Narrowcast and AM Narrowband Radio

Perhaps a change in the transmission setup because it hasn’t been receivable before.

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I was in the car today driving on the Hume on the Southern Highlands and had reception of KIX Country from Goulburn (100.7) and Nowra (101.1).

Being on the dial next to each other highlighted to me that the content wasn’t even close to being in sync…. At one point, different songs were heard, and then one was in an ad break when the other had music on….

I had always thought they’d be almost exactly the same sync wise?

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Likely 4G feed off a stream and likely at different points in their buffer

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Most high power KIX services play out locally (with a common log). Goulburn does, I’m not sure about Nowra - but most likely.

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A stream over internet (4G or Wired) isnt very reliable, therefore they use a PC with automation software (i.e. common log, cloned file system). This way, if the internet drops out or buffers, the station can keep cranking out the audio. I know of a few commercials and cap city community stations that use mpx over ip, but even then they have analog STL backups or dedicated licenced wireless data links.

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How do Kix handle their anchored shows like their Breakfast shift - or is that inserted as pre-records into the playout near live or something?

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Newy 87.8 gets out a long way. I was listening to Coast Rock from Hawks Nest and Newy was fighting it around Karuah, then took over again once past Nerong Waterholes and was still OK at Bulahdelah. They must be running way over spec.

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Most Narrowcasters seem to, guess there TX just can’t do 1w

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@gordo92 they all have vision/reading problems and mistake 1 watt for 1 kilowatt. :woman_facepalming::man_shrugging::person_gesturing_no:t5:

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They would be losing 900 watts in the coax haha

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Claiming to. Nothing but rorters.

I wouldnt agree or disagree, except to say that LPONs often get a bad rap for over powering but this may not be the case for a couple of reasons:

  • The inverse square law (i.e. as you double your distance from the antenna, your signal reduces by 6db. This law, actually helps alot the closer you are to the transmitter, for example a radio service on 1 watt, could be heard out to 10km for the transmitter, whereas another station on 100,000 watts might struggle to reach 50km. Despite the station on 100,000 watts having a 50db advantage over the 1 watt service.
  • most car radios can receive signals at or above 20db, therefore LPONs with their limit of 48db at 2km and 10km, gives them a 28db signal margin, thats enough to get you 20 to 40km from the transmitter site if you are line of sight.
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Also check out the coverage experiences of 1 watt radio services in New Zealand, many of these services report getting very far (e.g. 30km) from there antenna sites (often on hills or mountains), given the rules the NZ gov have imposed on these services, they are very hard to overpower.

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Yes, HAAT or Height Above Average Terrain is critical. You can have quite a high powered service but if the transmitter site is poorly located, it doesn’t get out very well.

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I think they have 2 transmitters out that way

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Raw FM appears to have had a logo update according to their Facebook page….

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Reports that 1341kHz Geelong is back on air and playing classic hits along with classic 3GL jingles from the 80s. Just checking it out on a Melbourne-based SDR now and it does indeed appear to be back alive, and reception is fairly good (as it always was).

Anyone know if they’ve turned back on at the old Leopold site, or if it’s shifted elsewhere? Last I saw the Leopold site was still one mast down on its usual configuration, so had expected to never hear anything from there again.

I’ll be able to check in a couple of weeks but a bit far away now.

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Indeed it’s back, very strong here in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. The service seems to be licenced to “GEELONG BROADCASTERS PTY LIMITED” and the transmitter site is still “Geelong Broadcasters Site Portarlington Rd LEOPOLD VIC 3221”

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Smells like an ACMA complaint is on the cards

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Yeah, I couldn’t imagine the likes of Magic or 3MP would be too happy with it.

The playlist from my brief listening is fairly old, 50s and 60s. But the use of genuine old 3GL jingles/promos has me really intrigued. Is it being run by (the artist formerly known as) Grant Broadcasters? Is it just an enthusiast with access to some old recordings? I’d really love to know the story, and what’s planned (if anything more).

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