News Radio

[mgaleano]

Hi

Why doesn't 630am News Radio Sydney transmit at the same strength as ABC local radio & Radio National?

Matt

['ct']

The metro News Radio AM transmitters are all part of a now obeselete emergency broadcast system which were never meant for everday normal transmission. The ABC gained fulltime access to them in the early 90's as is. These transmitters from my understanding are very old. Money will be reqiured to increase the power output with new transmitters and possible upgrade to the aerial arrays/combiners they share at the relevant BA sites. When the Feds finally decide which way this country will go with Digital Radio, will be the best time for the ABC to upgrade/replace the transmitters required. To spend money now to upgrade the existing AM transmitters would be a waste IMHO. At least the Feds have promised to extend the reach into regional areas now for News Radio, which is a major plus, albeit using existing FM bands and technology.

ct

[mgaleano]

Hi

Why doesn't 630am News Radio Sydney transmit at the same strength as ABC local radio & Radio National?

Matt

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for your answer! You are very knowledgeable on the topic... I thought it was some lic thing where local radio & radio national has to be stronger than news radio.

I find the 702 am very strong. Even in the central coast it is stronger than the other AM. Is it possible the signal could be made even stronger? Are there any stronger in world for AM? Could we infact make it that strong where there would be no need to have 97.3 and 92.5 on the central coast? Or the technology could not get any better than today. Maybe only slightly...

Why was preston chosen for the ABC stations ? Were they too late to get a spot at homebush? Where did 702 or 700 start transmitted from in the past? I'm not quite 30 yet I have always remember 702 is the strongest station... When it first came to air I'd imagine it was very weak? The quality of signal we have had for the 25 years how long have we had that. When radio first came out did people have invest in expensive aerials to get something they could hear? When was the time when the signal was good and "if you went back in time" you would not notice much different than today? For 702 Am anyway... So if I was at Pennant Hills in 1940 , 1950 , 1960 , 1970 with my walkman would the reception be similar (relatively speaking).

What about FM? Has the strength and distance/ quality changed since FM first came to air. Or you could say its like digital radio kind of where the technology was there for years we just took time to addopt. Initially did it attempt to cover all of sydney or just the inner suburbs.

Do you know any books on this topic for Sydney radio?

[datvman]

Well, I know for a fact, that if you go to this ACA site http://www.aca.gov.au/pls/radcom/register_...H_TYPE=Licences,

and type in the callsign (for this case, 702's is 2BL) you will find out how long they have been at that power output (same for any other station) or for that matter, the site. They might change if the government thinks it needs to after the quadrennial census (ie. if they find a boom around, say, appin, they might increase the power in that direction)

[mgaleano]

Well, I know for a fact, that if you go to this ACA site http://www.aca.gov.au/pls/radcom/register_...H_TYPE=Licences,

and type in the callsign (for this case, 702's is 2BL) you will find out how long they have been at that power output (same for any other station) or for that matter, the site. They might change if the government thinks it needs to after the quadrennial census (ie. if they find a boom around, say, appin, they might increase the power in that direction)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey thanks for the website this is great... I can see where all the mobile base stations are too.

So I'm curious if anyone else can answer my other questions?

1. I find the 702 am very strong. Even in the central coast it is stronger than the other AM. Is it possible the signal could be made even stronger?

2. Why was preston chosen for the ABC stations ? Were they too late to get a spot at homebush?

3. When radio first came out did people have invest in expensive aerials to get something they could hear?

4. For 702 Am anyway... So if I was at Pennant Hills in 1940 , 1950 , 1960 , 1970 with my walkman would the reception be similar (relatively speaking).

5. What about FM? Has the strength and distance/ quality changed since FM first came to air.

[alanh]

All,

You should go to a local library and see if they can find a book called "The Magic Spark" by R. R. Walker published by Hawthorn Press in 1972 SBN 7256 0116 7.

Commencement dates

2SB/2BL (702 kHz) and 2FC = 2RN (576) both commenced in 1923. 3AR = 3RN & 3LO Melbourne, 6WF (720) Perth , 5CL= 5RN Adelaide, 7ZL = 7RN Hobart in 1924.

