All of those were AM relays of FM parent stations, an unusual arrangement to be sure but still not a violation of the general callsign arrangement.
I’m not sure why the RPH network stations got a three letter callsign being all on AM…xPH could have worked.
Nothing stopping an FM station having a two-letter callsign either - refer to 3CH Kyneton.
There was also 2UUS which became 2WS.
2UUS was FM.
A couple more
2ONE 1476 Penrith
1PPP 1125 Canberra (had a couple of call sign changes, 1PRH now if 1RPH)
I think the 1314 stations in Newcastle and Wollongong were 2TAB originally.
Wasn’t this switched off when 2KA converted to 96.1? Along with the parent 783 kHz of course. @Mechsta would know.
1476 was later used for Cool Country etc. but was licensed as an HPON, hence had no official callsign.
I read at the time the TAB had quite a bit of trouble changing the official callsign of 4IP to 4TAB. The ABA was quite resistant.
783kHz switched off after the usual 28 days but 1476kHz continued for another 12 months, hence why 2ONE was listed in the AM lists. I seem to recall that the reason for keeping 1476 going was to assist listeners who didn’t have an FM radio to keep listening. There were still a large number of older cars back then that only had the AM band on their radio.
On the flip side, the FM signal used to go off the air quite often for some reason in the first year of operationbut 1476 continued uninterrupted.
Interesting, thanks for that.
I remember 2KA (783) still being listed in the street directory in the mid 90s. I wondered why I couldn’t hear anything…
The 783kHz signal was woeful. You could barely hear it in Richmond. 1476kHz used to get swamped at night by 4ZR. And even in the mountains 783kHz didn’t work very well. The switch to FM more or less saved the station from bankruptcy.
There aren’t any low, swampy areas in the Blue Mountains that would be ideal for MW txers. Just walls of sandstone that stop the signals in their tracks. I guess they had to work with what they had. 900 2LT has never been that great up there either.
I remember getting reasonable 1476 receotion when in the Parramatta area one time in the 80s, but it was just okay.
I don’t ever recall hearing 783.
I did manage to get both 783 and 1476 at Oatley up to the fm conversion. 1476 was just ok but 783 was very weak.
783 was like the current Lithgow translators at Wentworth Falls. Good from Hazelbrook West. 1476 was better going east of Hazelbrook. 783 would then start to drop off again west of Katoomba.
3KND in Melbourne is another 3 digit AM callsign