@Moe
Get a new car with DAB, that’s my advice.
Plenty of them around now - Mitsubishi Lancer, Ford Focus, new Holden Astra, Mazda 3 (Maxx and above). The list goes on - time to update, you won’t regret it.
yeah just go out and buy a new car if the radio isn’t right! and especially one with DAB even if it doesn’t suit.
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I’m happy with my '09 Toyota Yaris now that I’ve had the aerial repaired and I can listen to The Breeze and 99.7FM from Redcliffe while driving.It doesn’t have DAB or Bluetooth but does have steering wheel controls for CD and radio and an aux input for my IPhone,that’s all I need.
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Depends how old the car is. If it’s much more than 10 years old it might just be time anyway! And any of the cars I listed would be a suitable replacement in that segment.
My point is that DAB is becoming standard in many new cars so I think it’s unlikely you’d have to settle for one that isn’t “suitable”, especially if you’re replacing an old car.
Once you’ve had DAB in the car you won’t be without it.
The ACMA have released consultation papers for a number of AM-FM conversions, including:
- 2BH at Broken Hill, NSW
- Red FM (6FMS) at Exmouth, WA
- Spirit 1260 (6KA) at Karratha, WA
- Spirit 1026 (6NW) at Port Hedland, WA
- Spirit Remote WA (6SAT) at Paraburdoo, WA, and
- Spirit Remote WA (6SAT) at Tom Price, WA
The ACMA also plans to allocate spectrum to ABC NewsRadio (Parliamentary & News Network) in:
- Broome, WA
- Carnarvon, WA
- Karratha, WA, and
- Port Hedland, WA
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101 FM in Brisbane played “Blue” by Eiffel 65 yesterday!
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Gee those AM-FM conversions are not in overly populated areas. But I guess they have to start somewhere. They’re going to have to look at the other regional markets too, even ones that have competitors in them. Unless they think the DAB rollout will cover those areas in the medium term. AM has to go eventually. It’s pretty hard to find an AM clock radio these days for example, and new electric cars like the BMW and Tesla can’t even play AM radio due to the electricity interference. It’s a case of regulators lagging the real world IMO.
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Personally, I think that AM radio will eventually become part of history at some point.
But even though the thought is rather appealing, it’s rather hard to see further AM to FM conversions in major metropolitan markets anytime in the foreseeable future unless there was an extension of the FM band or something.
How sad in this new age of DAB+ the Australian radio industry is still putting its focus and energy on FM conversions.
… refer back to the 1980s …
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Thank you for posting this.
The Toowoomba FM infill for 4WK looks like a very willing claim. 0.6 from River on 94.9 and if they receive an FM ‘conversion’ in Toowoomba, then why not for 4GR and likewise for the both of them in Warwick?
What of 4AK also? Why is there no FM infill in Warwick for them either?
ACMA also confuse what state the market is in within their draft LAP.
More to write on this later. Might need a thread of its own, the AM/FM conversions. There are 33 markets in total.
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The only way to shutdown the Am band in the capital cities is to cancel all the licences of the suburban community stations and reallocate them as commercial / national licences.
In Sydney, Radio National, News Radio, 702, 2GB, 2UE, Sky Racing Radio, 2CH and 2SM would need to find frequencies on the Fm band and be transmitted from Gore Hill / Artarmon
An example of this would be-
88.1 - Radio National
88.9 - News Radio
90.5 - 702 Sydney
91.3 - C91.3
92.1- 2GB
92.9 -ABC Classic Fm
93.7- 2UE
94.5- 2FBI
95.3 - Smooth Fm
96.1 - The Edge
96.9 Nova
97.7 - SBS
98.5 - Sky Racing Radio
99.3 - 2CH
100.1- 2SM
100.9 -2RPH
101.7-WS
102.5 - Fine Music
103.2 - Hope (change freq to 103.3mhz)
104.1- 2day
104.9- Triple M
105.7 Triple J
106.5-KIIS
107.3- 2SER
Obviously a high powered fm in Sydney on 99.3 would cause problems for Brock in their licence area and the Lithgow Communites e.g 90.5 so each of these would need new frequencies to avoid co-channel interference.
