Reception of Wave/i98 in Moruya is non-existent in normal conditions; as mentioned above reception is confined to places with a good LOS northward along the coastal fringe.
I include traffic for the Far South Coast on my Braidwood FM shows as a good percentage of the traffic through Braidwood is headed down there. Our signal is patchy on the coast from about Narooma to Huskisson/Vincentia.
Yeah I think Wave FM/i98 FM was not local grade reception in Nowra due to the restrictions in that direction. You can still tune in but depending on the radio the stereo isnât as clean.
@SouthCoastTV on your observation . Is 2ST 91.7 really local grade reception from Gerringong onwards? (Better than i98/wave FM/Power FM) Is the reception good around Gerroa? Or is 2ST 106.7 FM a better choice?
I know the reception of i98/wave fm deteriorates around there. From really strong reception in Kiama (probably close to the strongest reception in the Gong), then is a fairly quick decline reception southwards due to the directional design (at least from what observed quite a few years ago). I know that around seven miles beach is a bad area for FM radio in general even for Power FM and the ABC blowtorches. Due to terrain and it being a heavily forested area I wonder if 2ST 91.7 is better? I wonder if Power FM should broadcast from the same tower as 2ST to provide better coverage and have a repeater like 2ST up the highlands. Theoretically 2ST should cover the Shoalhaven better than Power FM all things being equal. I think Power FM has more power so it might be an unfair comparison. The only issue with 2ST is Kiama which I think shouldnât be part of the Shoalhaven area given the excellent Wollongong reception.
I probably need to go for a drive down there 
I feel that i98 would do quite well further down the coast (Nowra - Ulladulla) if they made the reception better.
Maybe not so much Ulladulla but Nowra and surrounds would probably choose that.
Also why doesnât Power FM use the Drive show from Wave FM. So much better the Will and Woody crap they play.
Yeah it wasnât too bad at south Nowra. I use to stay at the Culburra beach caravan park (Crookhaven heads), I can always remember, despite pretty good line of site towards knights hill on a headland, it was difficult to tune into i98 and wave fm due to the overload of ABC local radio and ABC classic music which boomed in as well as Power FM. It was a cheap clock radio (in the cabin) but my walkman also struggled a bit and it was pretty good⌠Things may have changed since the 90s. The car radio was generally good due to better sensitivity but still on the drive from Nowra you could tell power fm was superior to i98/wave. It showed that despite the signal was coming from the same tower, thr config really affected i98/wave fm on cheaper clock radios, just from the way the array was designed as being directional.
The converse is true with Power FM towards Wollongong. The reception is poor northwards (even though you can see the tower) .
91.7 2ST would be at Suburban grade in Gerringong. Cambewarra Mountain Lookout gets into Gerringong much better then Knights Hill. Definitely much better than i98 / Wave fm, Power fm is the weakest at only 10KW V 20KW for the Wollongong fmâs at 40KW for the national fmâs.
Saddleback Mountain blocks 2ST into Kiama that is why the 5W 88.5 translator was proposed.
Kiama is generally very good when you have LOS of Knights Hill, you can actually see the towers near the Blow Hole. Kiama is also very hilly and Knights Hill can be obstructed.
What impacts the Wollonong fm stations i98 / Wave fm is the lower ERP 4KW towards Nowra and the south east corner of the escarpment Barren Grounds / Berry Mountain. Power fm needs the 50KW to adequately cover Nowra to overcome the obstructions between Nowra and Knights Hill.
Wave and i98 are quite good around Jervis Bay where LOS to Knights Hill is so good that you can see the towers in the distance. I have received i98 and Wave fm as far south as Merrimbulla on the car radio.
Re 91.7 2ST V 94.9 Power fm in the Shoalhaven, 2ST is definitely stronger in Nowra, but once you head further south around Sussex Inlet they would be equal.
If Power fm was to have the same specs as 2ST they would need four frequencies
The 2ST fm conversion should have been at Knights Hill with the same specs as Power fm.
I actually would now have kept it on 102.9, to allow @RFBurns to move Coast fm to 91.7 and get a clear run.
Move 94.9 Power fm to 106.9 to avoid the CCI from Rhema CC, and 106.9 VOX fm to 103.7.
2KKY Nowra can then move to 106.7 which would no longer be required by 2ST if it is high power from Knights Hill.
But would mean Highlands listeners would lose their morning show (and local ads) as 102.9 is a different feed to 91.7.
And 102.9 could impact on Triple M Newcastle during tropo.
Only breakfast and the ads are local,. Graham Day mornings now goes out on both frequencies, they would have to do a joint breakfast show with French and Max for the Highlands and Shoalhaven like they do on Power fm.
Re ducting of 102.9 2ST from Knights Hill, with the same specs as Power fm the signal across Sydney would be weaker then it is currently from the Gib.
