Tropo- Friend or Foe?

[datvman]

Picking up 92.9 Breeze FM and 93.7 Rebel FM from Canungra in Oxford Park. The transmitters are only 50W and im getting a signal from 100kms away

[billabong33]

oops! Ment 1476. Got 7 and 6 around the wrong way!

[datvman]

Well thats all I can get down here. Might take a drive up a bit furthur to the top of the hill and see what I can get.

[datvman]

Ok well it looks as though that the tropo has been and gone from Brisbane - sadly

Overall these past couple of days i have received:

89.1 CFM Kingaroy

90.7 Crow FM Wondai

92.3 ABC Local Radio Grafton (!)

92.9 Breeze FM Canungra

93.7 Rebel FM Canungra

94.5 ABC Local Radio Lismore

95.3 ABC FM Lismore

96.1 Heat FM Noosa/JJJ FM Lismore

96.9 ABC RN Lismore

98.5 ABC FM Wide Bay

99.3 JJJ FM Wide Bay

100.1 Boonah Community FM/ABC Local Radio Wide Bay

100.7 C FM Toowoomba

100.9 ZZZ FM Lismore/ABC RN Wide Bay

then nothing as all the frequencies above this are full of Brisbane Freq's

[matt86]

I can never get 103.7 2NUR, it's just too weak. 100.5 is the Islamic station again. I think 100.3 may have been Forster/Tuncurry's repeater of 2RE? But it's about 1 kW so again that's pretty impressive.

I don't think you can ever get tropo on AM. If you were listening at night, thats a common occurrence. Btw, 4ZR from Roma is 1476 khZ. Comes in strong over Country radio Penrith here at Oatley at night. 1350 would be 2LF from Young. Central Vic is a pretty good location for long distance dx, in Shepparton once i got 100.7 Sea FM Townsville and 101.9 4MK Mackay on a hot summer's day via Sporadic E.

Maybe 103.7 Newcastle has made some changes. I could get something on and off again lastnight. Never long enough to hear a station ID. I see there is HPON licenced in Nowra for 2K, perhaps thats what I can get instead. Up until now I've never heard anything on 103.7 either.

There is also a station at Yass licenced for 2K on 100.3, this is a possibility as the other stations I could get that day were also from the south. The only other possibilty would have been 10K from Armidale, although I think its just too far away to co-channel a local service, trying to get it on a blank freq during tropo would be difficult enough.

[Moasaica]

I'm getting NBN from Newcastle ATM near Campbelltown!

However, I could not get the UHF channels from Newcastle though.

I could get ABC on VHF-5A, so VHF channels from Newcastle (NBN & ABC) can be picked up.

Both NBN & ABC from Newcastle are pretty much unwatchable, but they were there!

I just checked my stereo & no FM stations from Newcastle (except for 102.1 & 106.1) can be received.

[matt86]

I'm getting NBN from Newcastle ATM near Campbelltown!

However, I could not get the UHF channels from Newcastle though.

I could get ABC on VHF-5A, so VHF channels from Newcastle (NBN & ABC) can be picked up.

Both NBN & ABC from Newcastle are pretty much unwatchable, but they were there!

I just checked my stereo & no FM stations from Newcastle (except for 102.1 & 106.1) can be received.

I was down around Campbelltown lastnight and got KO co-channeling 2ST in places again. Was not enough to make out what was on KO, but being able to get the other Newie stations, its obvious thats what it was

[Moasaica]

I was down around Campbelltown lastnight and got KO co-channeling 2ST in places again. Was not enough to make out what was on KO, but being able to get the other Newie stations, its obvious thats what it was

I know what you mean.

Today, on the way back home from my aunts' place, what I got on 102.9 was either KO-FM or 2ST. 2ST seemed more dominant to be picked up on 102.9 than KO-FM, even when tropo from Newcastle is occurring.

In some places, 105.3 New FM was interfered by Mac FM from Wollongong. NXFM seemed to be free of interference from stations down south. This was between Eschol Park & Minto.

I was just wondering, with my VHF antenna being compatible with an FM antenna, do you think I would get stronger FM reception from Newcastle during tropo with a VHF antenna?

As my VHF antenna is pointed towards Sydney, it would be logical that I would get the Newcastle FM stations whenever possible.

