Not in Brisbane with ABQ-2. Same harmonic problem as 100.5 and VHF 9 for TV.
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Yes I read it was problematic, however they had reluctantly agreed to use it for 4BH if I recall correctly.
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Itâs 30 years ago this Sunday that 7HO converted to FM.
At midnight on the 1 November 1990 7HO converted to the FM band on the frequency of 101.7MHz, with Brett Marley being the first voice heard on HOFM. Brett Marley felt very privileged to be involved in a historic moment he said âAs far as I am concerned FM is the only way to go⌠The quality is too good to miss out on.â
The Mercury newspaper writes about HOFMâs managing director, Paul Shirley, being extremely happy to be at last on FM. âThis morning he felt a combination of elation and exhaustion at 7HO finally going FM after five years of trying to get a licence. It was a terribly complex, bureaucratic procedure,â he said
The conversion to FM cost the station more than $1 million for the licence and new equipment that also included a transmitter on Mt. Wellington.
Following the conversion there was an extensive newspaper and TV marketing campaign.
For the next nine days after its conversion to FM, HOFM simulcasted on both the FM and AM bands. During music, the AM station gave instructions on how to tune into the new FM station. The AM station was phased out by the 16th November.
The Mercury wrote that â⌠the conversion to FM may give 7HO the boost to pick up extra listeners it needs to continue topping the ratings in the Hobart market.â
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that wasnât a very long time? IIRC both 3KZ and 3TT simulcast for about a month when they went to FM. And when EON became MMM and moved to 105.1 they simulcast with the old 92.3 for longer than that, even.
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From a Sydney perspective, itâs to my understanding that 2WS continued to run programming on 1224AM for a month after the 1/6/1993 switch to FM. Steve Raymond voiced the message which ran at the conclusion of the month long simulcast period before the 1224AM service was turned off.
Donât think there was any simulcast period for the switch from 1107 2UW to Mix 106.5 at the end of April 1994? From what Iâve heard in the past, Mix 106.5 commenced without fanfare while 2UW switched to a Tim Webster voiced â2UW has ceased Transmission and is now Mix 106.5 on the FM bandâ loop for a short time.
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You got a good memory @SydneyCityTV, I was disappointed how 2UW handled the whole conversion. It was worse than the current âconversionâ of 2CH 
. I donât recall any proactive discussion that we will soon be FM (like SEN 1170 was mentioned at least a month before). There no real farewell for 2UW (at least 2CH is still alive sort of). It was a long time ago so my memory might be foggy maybe they did have an ad, there is going to be an exciting change soon but I really canât remember.
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Yes I was disappointed at the time as I only had an AM radio and had to quickly get one with FM
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Both of Sydneyâs FM conversions happened a little before my time (I was born in April 1995), so any knowledge Iâve acquired about both changeovers comes from a mix of hearing audio from the time and external research.
Hopefully Iâm reasonably good at documenting an accurate picture of Sydneyâs media history, but at the same time Iâm always happy to be corrected on anything I may have gotten wrong! 
Iâve checked and it seems that Mix 106.5 began regular programming at midnight on Saturday April 30, 1994 - so one would imagine that 1107AM switched to the â2UW has ceased transmission and is now Mix 106.5 on the FM bandâ loop at that time.
As for Mix 106.5 advertising, Iâm not sure how much there was beforehand (Would the Mix 106.5 name have even been known outside the Neutral Bay bunker prior to the switch?) but there definitely was some after:
Think I grabbed that ad from the âsydneyneverbuiltâ Flickr page which had a whole heap of great stuff a few years back. Whoever it was, full credit goes to you for originally digging this one up!
By contrast, it seems that 2WS extensively advertised their switch from 1224AM to 101.7FM in 1993. Just after 2WS-FM 101.7 was turned on, Hans Torv mentioned on-air how there were newspaper journalists and TV crews (presuming any still exists, Iâd love to see footage of that news coverage one day) at the Seven Hills studios to cover the big switch + the party which when on for it!
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I feel very old now . I was at University 1st year then . I did hear the switch over of 2uw on that saturday morning. It was an accident rather than planned. On my clock radio. It was an ace of base song the first song.
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There was definitely a simulcast period for Mix 106.5. It was for a month as I can remember switching between bands frequently to hear what Mix sounded like on FM and on AM.
The One FM 96.1 simulcast was for twelve months. From memory, it was only on 1476kHz as 783kHz was switched off soon after FM was switched on.
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Ahh well in that case, I stand corrected. You learn something new every day! 
Something else interesting Iâve learnt is that Mix 106.5 apparently didnât run competitions in the early days, instead opting to create an uncluttered, music driven-format as an alternative to competition hype from the other stations. This policy obviously changed at some point, because by the Early 2000sâŚ
According to the slate shown prior to the countdown & ads (received these dubs from the Frankster a while back, along with some other Early 2000s Mix TVCs I posted stills of earlier in this thread), those âIncredible Birthday Gameâ spots were produced on January 23, 2002. The campaign consisted of four spots - 30 & 15 Second versions for âThursdayâ and âTomorrowâ.
Of course since this competition ended a long time ago itâs unlikely Iâll ever get any info about how long it ran for so the ads can be put into further context, although far stranger things have happened in the pastâŚ
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Most people would listen to 4KQ on DAB instead of crappy sounding AM, A lady I work with does and I was for a while.
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Well I listen to 4BH on a Digital radio which is connected up to a boombox and I think they have a better format than 4KQ. Just wall to wall music very few ads and in stereo. Well worth having a listen to.
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In the latest installment of âOld Sydney radio station TVCs on YouTubeâ (once again, full credit goes to Tape Ape for putting this one out there) comes just one of several âSounds Differentâ commercials produced for the Nova stations during the Early 2000s. Rather bizarre stuff if you ask me:
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Almost 20 years (!!!) later they are still the ads I recall most from Nova.
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We had the same ads in Brisbane when Nova launched in 2005
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Yep definitely remember that âscreaming orangeâ commercial. Perhaps the inspiration for that âReally Annoying Orangeâ YouTube show?
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I was lucky enough to receive the Nova969 test with the birdsong as the local TAB went bung for 3 days.
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Driving past Mount Budawang today made me realise that it would be an ideal site for TV and ABC transmitters. Itâs 1100 m ASL and visible on and off from well west of Braidwood all the way to the coast.
There is infrastructure up there for various other comms so accessibility isnât an issue:
I Wander why Wandera was chosen instead.
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Iâm thinking because Wandera is closer to the intended coverage area of Batemans Bay to Narooma.
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