The modelling from the Nautel coverage generator has the 1.5KW NE directional signal from Knights Hill reaching about as far north up the coast as the 2KW VOX fm signal from Brokers Nose in normal conditions. So if Hit 106.9 works with VOX Fm at Brokers Nose. 2ST on 102.9 from Knights Hill should work in a similar way.
Thanks, I always thought the 1.5 kw restriction was towards Wollongong only, still 10kw towards Sydney⌠but yes, the LAP now has 1.5kw going due north.
Interesting read thanks for your post @Ant5476 . I wonder if they pumped up the power of Cambewarra Lookout to 50 kw would there be a need for a little trig repeater.
50KW from Cambewarra lookout would provide better coverage into Ulladulla than the existing 50KW Power fm service from Knights Hill, so Little Trig would not be required. 106.7 could then be used for Triple J at Wanderra Mt to cover the north of the Bega licence area where 100.1 from Brown Mt provides poor or no coverage.
Also 50KW from Cambewarra Lookout adequately covers Bowral, and offers near identically coverage across the Southern Highlands south of Bowral. 102.9 would still be needed at low power to cover Mittagong only (320W)
Also even at 50KW 2ST would still need a Kiama translator. Barren Grounds and Saddleback Mt block the signal., but you would get some Rural grade fortuitous signal into the southern suburbs of Wollongong, but much less than you would from Power fm at Knights Hill.
Coverage maps of 50KW 2ST from Cambewarra Lookout and the existing 50KW Power fm signal south. Nautel only allows Omnidirectional coverage maps so the Power fm coverage is incorrect to the north and north east.
Its pretty hilly around Ulladulla, the north end of town slopes south so Knights Hill could be a challenge there, and also on the southern end towards Burrill Lake. At least some of the Knights Hill ABCs and Power FM have Mt Wandera to help compensate, even though some are a different feed.
On those old ABC frequency guides both Knights Hill and Mount Wandera frequencies were suggested for Ulladulla. Mount Wandera covers to about the Bendalong turnoff on the Princes Hwy, dropping off sharply after that.
WaveFM are running short teaser videos on their socials about flipping things upside down.
It features their brekkie and drive teams.
Iâm predicting theyâll be swapping shifts, which if it happens, is probably something which shouldâve happened when Lyndal & Crammy first joined Wave. It makes sense to put them up against their former cohost Marty on i98.
Nope, just a TVC
Wow.
So the ad is meant to say that WaveFM is âturning Wollongong radio on its headâ, but they couldnât be further from the truth.
Not unless they at least take their own log.
⌠I suppose 94.9 PowerFM could also run the same ads âŚ
Had a bit of a getaway to Bawley point over the long weekend, just wanted to provide a very brief report on the reception to plug the format gap down there.
At Kiama on the highway 2ST was poor in the car radio. The repeater is needed. Some parts of the Illawarra away from the escarpment had ok reception of 2ST. Gerringong is where 2ST shone good reception and then excellent around the northern area of the Shoalhaven in my view better than Power FM , although I did not tune into Power FM. Rather counterintuitively the further south the better Knights Hill has over 2ST. This probably is related to the power and the fact the 2st transmitter is more inland. I am not sure if RDS frequency switching is for 2st perhaps in the RDS thread I should check. Ie 91.7 to 106.7. Certainly 91.7 FM wasnât as âbadâ as Kiama when in Ulladulla Perhaps if I stop at a Kiama beach 91.7 may have been better.
It was really nice to hear classic hits on FM down that way. It gave me flashbacks to i98 FM, but instead of a reduction in clear stereo reception at Berry it is the prime location. Wave FM should switch over to a 2st format given Power FMâs fortuitous reception of the Gong vs 2ST. Sydney FM in my view is better in the Gong. Conclusion, Wave should become a 2st / 2ec format station.
At Bawley Point 2ST 106.7 FM was the best followed by ABC FM and Power FM then the wave FM/i98/2st 91.7 FM then the Batesman Bay FM. I expected better reception from the south but the hilly terrain to the south west explains why.
Unfortunately, unless WIN were to sell i98 to ARN, I canât see it happening.
That being said though, it would be ideal for ARN to reposition Wave to a AC log, as heard on River in Ipswich, in which they would play more 80s & some 70s than whatâs being heard on the station currently.
On a side note, looking at the following stationâs playlist via raddio.net (since Lava doesnât provide the log at present), i98 has lately been skewing a bit more CHR-oriented than before, with little 90s & barely any 80s.
I caught this ad for i98FM on 9Life a few days ago. The reason why I saw it may have been because 9Life is a statewide feed in WIN areas.
It screams âMusic & Friendsâ - the old Hit regional campaign. Using emotions and tying it in with music.
Says absolutely nothing about their sound or format.
To me I think they are trying to prove they are more Illawarra than their competitor.
I agree it says nothing about their sound or format, and has Hit vibes of old.