2UE 954 Sydney, 2HD 1143 Newcastle, 2UW(gone FM) Sydney, 5DN 1323 Adelaide, 3UZ 927 Melbourne, 4QG = 4RN Brisbane, 4GR 864 Toowoomba 2KY 1017 Sydney in 1925

RN = Radio National. All stations started out as commercial stations but those in blue have been taken over by the ABC.

The first six stations have been 50 kW power for nearly all that time.

The reason for this is that there was very few stations in those days so they tried to get the widest coverage area. Those stations are still 50 kW. Most commercial stations are 2 kW but a lot of capital city stations have been increased to either 5 or 10 kW.

2. Prestons is similar to other capital city sites. They wanted one which is damp, away from cities to prevent interference.

3. Yes. The antennas were generally long wire. Then a fine wire loop was introduced for portable sets. After that the ferrite rod antenna was introduced much later and is used today. Now in very portable equipment FM is installed and no AM because the ferrite rod is too big!

4. FM first started in Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide with an ABC program mix back in the 50s and 60s. The programs were mono. The broadcasting was stopped to make way for TV on channels 3, 4 & 5.

The main changes are much more sensitive receivers. Large area FM stations have their antennas on TV towers which are quite tall. On ABC station in Victoria covers one third of the state which is also the most powerful in the country. Also most FM stations now use both horizontal and vertical transmitting antennas to make antenna placement less critical.

Look at

http://abc.net.au/reception/radio/troubleshoot.htm

AlanH

[mgaleano]

All,

You should go to a local library and see if they can find a book called "The Magic Spark" by R. R. Walker published by Hawthorn Press in 1972 SBN 7256 0116 7.

Commencement dates

2SB/2BL (702 kHz) and 2FC = 2RN (576) both commenced in 1923. 3AR = 3RN & 3LO Melbourne, 6WF (720) Perth , 5CL= 5RN Adelaide, 7ZL = 7RN Hobart in 1924.

2UE 954 Sydney, 2HD 1143 Newcastle, 2UW(gone FM) Sydney, 5DN 1323 Adelaide, 3UZ 927 Melbourne, 4QG = 4RN  Brisbane, 4GR 864 Toowoomba 2KY 1017 Sydney in 1925

RN = Radio National. All stations started out as commercial stations but those in blue have been taken over by the ABC.

The first six stations have been 50 kW power for nearly all that time.

The reason for this is that there was very few stations in those days so they tried to get the widest coverage area. Those stations are still 50 kW. Most commercial stations are 2 kW but a lot of capital city stations have been increased to either 5 or 10 kW.

2. Prestons is similar to other capital city sites. They wanted one which is damp, away from cities to prevent interference.

3. Yes. The antennas were generally long wire. Then a fine wire loop was introduced for portable sets. After that the ferrite rod antenna was introduced much later and is used today. Now in very portable equipment FM is installed and no AM because the ferrite rod is too big!

4. FM first started in Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide with an ABC program mix back in the 50s and 60s. The programs were mono. The broadcasting was stopped to make way for TV on channels 3, 4 & 5.

The main changes are much more sensitive receivers. Large area FM stations have their antennas on TV towers which are quite tall. On ABC station in Victoria covers one third of the state which is also the most powerful in the country. Also most FM stations now use both horizontal and vertical transmitting antennas to make antenna placement less critical.

Look at

http://abc.net.au/reception/radio/troubleshoot.htm

AlanH

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Allan! I will borrow the book!

Did the ABC AM stations onces transmit from Ultimo ? I know there was some radio communication tower at Carlingford/West Pennant Hills near North Rocks Road. I think 2CH was there? Was Homebush always the place where 2uw,2ue etc transmit from?

The new digital radio round the corner will the use the same towers as the existing station or will the be transmiting from the TV towers whether AM or FM?

I'd be interested to know in the future if you listen to a commerical radio and you move out of the licenced area will it just drop out ? I believe the new system will mean you have no need to change stations for the ABC network it will just select the strongest signal (as you are driving or maybe in a border area) . I'm not sure how it will work for Digital commerical radio...

[djb]

Excuse late post ive just discovered this thread 

I apologise for errors and ignorance 

i thought the news radio broad casts used the federal parliaments broadcast network.

ie parliament decreed that they be heard during sitting sessions on their own uninterrupted net work..

news radio uses this network when parliament isn't sitting