Interesting to read it didn’t get far into Bendigo. As an outsider, I always envisaged it as more aligned to Bendigo, as it studios in the 1980s were on Hargreaves Mall, Bendigo. But if they had to install an FM translator there, it mustn’t been as strong a presence there as I thought.
Years ago though, I used to be able to listen to 1071 east of Bendigo in the Goulburn Valley. It used to come through quite well, maybe not as strong as the local option, 3SR, but it had better music, too. More Top 40/current hits instead of 3SR which was a bit of everything IIRC.