I found the CRA PI code guidelines and they actually use 2AAY, 2MMM, etc. as an example for when there are multiple stations in the same state on the same frequency. Basically, the last digit gets replaced with A, B, C, etc.
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Is that Orange? Do have clients beyond Orange in the fortuitous coverage with a name like that? Most I heard in January were for Orange clients.
Yes, it is Orange. In terms of fortuitous coverage, I’ve found that on my car radio, it’s pretty much permanent in the higher up spots of my suburb (in Sydney).
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Heard back from 2VOX also. They said they “may” change their PI code “in due course”.
Is the PI code something that’s difficult to change?
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So it looks like there already is a central database of PI codes that radio stations can access (see screenshot).
The site also provides guidance on recommended PI codes according to the CRA guidelines.
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Due to the elevation of Mt Canobolas (about 1400 m ASL?), Triple M Orange/ Central West 105.1 gets out very well, even with only 5kw.
I have heard it easily in the car in Parkes, Dubbo and Bathurst.
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Some more success - Hit 105.9 has now changed its PI code to 2059.
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Just checked on the Mitsubishi car radio and can now pick up RDS on 105.9 in Sydney from some 200km away - that’s some range on the Mount Canobolas transmitters.
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Here’s a photo. 105.1/105.9 are now the furthest permanent RDS signals I can get in Sydney. Anyone else able to pick up their RDS in Sydney?
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I could get it on my parents’ (then new) Forester at the front of their house near Campbelltown back in 2015, when Triple M Central West was 2GZ.
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Quite impressive for a 5 kW station from 200 km away.
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Great detective work with PI codes. Australia is a late adopter of RDS and its not regulated here. The CRA suggestion isn’t perfect but it’s the closest we have to an organised system. The same code reused on the same frequency shouldnt matter, the problem would arise when there’s identical PIs used in the same area on separate frequencies.
FYI that did happen a while back when 2SER started using RDS with the code FFFF which SWR was already using. AF enabled radios went bezerk.
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2UUU’s RDS on its three frequencies as received at Kiama/Saddleback Mountain:
“Live Feed [N]” was what was coming up on the RT.
2EEE on 104.3, 150km away, was also receivable, but RDS didn’t decode.
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Driving in to work this morning, ABC NewsRadio was coming up on my radio as 2XX-FM. I’m in Bathurst. No text to go along with it, and no other ABC radio station had RDS.
Testing for a future launch maybe?
ABC NewsRadio Bathurst and 2XX-FM Canberra are both on 98.3 FM. It seems like you picked up the RDS from Canberra?
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That’s interesting, and I think you’re right. Can’t say I’ve seen that before, there was no audio interference on NewsRadio either. Thanks for the info!
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That is MOST unusual, I would have thought the audio would have to be present for RDS to be received?
Yeah, it was definitely unusual. Is RDS subject to the same weather considerations as AM radio signals at night? It was cold and foggy here this morning, but that was the only unusual factor I can think of.
No, FM signals don’t bounce off the ionosphere at night like AM signals do.
FM has its most unusual behaviour during summer when troposheric ducts are formed, which are more frequent and intense on the coast.
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Some radios scan frequencies in the background to build a station list and to gather alternate frequencies for stations. It’s possible that the radio got 2XX’s RDS signal in the background prior to him tuning in to listen to that frequency.
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