Edited December 28, 2005 by dtv_campbelltown

[ant5476]

Yes that would be the case. I have a Hills Optimax400+ pointing towards Sydney. It rejects most signals from the south. At my location in Oatley I receive Power fm 94.9 with very little to no signal and the Wollongong stations. Wave and i98 with low signal as well. The illawarra national fm services come in clearly. With our antenna all tropo ducting comes in from the north. The central coast stations come in with 100% signal strength, and I can always receive Nxfm, from a slight sound under the static to 100% signal in extreme ducting. Wollongong never interferes with it ever. So yes if you have a good Vhf antenna witch has strong forward gain and signal reduction to the back you will get better tropo reception from Newcastle and further north and will most likely recieve Ko fm instead of 2st on 102.9Mhz. Our best tropo ducting is JJJ Grafton on 91.5 and before Vega started ABC Fm Lismore on 95.3Mhz

[Moasaica]

Yes that would be the case. I have a Hills Optimax400+ pointing towards Sydney. It rejects most signals from the south. At my location in Oatley I receive Power fm 94.9 with very little to no signal and the Wollongong stations. Wave and i98 with low signal as well. The illawarra national fm services come in clearly. With our antenna all tropo ducting comes in from the north. The central coast stations come in with 100% signal strength, and I can always receive Nxfm, from a slight sound under the static to 100% signal in extreme ducting. Wollongong never interferes with it ever. So yes if you have a good Vhf antenna witch has strong forward gain and signal reduction to the back you will get better tropo reception from Newcastle and further north and will most likely recieve Ko fm instead of 2st on 102.9Mhz.

Thanks for the reply.

An indication to see whether I got Newcastle through my VHF antenna towards Sydney can be demonstrated by seeing some form of TV reception on NBN & also ABC-TV from Newcastle during tropo. So that means, with an FM antenna being built in with our VHF antenna, I could get KO-FM over 2ST during tropo. I would like it that way because music-wise, I would prefer to listen to KO-FM over 2ST anytime, whenever possible.

I'm not sure how it would affect C91.3's reception in my location (Minto) but with that setup (receiving FM through VHF antenna towards Sydney), I would not get Wave & i98 from Wollongong very well, in which both stations would not be missed by me. It would give me excellent reception on the Central Coast FM stations, which they have better music formats than the Wollongong FM stations anyway.

At least I've got another radio at my parents bedroom, if I want to listen to the Wollongong FM stations, particularly Wave & i98. But both stations are not really spectacular to listen to, music-wise.

[matt86]

I know what you mean.

Today, on the way back home from my aunts' place, what I got on 102.9 was either KO-FM or 2ST. 2ST seemed more dominant to be picked up on 102.9 than KO-FM, even when tropo from Newcastle is occurring.

In some places, 105.3 New FM was interfered by Mac FM from Wollongong. NXFM seemed to be free of interference from stations down south. This was between Eschol Park & Minto.

I was just wondering, with my VHF antenna being compatible with an FM antenna, do you think I would get stronger FM reception from Newcastle during tropo with a VHF antenna?

As my VHF antenna is pointed towards Sydney, it would be logical that I would get the Newcastle FM stations whenever possible.

The antenna will need to be good with more gain preferred. Some antennas have very poor front to back ratio making the rear rejection pretty poor. With the right antenna, you should be able to attenuate 2ST enough to clearly get KO.

Our best tropo ducting is JJJ Grafton on 91.5 and before Vega started ABC Fm Lismore on 95.3Mhz

Yes I have received both before. Infact the day I got ABC on 95.3 was the day the "Neil Diamond" Tests were to begin. I was tuning in to see if tesing had begun but got ABC instead. I left it tuned but when I came back Vegas tests had begun, so that was the end of that.

[Moasaica]

This morning, my father tried to connect our FM tuner with an VHF antenna, with mixed results.

Tried NXFM as a test station from Newcastle, the signal was poor-to-average with the FM antenna. When connected with the VHF antenna, the reception was much better. I looked at 102.9 and it seems to be a splatter of 2ST & KO-FM altogether that is common in the Campbelltown area during tropo.

This was around 10:45am when I tried the FM signals from Newcastle through the VHF antenna. I haven't checked C91.3's reception when connected through the VHF antenna.

However, we cannot keep our FM tuner being connected with our VHF antenna because we got a diplexer of VHF & UHF antenna being put together, which would affect our FM reception.

I'm still working on it by buying the 2-way indoor splitter (LT-3020) from Jaycar.

Link: http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?I...eMax=&SUBCATID=

I'll let you know what the end result is.

The antenna will need to be good with more gain preferred. Some antennas have very poor front to back ratio making the rear rejection pretty poor. With the right antenna, you should be able to attenuate 2ST enough to clearly get KO.

