Well done with the detective work! 
Thanks.
It appears the music on 87.8 has been updated, this might have happened yesterday arvo?
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It seems Brisbane has now succumbed to a Faith FM outlet - had it with RDS on 88.0 today. Suspect itās this licence I was hearing, from the SDA HQ in Spring Hill:
https://web.acma.gov.au/rrl/assignment_search.lookup?pEFL_ID=12403753
Why have only one bunch of bible-bashers occupying the LPON frequencies when you can have two?!
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Iām guessing not just new with RDS, but new transmitter site too this year? 
As I couldnāt see the FM antenna on building with early 2024 Google Streetview.
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Explains what Iāve been receiving on 88.0 on the bayside. It really gets out.
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Yeah I get it here in the western suburbs fairly clearly, not clear enough for an RDS decode as there is another 88 station in the background, but Iām also not aiming at it.
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Huh?
As talked about in The Radio Green Room on Facebook, Hot FM (AKA: Hott FM) Charleville are no more.
Word is after the studio fit out, the money ran out in April and the Brekky Host (Darryl Kirkup) left as a result.
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ATM the station isnāt receivable at my location anymore. Can now receive vintage Tower radio from Redcliffe again.
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This story a bit old now, but as their Katherine station recently implemented RDS I thought Iād post it here.
Their Katherine LPON station might well be the first NT narrowcaster to use RDS in the NT.
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Kat Country- very American. Lots of āThe Catā and āThe Katā over there, among other animals of the non feline persuasion.
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Hereās a couple of captures of the narrowcaster AC878 FM broadcasting in from south west Sydney on 87.8MHz. This might interest @RFBurns
The first image shows the bad drift of the 19kHz Stereo pilot (below) - all over the place like a dogs breakfast.
Label āAā shows the stereo pilot carrier of AC878 when there was no modulation (o/c)
Label āBā shows the 19kHz pilot carrier of Noise FM when the main carrier of AC878 is notched out when AC878 carrier is unmodulated.
Label āCā shows the stereo pilot carrier of AC878 when spoken word program is broadcast.
This image 2 (above) of the waterfall & spectrum of AC878 FM showing the noisy carrier & stereo pilot carrier sidebands when no modulation present (o/c)
For @tvcl I noted the TX power dropped suddenly again at 4.54pm & suddenly stronger again at 5.17pm
Spoken program heard beginning this arvo from 1600hours AEDST & continuing past 1700 AEDST.
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Wow, seems they have some serious transmission problems there, definitely have a fault, whatever is causing that 19kHz Stereo Pilot issue could also be causing the transmit power levels to be going up & down?
I wonder if theyāre using one of those Chinese made āno name brandā transmitters that donāt have any ACMA/FCC/OFCOM approvals for use, & that not only have a crap on channel transmissions, but spray spurious crap all over either the FM broadcast band or other frequencies outside the FM Broadcast band?
Do a wide spectrum analyse & see if you can find anything on another frequency that shouldnāt be there, Iām talking DTV, Aircraft, even SW that could be coming from this transmitter?
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Is 3GL still going? Why have they never launched any promotion or website/socials?
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It is. Though it drops off the air from time to time. Then comes back sounding very distorted.
And thereās something wrong with the modulation. It sounds way lower than say the nearby Magic 1278, 3MP or 3XY. Maybe itās an ancient transmitter. Although that shouldnāt matter. Antenna coupling issues that restrict the mod level?
I know itās meant for the Geelong market. But the signal is pretty weak around inner city and eastern Melbourne. Even though the signal path is across water.
They run reasonably repetitive commercials for a few Geelong businesses. About every 20 minutes. No announcers.
But despite all the above, they have a great and broad selection of music from the 60s and 70s. Fun listening!
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Would love to see them launch an online presence and streaming.
Thanks for that SDR# output. I remember hearing the stereo coming in and out on the TEF even though the signal was relatively good. It makes sense now why that was occuring ā once the 19 kHz pilot tone drifted too far off 19 kHz, the TEF assumed it was a mono signal, and once it drifted back towards 19 kHz, the TEF changed back to stereo.
Does the RDS subcarrier drift as well?
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Thatās a good question. The RDS subcarrier is much wider in bandwidth than the 19kHz stereo pilot & thus probably less susceptible to loss of lock at the RX end. In addition RDS really appears as two sidebands either side of 57kHz from memory. The RDS subcarrier level is very low at my QTH & if I can program in software a way to capture, monitor & measure a RDS subcarrier drift I will. Iāll look at this in future & perhaps try to find a quicker way of measuring an unmodulated carrier frequency. I suspect that is probably difting too in the case of AC878 FM.
Thanks for this feedback! Fascinating & makes my efforts with capturing & editing the waterfall & spectrum images of AC878 all that more worthwhile.
The TEF & perhaps other receivers/tuners must have a tight 19kHz stereo pilot carrier identification frequency tolerance for the detection of a 19kHz stereo plot carrier.
Most FM TXers/Exciters that Iāve seen listed or measured donāt have a stereo pilot carrier that is measured as deviating away from 19kHz by any more than 0.5Hz. AC878 is of course drifting away out to +/- 10Hz.
As @RFBurns mentioned I too wonder if theyāre using one of those Chinese made āno name brandā transmitters.
Frequency drift can also vary significantly in non temperature controlled environments too.
Iām probably too far away from the transmitter to do that at home.
I havenāt observed or detected any abnormal spurious transmissions on the FM BCB from AC878 at my home. I wonder if any of the other Sydney Media Spy(s) readers can check for this if they are located closer to the TX?
We could perhaps kindly ask āsomeoneā if they get another opportunity to visit the TX hut in question & if armed with appropriate floodlighting or torch to have a distant outside observance at the TX in question. 
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As seen on page 11 in the 25th October 2024 edition of the Geelong Advertiser.
They even used their iconic 1987 logo, minus the Iām A West Coaster slogan.
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Now launch a site and a stream
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I wonder why they bother also putting 3GL on a few LPONs in the area if they only push the AM? A small row along the bottom would have worked with those alternate frequencies.
Iām sure even if they had a website they wouldnāt bother mentioning them.
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