Spectrum management should definitely be a function of Government
Our media history is littered with decisions favouring vested interests
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Yeah with the Facebook and Google situation itâs hard to know, is itâs about vested interests, who is right or wrong etc. Can the government body be really neutral? Should they protect local media companies including radio? Or does it just mean we just get a mediocrity product? Like just have most times of the day radio is just on autopilot.
87.6 Noise fm Kurrajong Heights is no more, it is now River fm and playing country music. It has a stereo pilot so obviously broadcasting from the same location. These narrowcasting stations keep changing quite regularly.
I just wish Raw fm could get this frequency from Kurrajong Heights as a permanent frequency to serve the Hawkesbury.
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http://riverfm.com.au/index.php/210-2/
It looks like Noise Fm has shut down and the operator has opened up River Fm 87.6 in its place, it is registered to the same location In Kurrajong.
Similar reception here in Stanhope Gardens.
It also looks like the interfering signal 87.6 is no longer Vintage Fm it is now a foreign language station, maybe voice of Islam.
These Lpons change constantly.
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Because the allowed wattage is so damn low that there is not enough listener motivation for the operators to invest the money, time, and resources, at least these narrowcast licenses should at least be a minimum of 2 to 5 Kw to get some firm penetration into city landscapes where they are many high-rise and arbitrary geographical features that absorbed the signal.
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Some of those LPONs get out pretty far. I can get Vintage FM on 88 and 88.7 MHz some 50km away. Whether itâs the transmittersâ elevation or theyâre running above the allowed power or both, Iâm not sure.
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87.6 The River gets out very well to the east due to its elevation 550m ASL, and covers up to around 30km, however it hardly makes it over the ridge to the west.
By being on the eastern side of the Blue Mountains escarpment and having the assistance of elevation you achieve great then the 5km assigned coverage area from the 1.64W transmission.
In regards to the constant change of LPONs, RAW seems to be the most consistent. However they did close down their Goulburn service in the last few years. I just wish they had more of a presences in Sydney.
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A year or so ago they were advertising some of their licenses were for sale. No mention of which ones but.
I do remember that,
Maybe Goulburn was one of those??
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Iâm surprised the Jindabyne outlet is still on air
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Noticed that Noise FM/River FM flipped to country when I had a look at their playlist yesterday. A pity, as the old all Aussie format played a lot of forgotten tunes.
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Also, The Beatâs Camden service on 87.6 seems to be off, as Iâm getting a faint signal of River FM. It seems to still be on-air on 87.8 in Penrith (judging by Online Radio Box still showing the playlist), but I canât get it at home near Campbelltown.
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Yes it sounds pretty ordinary in mono in comparison to Canberra which broadcasts in stereo.
I wonder how Raw attract listeners when they donât seem to have a huge social media following. Regardless itâs one of the best narrowcast services going and is great to listen to, if only they had a couple of licences in regional hubs like the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.
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And extensive coverage across Sydney in stereo like in Canberra.
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GT-FM Bombala now has a sister station in Maclean NSW: GT FM 87.8:
I messaged the operator Mark on Facebook and he confirmed that they are linked and running the same programme. GT Maclean streams online, unlike the Bombala original. A very eclectic music mix.
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Havenât seen this mentioned yet - but back in May, Vision Radio moved into more purpose build premises theyâve called the âVision Christian Media Hubâ. They are still looking for more money in order to fully purhase the building outright.
Photos and videos doing a tour of the new premises are on their website for those interested.
Here is a look inside one of the new studios.
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Recently travelling around Canberra I note 87.8 UCFM gets out really well to the north of Canberra as does 87.6 Raw FM, both in stereo. UCFM has RDS. I thought Raw FM had RDS in the past, however I couldnât detect it in any of the locations I visited.
In the south of Canberra on 87.8 Canberra thereâs Canberra Visitor Radio with their âtest transmissionâ, in mono - it dominates over UCFM in the Tuggeranong area.
On 88.0 FM I had what appeared to be an active unmodulated transmitter heard throughout Canberra. Not sure whatâs supposed to be heard on this frequency.
I couldnât detect any RDS on 1VFM 89.5 or any of the Canberra southern FM relay sites with the exception of 1WAY FM with RDS on 94.3
On AM in Canberra I heard a narrowcast Chinese station on 1620kHz.
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Raw fm Canberra has the advantage of a network of transmitters in and around Canberra. This allows the station to get out towards Yass, Williamsdale, and towards Lake George.
87.8 UCFM only has the one transmitter site at the University, it has to be over spec of itâs 1.64w ERP because the signal goes a fair way towards Yass on the car radio.
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I think Raw is only using the one transmitter in Canberra, though they probably fib about this where ACMA is concerned. Who knows what power they are actually running; suffice to say it is well above the 10 watt maximum allowable in regional areas.
I suspect they are transmitting from Mount Jerrabomberra as the signal is shadowed along the lake at Yarralumla. The signal is flawless in the eastern half of Canberra and Queanbeyan, and itâs strong into Bungendore as well.
I can barely get UC FM here by comparison, though I have the Lake George Escarpment blocking LOS in that direction. Nothing at all from Canberra Visitor Radio.
88.0 was running CRI but has been running open carrier ever since I moved here (March). 1620 is fairly new; it wasnât there in the winter months when I was assessing the daytime skywave from Sydney on the X-band.
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