1656AM used to be the VAC International run Chinese language station from Sunnybank Hills. The Radio Rhythm owner also still has 1665 on the books as well in Brisbane’s north.
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Most of these Chinese language AM narrowcasters have disappeared from the x-band in recent years across the nation.
Yes.
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It didn’t end well with BA with the experiment for a NAS at Bald Hills.
400w flea power TX up against three services at 50, 20 and 10kW.
Bought VAC’s licence and their leaning tower of disaster that was atop an office building in Sunnybank Hills, therefore, the licence is off air. I won’t expect any service will be on any time soon.
Am interested to see what Vision do with 1620, will they remain at Chandler with significantly less coverage than AM 1053 or more successfully be able to move to their current location at BA’s old 4BK mast in Tingalpa.
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Considering I’ve heard it interfering with 2CA quite easily when driving around in what seemed to be marginal coverage area for 2CA (in the area between Albury, Cooma and the Hume Highway) I might consider it to have been too powerful, although I’m obviously biased towards 2CA over Vision.
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“Starter FM will champion dance music, based out of Western Sydney.”
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Update Australia(Niche, Rete Italia, Vision Christian Radio, Crocmedia) July 21st, 2020:
https://ilglobo.com/news/a-step-towards-the-future-rete-italia-moves-to-dab-digital-radio-50868/
https://ilglobo.com/about-rete-italia-radio-network/tune-rete-italia/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rete_Italia
https://radioau.net/niche-network/
1539.01 Niche Radio Network*),Sydney-Bicentennial
*)"Rete Italia is part of Niche Radio Network, which broadcasts multiple languages.»
Languages: Arabic, Cantonese, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi/Punjabi, Italian, Vietnamese.
1539AM Niche Radio Network , Monitored, but tentative schedule:
0500-0700Z (1500-1700 AEST) 2ME 1638 relay. 0550 “3BC News?”
0800Z /(1800 AEST) ) full ID in Cantonese and Niche EE ID 0700 plus frequencies announced*).
0700-0800Z (1700-1800 AEST) 2AC (Cantonese)
0800Z /(1800 AEST) ) full 2AC…Tien Tai ID in Mandarin and Niche EE ID 0800 plus frequencies announced*).
0800-0859Z (1800-1900 AEST) 2AC (Mandarin), local Sydney Tien Tai ID?
0859-1000Z (1859- AEST)Rete Italia main feed YL ID 0906.
1000-1100Z (2000-2100 AEST)Vietnamese nonstop mx
1100-1159Z (2100-2159 AEST)Punjabi nonstop mx
1159-1200Z (2159-2200 AEST)Italian commercials
1200- 2100Z ((2200-0900 AEST,overnight) pips toth, RAI Radio Uno
2100-2130Z? (0900-0930 AEST)Rete Italia? REL
2130-2200Z (0930-1000 AEST)Rete Italia News mx ads, IDs
2200-2300Z (1000-1100 AEST)RAI Radio Uno/Rete Italia
ID mentioned:
*)
Sydney 1539 AM,
Melbourne 1593 AM(gone),
Shepparton 1629 AM, …
Wangaratta 1620 AM,
Sunshine Coast 1629 AM,
Gold Coast 1629 AM
(But Rete Italia Monday 29th information via Messenger: "We maintain only one AM on 1629 kHz in a small city called Shepparton.»)
-It is not clear if the same schedule applies to other transmitters than Sydney and how many of them are on air!
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that must have been part of the deal for Crocmedia to purchase 1593 in Melbourne and 1539 in Sydney, by handing over some DAB bandwidth to Rete Italia?
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So are 1620 Sunshine Coast, 1620 Gold Coast, 1620 Wangaratta and 1629 Shepparton on air and do they eventually use same feed as 1539 Sydney?
Bye bye 128k for 2CH 
. Hope they can be 80k or more. 48k would be enough.
We knew this was going to happen eventually though - might’ve even still happened under EON ownership since it seems there were plans (which obviously never eventuated, probably due to their financial position) for 2CH to launch additional stations on Digital Radio!
Mind you, I think a date is still yet to be set for the launch of Rete Italia on Sydney DAB+. One would presume Pacific Star/Crocmedia are waiting to be able to launch SEN Sydney for that to happen.
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Incorrect. No Gold Coast MF NAS service on air on 1629 and unable with current allocations 160km either side.
Once was Rete Italia on 1620, now silent ahead of Croc Media’s sport program switching on 8 Sep or before.
