Essentially yes. As a non critical addition to an existing service, a special trip to install is not justifiable.
We’ve designed the install to be a plug and play with everything preconfigured so the local maintainer can install it with the minimum of fuss, and a the minimum of test equipment to verify correct injection levels.
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Ah always wondered how the TAB maintained such a broad network!
2GO is having some RDS issues.
Yesterday the Song text info was one song ahead of the song actually being played.
It’s now reverted back to the static positioner until it is (presumably) fixed.
SBS Radio Melbourne has it RDS stuck on SBS Radio Overnights, for years!
Also, has ABC Local Radio Bendigo got RDS now?
Seems to have the PI as 75D3.
It’s a joke, clumsy
what joke?
The rebrand. Never mind, we’ve been through ti before, whinge here won’t help.
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Currently no RDS on 2GO, and Sea FM appear to not be sending out song now playing information either.
Yes, the “Now Playing” info stopped about 10 days ago, as I noticed 2 Saturdays ago that the 'Now Playing" info was 1 song ahead of where it should have been.
The following day is when the static slogan text on the 2nd line display started.
It’s quite sad that with those two stations not providing now playing information, the only station in the Central Coast and Newcastle to have such dynamic data is Star FM.
In this day and age, I wouldn’t have thought it would be too difficult. Especially for KOFM and NXFM.
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I think it is only temporary … they were able to do it for quite a while without issues… I am suspecting it’s a equipment or programming failure.
But YES it’s high time KO and HIT in Newcastle did more with their RDS.
Static slogan text just doesn’t cut it.
As for NEW FM having no RDS at ALL, it reeks of plain cheapness and laziness in the extreme.
Regarding Central Coast SCA RDS.
I’ve been monitoring the 2GO signal for some weeks now on & off with our mod. monitor at work, & I’m surprised their RDS worked at all. The RDS was out of phase with the pilot, & looking at the baseband spectrum in the MPX, the 2 RDS subcarriers had a twist in them, (radioengineer will understand, don’t expect others to).
I’ve just had a good look at 2GO’s signal now, & yes there’s no RDS, but they’re also spending a lot of time over deviating, up to 90kHz (licence is 75kHz Max.), & that’s with no RDS in the baseband, they’d be even further over if it was on.
There’s also a lot of noise in the baseband above the stereo subcarriers, & when their talking (no music), the noise is at higher levels than the 2 stereo subcarriers (L - R).
Again radioengineer will understand this, the high frequencies in the Left Stereo channel (subcarrier) drops off to nothing, but in the Right Stereo channel (subcarrier) the levels increase from 30Hz, & the noise continues higher through & on outside the Right channel into where the RDS subcarriers should be.
In other words, the audio levels in the Right channel don’t drop off at 15kHz like they should (at 53kHz in the baseband), the noise keeps the levels high & continues to get higher as the baseband frequency increases.
SeaFM are doing quite a bit of work at the TX site, they have recently replaced most of the non RF gear in the rack, & are installing more data cabling through the site, so that’s why their RDS mightn’t be working?
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Where is John Pearce these days? He worked at SCA Gosford for quite some time.
This is the John Pearce who began his time with SCA at B105 in Brisbane doing late nights before moving to engineering, not the long gone John Pearce of Sydney radio.
Don’t know?
The Chief Engineer at SCA Gosford, also happens to be the NSW state Chief Engineer for SCA, & he’s been at 2GO for a long time (maybe over 30 years now?)
Funny thing is, the audio that comes out of SCA Gosford (not talking programming) is some of the worst in the country, 2GO especially. 2GO’s processing is dismal, way too much bass for a start. The “sound” of 2GO is probably also a contributor to the ratings of them being last, not just the programming.
The SeaFM TX site isn’t Air Conditioned & I’ve spent most of the summer trying to keep our TX cool (we share the TX site). Inside the TX house must have been well over 50 degrees on some of those hot days, I have an industrial fan blowing air on our TX & combiner, & the internal TX temps have been running at 57+ degrees.
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Is there some sort of technical or structural problem preventing air con being installed in the hut?
Surely the cost of air conditioning to install and operate would be fairly minimal compared rob TX power usuage as well as the cost of replacing failing equipment - especially if they’ve just installed a heap of new gear.
Also, why don’t SCA move both their stations to the same site?
Off topic now, so can be moved, if anyone wants to move it.
No technical or structural issue to my knowledge, power supply maybe, but I haven’t looked into it (not my place to do so, as it’s not my site, nor place to A/C it).
It’s a large building, 8kW A/C would be absolute minimum size, but even then, would only keep it reasonably cool in the hot summers.
SeaFM’s TX’s are old tube transmitters & don’t need A/C, they just run an exhaust fan on them, pulling fresh (but not necessarily cool) air over the tubes & exhausting it outside. Though they have just installed 2x Nautel VS300 TX’s for backup.
Not counting backups, there’s 7 TX’s running in the hut, most of us have backups (exciters anyway) running full time too, so that makes 15 TX’s, 1 of SeaFM’s 3 backups is off.
Can’t say a lot about it, cause I don’t know the full details, but a lot of SCA “assets” are undergoing review, we’ve been given a new site lease contract, not happy about it, but hopefully only short term for us, if I can get passed what I wan’t, we’ll be leaving the site & have a new TX elsewhere.
The SeaFM site is actually on Crown Lands & thoughts from us (no solid evidence), is that it will be sold off to maybe TXA to manage?
The 2GO site (SCA owned land) has been cleared of everything except 2GO FM , in preparation for digital radio transmitters (if it ever goes ahead) albeit DAB+ or DRM+.
2BLU Katoomba (89.1 MHz) now has RDS:
1st line: "RBM FM"
2nd line: “Radio Blue Mountains 89.1”
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I must say I like the look of the Sync 3 screen a lot more than the Sync 2 in my Focus…
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SCA sold 56 towers to Axicom, one of those high fee, scheming companies that Macquarie Bank lawyers and accountants dream up, over-complicated structure. They had been on the sale book for some time until they found a willing buyer.
2GO tower cleared for digital is just an excuse, lot more to it than that, always is. Star 104.5 tower more logical.