes to FM transmission. âŚand line of sight!
If anything, it was probably poor planning on ACMA (or itâs predecessor the ABA) when planning these licenses years ago.
In my previous experience, 1 watt can go out 40+ km if the conditions are right and there are no other stations on the same frequency. Driving around today, I had a listen to Vintage 88.0 - it got out out a fair way - the only thing that stopped me from listening past Blacktown was interference from 2RDJ (which would be expected)âŚyet I could hardly pick up the new station The Beat on 87.8 in parts of Penrith and St Marys (interference from a spanish station), yet I picked it up quite well in Riverstone (which had direct line of sight to the Blue Mountains).
Speaking of The Beat - not too bad. Pretty much what AIR FM was, but sounding more professional! It was mostly 1980âs, many unflogged songs with the odd song from 1990 - no ads, no announcers. I didnât hear any 1970âs music. The highlight would have been hearing Chilliwackâs My Girl, Waxxâs Bridge To Your Heart and Pookah Makes Threeâs Take It Back!
Makes me wonder why 2UE didnât run with a format like this!
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Oh WOW! Pity I canât get this station (and the website is a dud, didnât work).
Re 2UE, the Chilliwack song was one of the tracks I suggested they play 
Iâm about 50km away and where I am, get 88MHz permanently on my car radio.
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I see trouble ahead here.
Using a LPON as a Community Station is a big no no.
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Was going to dive through the ACMA website to see if such a case has come up before (I vaguely recall) but theyâve taken all their investigations offline - replaced with just a summary of the investigation and the outcome. Poor form.
Edit: bingo - Territory FM in Alice Springs https://www.radioinfo.com.au/news/narrowcasters-under-acmas-spotlight
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The original AIR FM in Penrith in the early 2000âs was found to be in breach for broadcasting a community format on a narrowcast licence.
Yes, itâs a definite no no!!!
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Yeah I was thinking of starting a tourist information/community hybrid LPON in Bungendore at some pointâŚIâd possibly get away with it since there is no other local service but probably best not to. Bungendore is in the 2QBN licence area but reception is actually pretty poor indoors on a portable.
I reckon the 2BRW licence area should be extended to Bungendore with a small (5 watt) repeater to cover the town. Not going to happen though. They would also have a case for a small repeater at Captains Flat since not much gets in there.
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wellâŚthey let the TAB have a mega LPON network & they are a commercial operation - I thought that violates the LPON rules
The TAB format is wholly within the bounds of narrowcasting, but there is something to be said for reserving LPON frequencies for non-commercial âhobbyâ type operations. This would be more in line with the LPFM sector in NZ. I would impose a 2-3 station ownership cap to encourage local content, whilst doing away with any format limitations. This would allow small local operations whilst excluding big commercial operators like Vision and the TAB. Let them bid for HPON licences instead.
The only problem with this approach might be operators running networked programming voluntarily (or being paid to do so) but you canât really stop thatâŚ
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Tourist information stations are indeed narrowcast, it would depend on the âcommunity radioâ side of the programming
Yeah the tourist stations are (or were) the quintessential LPON. I think I remember Air FM Penrith introducing some (superficial) tourist information in order to make themselves appear less like a community stationâŚobviously that was unsuccessful.
There used to be a narrowcast station in Bywong/Bungendore called âThe Lakeâ. It played mainly 60s and 70s US hits (the operator was an ex pat Yank I believe). I only heard them on 88.0 but they advertised 87.8 for Bungendore. This was about a decade ago and the station has been silent for years.
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I noted today that Greek Sydney broadcaster 2MM is currently off the air on 1665kHz in Sydney.
Anyone know how long thatâs been the case for?
They are still streaming though.
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2MM is now back on air - 1665kHz.
UPDATE: 1 minute after posting theyâre off air again - lol
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ACMA is currently inviting applications for HPON licences in Gosford (747 AM) & Hobart (104.3 FM).
Applications are due at 5pm on Monday 30th March.
More details: https://www.acma.gov.au/apply-high-power-open-narrowcasting-licences
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Sky Racing/2KY must have given up on that one in Gosford, they had the licence for that years ago, with them to build a new mast & TX site at the back of the Gosford racecourse, but it never happened.
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I would apply but that non-refundable application fee of $837.00 hits the wallet hard. 
I am surprise they are still putting out ânew AMâ stations.
104.3 Hobart will probably go to Kix Country; they are only on DAB there as far as I know. This would complement the 7AUS service on the Wet Coast. Not sure if thereâll be any great demand for the AM licence at Gosford if the TAB has indeed pulled out.
Possible or Vision Radio might grab both.
Ah yes the old Wet Coast
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