The Qld freqs in this URL are incorrect:
https://ilglobo.com/en/about-rete-italia-radio-network/tune-rete-italia/
Brisbane 1620 is Vision Christian Radio and Gold Coast is off ahead of SEN Track on air for 8 Sep.
Thanks @sm1611 for your detailed post.
AM 1683 kHZ
Is there a TX on air on 1683 that is only putting out a pilot tone?
Via skywave, a pilot tone is audible at night, west of Brisbane, east of Brisbane and in Sydney.
I’m gonna say it & some mightn’t like it, but Rete Italia going to DAB+ on Crocmedia/2CH spectrum says it all, when commercial licensee’s are flogging off DAB+ spectrum to niche broadcasters because they can’t make anything out of it, shows IMO where it’s going to end up.
Community & (what’s now) Narrowcast broadcasters will probably end up filling the DAB+ spectrum with FM & AM (to a point), going back to being the main radio platform.
Yes the existing have their main AM or FM channel on DAB+, but essentially all the other stations even from ARN & SCA are Narrowcast stations.
If DRM is taken up by regional commercial, ABC/SBS & Community stations, you might find the metro commercials wanting to offload their DAB+ spectrum & digitising (AM/FM) by going DRM/DRM+ with the one main station (currently on AM/FM) & perhaps 1 secondary station only?
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is that such a bad thing, though? If it adds more diversity to the range of stations on DAB then that’s probably good. And more than what could fit in on the AM and FM bands.
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Is all the diversity currently available, good for AM/FM?
When was the last time you saw a Narrowcast/Niche station set the ratings on fire, & rake in the advertising dollars?
Just because you might get a few more listeners on the platform, doesn’t mean they’ll listen to other stations, make it a success, & make it pay it’s own way.
There must be 10 million plus diverse radio stations online, IMO that doesn’t really make it a good thing, very few of them make any money at all, & millions of them never get more than 50 listeners at a time.
Too much choice of anything can actually be a bad thing & a hindrance to success.
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1629 Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast were just printing errors in a previous post. See my question above for these and other frequencies recently announced on Niche 1539 in Sydney(during Cantonese and Mandarin programming). I am well aware of the 1620 frequency both in Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane. What about 1620 Sunshine Coast currently? Any observations lately or in 2020 generally?
I honestly think we’ll see the networks move away from DAB+ in favour of just running FM (and to a lesser extent, AM) and online streaming before DRM/DRM+ signals come onto the air.
I’m also skeptical that the public will buy the idea of yet another format for Digital Radio after being told continuously that “DAB+ is the way of the future” (probably too late to reach its full potential - fulltime digital radio services probably should’ve began in the Late 1990s or Early 2000s) for more than a decade.
I was wondering the same thing. Sure, I won’t be a regular listener of Rete Italia when it comes on DAB+ in Sydney (Reason #1 being that I don’t understand/speak Italian) but many of the existing extra stations from commercial broadcasters aren’t anything to get excited about either.
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Exactly my point. The whole DRM+ is the way forward argument from broadcast industry types is delusional and completely out of touch with reality when you consider the current popularity of streaming services, smart speakers, Bluetooth speakers & headphones and generous mobile data allowances and unmetered streaming services.
I even saw a recent Sony DAB+ clock radio going cheaply in my local Salvos today so people are already giving up on that (it worked too BTW, I checked).
I’m not saying that DAB+ was the correct choice but it was what was chosen and has seen adoption in cars and homes.
Is too much choice a bad thing in radio? I’d say no.
Is this choice making a profit for the stations? I’d hazard a guess no ( or hardly)!
Is the radio landscape set for further major changes in the next 5+ years? I’d say it is!
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Fair point, I get the less-is-more approach, but I think diversity is good and if niche operators can manage to make a dollar with their respective markets then it’s a win.
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That’s an answer to a different question though - one of whether broadcasting over the air has a future.
Obviously, if the answer to that is no, then it doesn’t matter what the technology is. However, if you want to provide a path forward to listenable broadcast audio for AM Narrowcast/narrowband stations - then DRM offers the most viable future path.
AM is nearing the point of being unfit for purpose in major cities - and there’s just not enough FM space available - especially under current planning schemes - to allow for a transition. There’s DAB for the big guys - but that deliberately and permanently shuts out smaller stations - be they local community ones, or narrowcasters who aren’t owned by commercial radio stations.
People who listen to off band broadcasts are already dealing with finding radios which receive the expanded AM band, and putting up with poor quality. If that’s still a sizable market - then migrating them to DRM could give them a far better broadcast standard.
If there’s no future in broadcasting, all broadcast technologies are equally doomed, that’s not an indictment on DRM.
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