Yes I have received both before. Infact the day I got ABC on 95.3 was the day the "Neil Diamond" Tests were to begin. I was tuning in to see if tesing had begun but got ABC instead. I left it tuned but when I came back Vegas tests had begun, so that was the end of that.

Here is a picture of my TV antenna, if that helps.

My TV antenna

[matt86]

This morning, my father tried to connect our FM tuner with an VHF antenna, with mixed results.

Tried NXFM as a test station from Newcastle, the signal was poor-to-average with the FM antenna. When connected with the VHF antenna, the reception was much better. I looked at 102.9 and it seems to be a splatter of 2ST & KO-FM altogether that is common in the Campbelltown area during tropo.

This was around 10:45am when I tried the FM signals from Newcastle through the VHF antenna. I haven't checked C91.3's reception when connected through the VHF antenna.

However, we cannot keep our FM tuner being connected with our VHF antenna because we got a diplexer of VHF & UHF antenna being put together, which would affect our FM reception.

I'm still working on it by buying the 2-way indoor splitter (LT-3020) from Jaycar.

Link: http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?I...eMax=&SUBCATID=

I'll let you know what the end result is.

Here is a picture of my TV antenna, if that helps.

My TV antenna

The VHF ant. is medium size. You would need something more directional to fully reject 2ST. Are you using an amp? Some amps actually filter out FM radio frequecnies. The UHF antenna you have is pretty high gain so you should be able to get a few good dx catches with it (UHF TV that is), depending on the local terrain.

Edited December 29, 2005 by matt86

[Moasaica]

The VHF ant. is medium size. You would need something more directional to fully reject 2ST.

By what do you mean 'more directional'?

Are you using an amp?

No.

The UHF antenna you have is pretty high gain so you should be able to get a few good dx catches with it (UHF TV that is), depending on the local terrain.

I've got good UHF dx with it.

Last night, I got Prime & SC Ten from Newcastle. With that VHF antenna, I could get NBN & ABC from Newcastle.

[matt86]

By what do you mean 'more directional'?

Higher Gain. The directivity of the higher gain antennas are better as they have more reflectors. This rejects signals coming from other directions.

Having said that though, the purpose of the antenna that is there is to get TV services from Artarmon, not FM radio from Newcastle. So if you were really serious about getting KOFM clearly interference free of 2ST, you would need a fairly high gain, directional FM antenna with good quality cable.

It should still work to some degree. Did you try C913? They broadcast in vertical polarization so with the VHF ant facing away from it mounted horizontally, there should be a noticable degree of signal loss.

[Moasaica]

This morning, just before 9am, I got NBN & SC Ten from Taree/Port Macquarie near Campbelltown!!!

At one time, I almost got NBN from Taree/Port Macquarie in colour!!!!

And yes, I know that NBN & SC Ten from Taree/Port Macquarie uses the same frequency as the Illawarra TV services, as NBN uses UHF-62, which is the same frequency for SC Ten Wollongong & SC Ten uses UHF-65, which is the same frequency for Prime Wollongong.

But hey, they were there on those frequencies instead of the Illawarra TV services!!!

Obviously, I also got Newcastle TV stations, with SC Ten received in colour at times.

On the FM front, I got New FM & NXFM from Newcastle, but not KO-FM, as usual.

I also got a bit of signal on 100.7 2MC-FM from Port Macquarie, instead of WOW-FM from Penrith.

Even though I hate hot days when it comes to feeling the heat & humid, I like tropo in general.

Receiving NBN & SC Ten from Taree/Port Macquarie near Campbelltown is my personal best TV DX record ever, being received 310km from its transmitter. My previous TV DX record was receiving WIN Television from Mt Gambier, near Ballarat, which is almost 300km from its transmitter.

[matt86]

On the FM front, I got New FM & NXFM from Newcastle, but not KO-FM, as usual.

I also got a bit of signal on 100.7 2MC-FM from Port Macquarie, instead of WOW-FM from Penrith.

Thats a good catch.

I tried 100.7 but all I got was WOWFM Penrith, although its signal was weak I could not hear anything that would indicate 2MC. I couldnt get Star 102.3 either.

Will have to keep trying.

[Moasaica]

I got NBN & Prime from Newcastle on Digital, near Campbelltown!!!!!!!

I cannot get SC Ten Digital from Newcastle very well though but I can get it on analogue very well.

On the FM front, KO-FM overrides 2ST!!!!

[billybob_chider]

Biggest tropo outbreak- The first time I have got NZ via tropo. I got the whole Auckland dial that is not taken over by locals, i.e ZM, More, Mai, Edge, Hauraki and Solid Gold. It lasted from 1630 to 1730 today. Good warm up for NYE.

