The sad thing is it happens very often. I could see his producers saying its time for the news break with old-school hand signals plus the prompter saying it.
This is the fake Stranger Things WSQK Radio 94.5 The Squark. Not looking much like you would expect for an FM radio station plus with the suspiciously AM power of 50,000 w. The design is based on replica inspired by a real-life radio station WPTF in Cary, North Carolina which is a B-class 50,000 w AM station with 3 towers and a similar art deco building.
The fake radio can be heard on Global Player and DAB in the UK where it comes complete with fake news and adverts for local businesses.
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I canât make out all the details in the photos, but the tower in those photos looks similar to many Australian FM & TV towers Iâve seen.
Australian AM towers are typically vertical trusses with guy wires to keep them upright.
In Sydney, metro commercial FMs are 150kW. Community FMs are 50kW (according to the ACMA lookup just did), although I thought those were going to be increased to 150kW?
While the tower looks like that of an FM station the transmitting array at the top doesnât look much like that for FM AFAIK.
The tower is entirely fake apparently and built on set but copied as mentioned from WPTF that is an AM station which has 3 similar towers.
The 50,000 watt claim is a common to AM stations in the US where it is the maximum power allowed and sets those stations apart from others that might not be allowed at the maximum power.
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Listening to WSQK via Tune In (you must set your VPN to UK), as a Stranger Things fan I am enjoying the 80s music and references to the show.
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The local adverts are fun too.
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You could have just downloaded Global Player and it will be there.
Lots of listeners online have commented on its little repetition, which compared with Globalâs track record, is a welcome change.
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In Melbourne, metro commercial FMs are 56kW (with a null to the north-east), 3JJJ and 3ABC FM are 100kW and community FM stations 3RRR and 3PBS are 56kW (the latter has directional nulls 34kW and 16kW in certain directions). DAB+ is 50kW.
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Have some direct stream URLs. No VPN or Global account needed!
WSQK got a great write-up from James Cridland.
I also like the anoraky detail that theyâre running the audio through an 80s-vintage audio processor!
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I am curious why is there such a difference between Sydney and Melbourne FMs?
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The main reason is Mt Dandenong is more elevated and thus doesnât need as much power to cover the same area.
The Sydney TXs are right next to the Pacific Hwy and thus the base of the TX is only about 110 m ASL.
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fBi is also 150kW
Correct. Ditto Brisbane with Mt Cootha being high up, the commercials and Brisbane-wide community stations only need to broadcast at 12kW and they can be received all over SEQ right down to the NSW border depending on how good your car aerial is.
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Is licensed for that, but in reality they only operate at about 50kw, as their signal strength is similar to Koori, 2MBS and Hope.
In case you missed it, Aiir has made the Standard version of its PlayoutONE software free - because it will no longer be updated or supported.
(And now for the jokeâŚ) Looks like the Super Radio Network stations are getting an upgrade!
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See I thought they all received a bump up to 150kW, but when I checked a couple of stations on the ACMA database they were still 50kW.
I recall reading a comment sometime ago that financially even the metro wide community stations couldnât afford to operate at 150kw (except maybe Hope). Would it make that big difference to overall operating costs for community radio to up from 50kw to 150kw?
I donât know the numbers, but in general you need an upgraded antenna array and more powerful transmitter. Some community stations now share the commercial FM array at TXA Artarmon. I donât imagine itâs viable to run your own 150kW array. The costs are not negligible, no matter which path you pick.
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FBI is actually the weakest of the high powered community fm stations from Artarmon / Gore Hill at my location in NW Sydney. Their Array is only 74m up the Gore Hill tower, so even if they are at 150KW the HAT is the issue.
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When was that change made?