You would be correct 
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Thanks.
Any idea on when they hope to be on air?
Iām guessing now that construction has started, maybe by end of the year?
ALSO - given there isnāt any line of sight from the Sandgate studios to the Belmont North site, I wonder how theyāll get the feed to the TXā¦
eg. will they feed it off air from the 97.5 repeater?
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Iāve just seen some photos of the new 2HD Belmont North Translator, no wonder I havenāt seen any antennas or action on the Axicom tower where the DTV translator is.
2HD have put up a small pole (floodlights at football oval type) with a 1 bay mixed polarisation antenna on the top with the TX gear in a small cabinet next to the pole base in the corner of someones yard.
The photos were from about middle of September, so Iād say itās very close or ready to go?
I canāt find any development applications lodged with the Lake Macquarie Council, as to itās exact location, so Iām going on a exploration hunt over the weekend to find it. I recognise the fence in the photo, but I canāt place exactly where or which street, but I have a good idea.
Iāll report back when I find it.
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Yeah thatās how he gets round the local content regulations.
To be honest I havenāt listened to 2HD in quite a long time up until recently. Was station surfing in the car one Saturday afternoon and discovered Dean Macken wasnāt there anymore.
Bugger all basically. I only found out it even existed because I saw an article on it on the Newcastle Herald facebook page.
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Iāve found the new 2HD Belmont North translator, itās in the corner of the front yard at 14 Eagles Nest Cl.
Strange place for it, as itās over the ridge from the South where itās supposedly covering, & it canāt be seen from the South, at least not around Belmont that Iāve noticed, it can be seen from the North though.
Iāll have to check next time Iām there, but it can probably be easily seen from the Charlestown Square shopping centre, so even though itās the back of the antenna, @Radiohead might get better reception from Charlestown than I do from Floraville (over the Ridgeline) to the South?
The Transmit antenna is pointing sort of South West, maybe South South West?
The Receive antenna looks to be pointing North North West in the rough direction of Mt Sugarloaf?
Photos are only off my phone.
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Thanks!
It will indeed be very odd if get better reception here at Charlestown than the intended Belmont coverage area.
At least it appears that itās not being fed off air from the Port Stephenās FM relay.
Looking forward to seeing how it goes once on air
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Is that in someoneās backyard?
Front yard, Yes.
Hope Billy boy is paying them some rent.
Then they can do down to the milk bar for a soda pop
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I look at the design of the install and had a chuckle, a lighting tower monopole. Unlike the surrounding gumtrees of similar height, they donāt grow with rainfall. Thanks for the photos @RFBurns
The location is a clever one. Same elevation as the Axicom, 1.5m less than VHAās.
Itās also almost 1km north from the nominal site and less than half a km from the 10 m/Vm contour.
The blocks on the cul-de-sac of Eagles Nest Close are also the northernmost blocks within Belmont North, the suburb of nominal planning site. Access to electricity easy, the line is right out front.
Less than heād pay Axicom or VHA at Belmont North water tower.
It is a front yard as @RFBurns writes, I can see the corner of the block from Nearmap. The next fly over will show it as complete.
Run the estimate on any coverage prediction available and the map will look vastly different to ACMAās consultation paper.
Intentional Iām sure. Iām sure 2HD will want to cover in FM the SW section of Lake Macquarie within the licence area, from Wyee north to Cooranbong and beyond on the freeway and Morisset to Toronto. Then thereās Singleton to Maitland along the New England/Hunter Exp and Cessnock/Hunter Valley all beyond the 10 m/Vm contour
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Yes I though it strange when I saw it, that itās roughly the height of the trees.
You canāt even see it coming down the road turning out of Neridah Rd, Eagles Nest Cl, goes into a dip as the road veers Right, you donāt see it until you come back up the hill as the road veers Left again, so itās low & hidden from the South.
Iāll have to look next drive across the hill, but from itās location & height, I think itāll beam across the ridge that Violet Town Road runs along & out to the West/North West Lake Macquarie areas & North & North East towards Charlestown & probably over the hill into Newcastle City, better than it will towards Swansea.
Like I said before I think Radiohead will get a stronger signal at Charlestown, than I will at Floraville, because heāll have direct line of site, I have trees & a hill ridge line between me & the TX site.
The Axicom site is the VHA one & this is where I thought 2HD would be, the DTV translator antenna is on top of the VHA tower.
The site next to this is Telstra mobile & I think Telstra still own it, not Axicom?
The VHA tower is much taller than the Telstra one, even if ground levels only vary between them a couple of meters, VHA tower is probably 15m (maybe more) taller than Telstra one (which is now only just above tree height).
From my place I can see the top 1/2 to 1/3 of the VHA tower, but the Telstra tower is below the tree line. 2HD is below the tree line & over the ridge.
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If you look on Google Street View the fence is new too as it is not on Street View.
So by getting a radio tower in their front yard was the new fence chucked in too.
Is the broadcast antenna Omni directional??
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That Google street view is over 9 years old (Jan 2010), the fence isnāt that new, it did have black pool fence sort of panels in it that you could see through, theyāve now been replaced by the corrugated iron panels, so you canāt see the cabinet etc. driving past (so theyāre new). The straw fence around the side/back of the installation is also new.
Essentially yes the transmit antenna is omni-directional, because there is no reflector element on the back of it & the pole will have minimum effect, gain wonāt be a true circle in the horizontal plane, but would be reasonably close, like a rough freehand drawn circle.
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Indeed, Iām most interested if reception is useable within the Newcastle basin north of Charlestown, Garden Suburb, Cardiff Heights round to the John Hunter. I suspect thatās what they want.
Youāre the local, so they may go by local names, the ACMA Radcom lists two at the water tower, Axicom and Voda, then nearby, Telstra and a site with 4 assignments, 2 for police and Keolis Downer Hunter.
ACMAās database map doesnāt quite plot them in line with aerial imagery:
The fence was under construction in May 2015, boundary cleared in Jan 2015.
you noticed that too! Most amusing, you could buy that from Bunnings.
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1 lone mixed pole antenna! Itās not going to get out very far without a decent amount of tx power.
That set up reminds me of the WSfm repeater at Hawkesbury heights. Even thatās 4 bays.
Happened to be passing through Newcastle today and tuned in to see if it was on 90.5 yet.
Why would they need an fm yagi aimed into the trees/at sugarloaf?
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Wind up the power, ACMA ring before they inspect now, the days of surprise inspections are over.
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Thatās Caralis for you.
Heād probably buy one from an op shop or off Gumtree if he could.
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I drove past the new 90.5 2HD FM site today.
You basically canāt see the tower until you get right up close to it, thereās quite a few trees in the area and even then the tower only just pokes it head out through the tree line.
The transmitter definitely looks to be pointed more towards say Morisset than Swansea, as @RFBurns said. I also think itās too far north of the Belmont North ridgeline to really be targeting Jewells, Belmont / Belmont North and anywhere further south optimally.
I guess the proof will be in the pudding when itās switched on (soon hopefully).
Quite an odd set up at first glance however.
Though I wonder if there might be method in their madness by saying that this hasnāt solved the issues and then get a 3rd FM TX approved atop the hills at Caves Beach / Swansea Bends with a throw back towards Belmont and a bit of overspill down the coast?
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The yagi would likely be the off air receive antennaā¦