The local Communites that were kicked off the fm band for the AM conversions could be given the option to broadcast on Dab+ as Sydney wide services.
Problem is that AM provides a much better reach over long distances than FM which in a place like Australia where there are wide remote areas is always going to be some advantage.
And as you say there just isn’t room on the FM band for too much expansion. DAB at least offers potential although that’s only in the cities.
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ACMA have missed so much with their approach in the discussion paper which as we know is led by CRA, who successfully lobbied the Minister for this and have their own engineer working on it for the ACMA.
Coverage is more than serving population centres of more than 200 people, it’s about your service covering all boundaries of the licence area, for those in the car or on the land. FM conversions will see that end.
there is a post on the radio today.com.au website which seems to counter-argue this?
During the day time, i would say yes, but at night time, no.
Fading is a real problem at night for AM - even with a 2kw signal, you still need to be within 20km of the transmitter to eliminate this issue.
Whilst AM does travel a lot further at night with the “night skip” factor, the signal isn’t as stable as during the daylight hours.
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You missed SBS 1 from 1107 in you list😀.
It seems the mobile is slowly taking over, esp optus having unmetered streaming. So rather than a mass conversation to FM, people will tune in on the net. Of course if you in remote location, that’s an issue. Maybe satellite radio is the way.
[quote=“crankymedia, post:271, topic:263, full:true”]
The Toowoomba FM infill for 4WK looks like a very willing claim. 0.6 from River on 94.9 and if they receive an FM ‘conversion’ in Toowoomba, then why not for 4GR and likewise for the both of them in Warwick?[/quote]
Skipped over these because my knowledge of the market is limited - particularly in the different LAPs for 4AK, 4GR, 4WK, Hot FM and River.
[quote=“crankymedia, post:271, topic:263, full:true”]
What of 4AK also? Why is there no FM infill in Warwick for them either?[/quote]
I was lead to believe that Warwick was where 4WK’s main transmitter is, whereas 4AK was based in Oakey, and hence the disparity with in-fills.
Then again, I’m not a local, so those are just town names to me 
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Yes, I am a little surprised that Warwick doesn’t get infills for 4GR or 4AK. I can’t imagine reception there would be great, particularly at night when fading or night skip interference may well be an issue. And as ABC 4QS 747 Toowoomba is in on FM there (104.9).
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If you look at any sample of the comments on radiotoday’s website, you’ll find most lack knowledge and often commonsense. I wouldn’t take any influence from what is published there.
Edit: in context, there was one good comparison comment about 4BU. Yes, coverage to Childers is a problem, swamped by skywave at night and only a 45km line from the TX site. That sector protects co-channeled and adjacent channel services to the south/west.
Childers, despite its proximity and community of interest with Bundaberg was omitted from the licence area when boundaries were formalised (before remote area services were licensed). That then raises the question that the boundaries should be redefined.
2BH Broken Hill suffers on frequency that is limited in ERP due to ITU conventions, pre Caralis, engineering was done to push the signal as far as possible. Hence why towns outside the licence area such Menindee and Wilcannia receive the station.
@Radiohead
I agree. I actually think AM is hopeless for coverage in many areas I’ve experienced in regional Australia. As you say particularly at night you can barely pick up an AM station 20 or 30km from the source. Even during the day I find the regional FM stations in general have a much wider coverage when driving. Look at Gympie in Queensland. When I drive up that way I can only get 4GY reliably for about 30km either side of Gympie even in the daytime. At night it’s down to about 20km. I can get Zinc 96.1 in the car day or night at least 80km south and north of Gympie. AM coverage better my a@@.
And look at ABC Wide Bay - you can get all the ABC services on FM well over 100km radius from the source, but try to pick up 4BU in Hervey Bay or Maryborough - nope. Even the ABC service on 855AM (if it’s still running) was impossible to pick up at night in Bundaberg before the FM coverage over the whole Wide Bay.
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