Radio Data System (RDS)

I am down in Melbourne for the week, and I find that only ONE of the metro wide community stations has RDS, that being “The Light” on 89.9. So nothing at all for 3SYN, 3ZZZ, 3RRR, 3MBS or 3PBS. I was expecting a bit more than that, when you consider in Sydney 2MBS, 2CBA and 2SER all do RDS.

At least the Melbourne suburban community stations do a bit better on this front. By no means a definitive list, have found RDS so far on 3WBC, 3JOY and 3SER, as reception limitations may be preventing more stations being detected.

From Geelong, only K-Rock seems to have RDS so far.

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Bay 93.9 did have RDS last time I checked (update: seems like it doesn’t any more)

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I know for a fact that 3NOW (98.9) has RDS, judging from the last time I was in Melbourne back in March when I tuned to the station.

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Weird, 3NOW is based not far from me but nothing on the SDR.

With K-Rock, no RDS from my location as well as 3WBC which is inaudible ,Bay 93.9 Never had RDS from my location.

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Triple M Melbourne has the Port Adelaide v Richmond game on FM, but the RDS display only gives the GWS v Geelong score… do they normally do this when 2 games are on at the same time?

Another thing I noticed down here in Melbourne is that 105.9 has the station name line alternating between ABC, Classic, FM whereas 92.9 in Sydney just has “Classic” as the static station name text.

triplej is the same in Syd and Melb.

Ok so driving around yesterday and KO and Hit both only had station and frequency, no now and next :frowning:

Just noticed that 92.7 MIX FM has slightly changed it’s RDS with the I now a lower case

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I’m stil seeing some RDS inconsistencies on the Port Macquarie and Kempsey TXs for HIT (2ROX) and Triple M (nee 2MC FM).

HIT on 102.3 and 105.1 both run the same RDS text, including Song info.
The inconsistency is that when no song is playing, the text is
Hit 102.3 - Hits and Old Skool
(105.1 doesn’t get a mention anywhere on either frequency)

On Triple M, it gets even more skewed
100.7 has station name text as MMM MNC
106.7 just has Triple M
But only 106.7 gets Song info text.
But when no song is playing, the text on both frequencies is:
100.7 Triple M - Home to Classic Hits
(again 106.7 doesn’t get a mention at all).
Go figure.

On the Coffs Harbour stations, there is

HIT105.5 station name text

But 106.3 has scrolling text for station name on 3 lines
Triple M
Coffs
Coast

Both stations have Song info.

I just wanted to see how long it took for people to notice… I actually like it :stuck_out_tongue:

Think of that as a parting gift… Ive left Mix/Sea and am going to try to my hand at TV in Tasmania but nothing will ever make me lose my love for radio :slight_smile:

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Good to see you dotted your i before you left… employers like correctness :blush:

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I hope their new engineer keeps the RDS up to date

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I was up in Coffs Harbour earlier today, and discovered that 2CHY now has RDS.
Station name only, no song or other info (as below).

And a very neat looking RDS from Hit 105.5

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Welcome to Tassie!

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C91.3 have now added a dash to their station name

C91.3-FM

What is the point of making such miniscule changes!

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97.3 Brisbane appear to have “hello” as their RDS text today, replacing any now playing information.

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Might be the song hello by Lionel Richie. :slight_smile:.

In Canberra, community station 2XX now has RDS.
At the moment they are only sending the station title.

Next thing they need to do is improve the sound quality, it still sounds like a low bitrate internet stream.

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Thanks for that; the RDS should come in here (southern suburbs of Sydney) with a little bit of tropo enhancement. 2XX’s signal is one of the best out of Canberra- do you know if they are still transmitting from Black Mountain, or have they moved to Kowen Forest (Poppet Hill) like 1CMS? 1CMS doesn’t get up here nearly as well as it used to. 1WAY FM is a lot better these days, but I suspect that’s due to a polarisation change.

I suspect 2XX is broadcast from Black Mountain, as reception from Kowen Forrest stations is poor where I live (Weston Creek area). 2XX reception is excellent where I am (I just wish they would improve the sound quality).

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Doing your homework here, you could answer your own questions:

Community Radio 2XX Inc (313265)	1155601/1	Telecom Tower BLACK MOUNTAIN ACT 2601

Canberra Christian Radio Ltd (567669) 1170310/1 Broadcast Mast Community Radio Site off Poppet Rd POPPET HILL ACT 2620

ETHNIC BROADCASTERS COUNCIL ACT (1157007)	1170316/1	Broadcast Mast Community Radio Site off Poppet Rd POPPET HILL ACT 2620

Artsound is also on Poppet

Canberra Christian Radio Ltd (567669) 1159374/1 Electronic Services/Philips Site ISAACS RIDGE ACT 2620