Yeah it similar to the setup of Wentworth Falls for 2LT when compared to The Edge 96.1 FM , although the powers are greatly different.
I think the overload issue depends on the quality of the radio. A good radio should be fine. It has been a long time since I have been down there overdue to go on a road trip there. Is i98 FM / Wave 1.5 kW towards Nowra and the Southern Highlands?
20kW towards Nowra & 4kW towards the Southern Highlands.
It significantly higher than Power FM. I wonder why? Perhaps the LOS Power FM has towards the Southern Suburbs of Wollongong?
Unless Iâm misinterpreting your post, Power FM transmits at 50kW towards both Nowra & the Southern Highlands, which is higher than that of i98 & Wave FM.
Probably because the potential for overspill into Wollongong from Power is greater than that posed by Wave / i98 into the Highlands and Nowra.
To clarify⌠given Nowra/ Southern highlands (i98FM / Wave FM) are not part the licence area, I was thinking it should only transmit at the same power (no pun intended) as what Power FM transmit into the Wollongong ie 1.5 Kw. Just for consistency rather than â20kW towards Nowra & 4kW towards the Southern Highlandsâ.
That would be assuming all other things are equal⌠which they are not.
Such as
True! @Radiohead
I assume I98FM / Wave FM were at the same power (1.5 kw) it would struggle to cover Gerringong. Not sure of the impact on the reduced power to the highlands.
Ideally Power FM should mimic 2ST and have a repeater in the highlands and broadcast from Cabramurra lookout. It will be interesting how well 2ST 91.7 FM will make it into Ulladulla and Kiama, whether or not the repeater will be really needed. My prediction it will do be ok into Ulladulla but not so well into Kiama.
If all goes well with the 2ST conversion at Cambewarra, they might try to move Power from Knights Hill at Cambewarra too?
Doesnât make sense to have different TX sites for the main FM stations. May also mean Power would need relays at Kiama, Bowral and Ulladulla as well. I would go with 89.3 Kiama, 102.1 Bowral and 102.7 Ulladulla.
Maybe a synchronous setup may work.
102.1 at Bowral would get absolutely clobbered by Sugarloaf with tropo. Even with KOs restricted signal to the south Iâve heard it smashing 2ST right up to Catherine Hill (Colo Vale) on the hume. In any case, I canât imagine Power FM ever moving/downgrading from Knights Hill.
No way Knights Hill allows Power Fm to cover the Shoalhaven and Southern Highlands with one frequency, yes the signal into Nowra is better from Cambewarra lookout, but that option would require additional frequencies to cover areas that currently have adequate reception, and additional frequencies are pretty scares.
I would have liked 2ST to have converted to fm at Knights Hill. It would certainly have been a more efficient use of spectrum. No need for 102.9 / 106.7 and 88.5. and fortuitous reception into Wollongong and Sydney⌠The cons of this would be a loss of local breakfast / mornings, and 102.9 comes into parts of Sydney better then what 91.7 would do from Knights Hill.
I think Pulse 94.1 tested on 106.1 (as Living Sound Broadcasters) in the 90s; that didnât work out too well because of Sugarloaf as I understand it. So a 102.1 repeater in Bowral would indeed get hammered. The definition of insanity is trying something that didnât work in the past and expecting a different result.
It will be interesting to see how the new 2ST fares coverage wise.
I saw on the 1988 Broadcasting Handbook that 2STâs Ulladulla FM translator was on 106.1 from a different transmitter location when it first went to air that year. Iâd imagine that it moved to 106.7 when it moved its transmitter to its present location at Little Forest Trig in the early 90s, no doubt due to Sugarloaf, as well as 2EC being allocated 105.9 for its Batemans Bay/Moruya service to replace the 765AM translator service.
Correct all of these conversions should match the specs and channel plan of the existing s39 licences. If it wasnât possible then suitable changes should have been made to accommodate it. E.g in Goulburn move the hpon to 97.9 and make 94.3 available for 2GN. I know itâs easier said than done.
2ST at Knights Hill would eliminate 88.5 and 106.7 but Iâd still leave 102.9 as is.
Perfect solution then you can keep local breakfast and mornings. 91.7 2ST from Knights Hill with the same specs as Power fm would be a local signal into the Southern Highlands unless they put a notch in the broadcast antenna towards the Southern Highlands. If I was Grant I would have been pushing for Knights Hill any day over Cambewarra.
Also, as of today, Wave FM is now running the same music log as 94.9 Power FM from Nowra on weekdays, not just on weekends, in which it is shared with 7HO from Hobart.
I commented on this in the Grant Broadcasters thread with the shared playlists across the two stations, but to add something different it would be good for the listeners if Wollongong and the Nowra LA were to be amalgamated.
You could then have 4 high powered 40kW omnidirectional commercial radio services covering the Illawarra from Knights Hill. 96.5 Wave fm and i98 would skew younger and focus on 18-39.
Power fm would become Power 95 with a rock format, Grant would sell 91.7 2ST to Win Corp who would then have that station compete with Power 95 with either a classic hits format or a AC format.
Dab+ would be easier to setup for the region too as you would not need seperate frequencies for the Wollongong and Nowra licence areas.
Nah, theyâd have two largely overlapping AC formats and sell the extra frequency to SEN or BOG to eliminate it as a competitor.
Grandfathering rules would mean that Grants could retain ownership of all 3 stations without breaching the 2 stations in a market rule.