Random Radio

My guess they keep the ulladulla repeater, power fm is ok down there but not perfect, I vaguely remember if you go south it is no longer local grade reception so 106.7 could be kept, the bowral repeater also kept for local programming.

Given the station does not need to cover the highlands maybe a place in the shoalhaven might be better? I am not sure if the Ulladulla location could cover the district better (at higher output maybe on 91.7 fm)? Might struggle to get into Kiama.

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Ideally, yes, but letā€™s not rule out the possibility that Cambewarra Mountain could be the main site for 2ST FM, for reasons that @Laoma pointed out above.

True, though the northern end of the 2ST licence area (Kiama) would probably not get adequate coverage from Cambewarra

They will keep the Ulladulla repeater; a precedent has been set with 2BS set to keep its various translators despite gaining a high powered site.

2ST will almost certainly use 91.7 from Knights Hill and the specs will be identical to Power FM with a similar null towards Wollongong and Sydney.

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I guess 102.9 will still be overall the best reception into Sydney.

Yes, likely but a ridiculous waste of spectrum. ACMA and ABA have long conserved spectrum in their planning, made a big mention of it in planning documents yet they bend to this flawed idea of protectionism.

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Itā€™s a hard one to pick. Grants would want it to go to Knights Hill but ACMA may want to force it onto Cambewarra given that 91.7 form there would not have any less coverage than that of the existing 999AM itā€™s replacing.
Grant Broadcasters donā€™t have any existing facilities on Cambewarra whereas Iā€™d imagine they could combine 91.7 with 94.9 at Knights Hill more easily. Time will tell.

I was down that way earlier this week, seeking through stations at Nowra, car radio stopped on everything from Knights Hill except Power Fm. I realise it was probably the exact spot but still Iā€™d expect Wave and i98 to be missed not Power FM.

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They do with Kix Country, in which their 101.1 Nowra service transmit from there with a maximum ERP of 10kW.

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What is the licensed radius of that HPON? 10kW is huge.

20km.

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Lot of power for 20km.

So, itā€™s at a low height or mountainous terrain?

Cambewarra Mountain is located approx 620m ASL. With an antenna height of 30m, the transmitter for Kix Country is located approx 650m ASL.

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As I mentioned in the Am to Fm conversion forum, 2ST could be located at Knights Hill, but they would need a different broadcast array to the existing Power Fm array. Something similar to what Wave and i98 are using to limit the signal to 1.5kw to the north, 4kw to the west to keep the South Coast feed out of the highlands, and then the full 50kw to the south to match the specs of Power Fm.

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Thatā€™s a possible outcome.

Thatā€™s a bit unusual. I used to drive through Nowra every weekend earlier in the year and I never had any difficulties picking up Power FM. The signal was just as strong as i98fm and Wave FM.

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Yes, in my experience, Power is stronger in the Nowra region than both Wave and i98, and so it should be.

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Yes that my experience too, use to Holiday around Crookhaven heads, power fm was a lot more powerful than i98 fm or wave. Its a good view there. You can see knights hill. On cheaper radios abc radio would interfere with i98 as well as wave fm.

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Ah yes dir! :crazy_face: Forgot that Grants ran those country HPONs

That adds to the possibility that Cambewarraā€™s a contender. I would much rather Knights hill though so we can hear it in Sydney metro. 2ST is my station of choice these days when down that way. It will be good to hear it in the Illawarra if they go Knights Hill

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Where ever they end up broadcasting from, I hope they fix the 102.9 service at the same time. God it sounds awful.

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I donā€™t usually post in the Radio thread but B-Rock 99.3fm have revealed a new logo after nearly 20 years on air. The old one became an iconic sight in the Bathurst region.

Old:


New:

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