[maelstrom]

Ah DX'ing!

Recently I've been recieving SC10 (Traralgon UHF39) on 606.500Mhz from Mt. Tassie over 240Kms. from my home near Ballarat, not bad you might say... but wait until you've seen the antenna doing the job (a work in progress ) in it's former life it was a UHF CB antenna (DSE 11 element kit), trimmed & respaced you can see it here (with it's former VHF mate) a finishing touch might be some corner reflectors perhaps?

Anyway... it also pulls in the (low powered) community channel CH34 (Melbourne) so I guess it's doing ok

Edited December 31, 2005 by maelstrom

[mgaleano]

Ah DX'ing!

Recently I've been recieving SC10 (Traralgon UHF39) on 606.500Mhz from Mt. Tassie over 240Kms. from my home near Ballarat, not bad you might say... but wait until you've seen the antenna doing the job (a work in progress ) in it's former life it was a UHF CB antenna (DSE 11 element kit), trimmed & respaced you can see it here (with it's former VHF mate) a finishing touch might be some corner reflectors perhaps?

Anyway... it also pulls in the (low powered) community channel CH34 (Melbourne) so I guess it's doing ok

I'm a bit sad! At Pennnat hills I try to tune into MORE FM 91.0 and I get a faint NOVA 969. Oh well. I think I need to move to Stanwell Park

[billybob_chider]

I'm a bit sad! At Pennnat hills I try to tune into MORE FM 91.0 and I get a faint NOVA 969. Oh well. I think I need to move to Stanwell Park

Yeah it sucks being up north . I live at Oatley and I got ZM on 4 out of 5 days in the Chrissy- NY period, culminating in an amazing 7 hour tropo on NYE. Got 91.2 Kaitaia briefly as well. How do you get a faint NOVA on 91.0??? When I am at Artarmon, I get NOVA overload on 89.5. You should buy a radio with an attenuator, my portable has one. It's a SONY SRF M 95.

[mgaleano]

Yeah it sucks being up north . I live at Oatley and I got ZM on 4 out of 5 days in the Chrissy- NY period, culminating in an amazing 7 hour tropo on NYE. Got 91.2 Kaitaia briefly as well. How do you get a faint NOVA on 91.0??? When I am at Artarmon, I get NOVA overload on 89.5. You should buy a radio with an attenuator, my portable has one. It's a SONY SRF M 95.

Does this attenuator limit the overlap of other stations? My Sangeon is a great radio but when it is an area with powerful reception it not the best.

[Moasaica]

I'm a bit sad! At Pennnat hills I try to tune into MORE FM 91.0 and I get a faint NOVA 969. Oh well. I think I need to move to Stanwell Park

From Pennant Hills, moving to Stanwell Park would be a great lifestyle choice for you.

If my parents & I have enough money to live there (BTW, you do need lots of money to live in Stanwell Park compared to Pennant Hills), I wouldn't mind living in Stanwell Park or anywhere down the coast to Thirroul.

Wave FM would be your local station to listen to if you were living there.

Back on topic, where I where, in Minto, nothing beats getting analogue TV from Taree/Port Macquarie & Newcastle and also getting digital TV from Newcastle during strong tropo, like on Friday night (30/12/05), all this with a VHF & UHF antenna pointing towards Sydney!!!

On that same night, I got KO-FM over 2ST, which was a phenomenon in the Campbelltown area, even during tropo. That was a nice change from listening to the usual Sydney, Gosford & Wollongong FM stations.

[mgaleano]

From Pennant Hills, moving to Stanwell Park would be a great lifestyle choice for you.

If my parents & I have enough money to live there (BTW, you do need lots of money to live in Stanwell Park compared to Pennant Hills), I wouldn't mind living in Stanwell Park or anywhere down the coast to Thirroul.

Wave FM would be your local station to listen to if you were living there.

Back on topic, where I where, in Minto, nothing beats getting analogue TV from Taree/Port Macquarie & Newcastle and also getting digital TV from Newcastle during strong tropo, like on Friday night (30/12/05), all this with a VHF & UHF antenna pointing towards Sydney!!!

On that same night, I got KO-FM over 2ST, which was a phenomenon in the Campbelltown area, even during tropo. That was a nice change from listening to the usual Sydney, Gosford & Wollongong FM stations.

Stanwell park is nice I like it there. The only issue would be FM radio would has bad reception there. Even the wollongong ones. They have their own television transmitter since it so bad .