Melbourne Radio

[mgaleano]

Hi

Went down to Melbourne on the weekend. Notice that on the AM band , other than ABC local radio/radio national/3AW the reception for the others is not really good. This was at the CBD and also at Montone (on the road to Frankston). We are lucky in Sydney that our commercial AM stations are transmitted from Homebush. SEN was pretty poor. I listen to the call at the Telstra dome on SEN. The reception was average. Newsradio was also average. 3AW did suffer a lot of interference at night from ABC local radio. I could hear 702 very clear up to about 60 km out of Melbourne (travelling on the hume) where it started to suffered interference. I think 4KQ ??? has the same issue in Brisbane. 738 am was ok to listen to NRL at night in Melbourne. 702 AM was no good although it would be the strongest if they got rid of 3aw.

Listen to a bit of Vega. I found it was a bit weaker than the other major FM stations although it was strange to hear a high power commercial station on the lower part of the dial. I wonder if its restricted northwards to protect newsradio in the north.

Also listen to the test transmission of newsradio 99.9 Goulburn and tuned into 91.5 FM Newsradio had good signal in the lower parts of NSW. 95.1 was on air also in Victoria. I quite like the mix of music of 2CA in Canberra and also 2GN. I listen to them on the way home. Different from WS fm / Vega/ MMM. Although i don't like music on AM.

3CR http://theradio.com.au/3SR_SheppartonShows...Goulburn_Valley had quite a good mix of music.

The river on 104.9 Fm (on the border NSW/Vic) was very similar to the station in Ipswich. Quite a good mix.

Didn't have a lot of time there but here were my observations.

Matt

Edited September 25, 2007 by mgaleano

[Moasaica]

Hi

Went down to Melbourne on the weekend.

Listen to a bit of Vega. I found it was a bit weaker than the other major FM stations although it was strange to hear a high power commercial station on the lower part of the dial. I wonder if its restricted northwards to protect newsradio in the north.

Did you had a brief listen to Gold 104.3 whilst there? If so, how would you compare it with WS-FM?

I quite like the mix of music of 2CA in Canberra and also 2GN. I listen to them on the way home. Different from WS fm / Vega/ MMM. Although i don't like music on AM.

I agree that 2CA is a good music station.

3SR http://theradio.com.au/3SR_SheppartonShows...Goulburn_Valley had quite a good mix of music.

The river on 104.9 Fm (on the border NSW/Vic) was very similar to the station in Ipswich. Quite a good mix.

I agree that 3SR is a good station, although the last time I listened to them was during my Victorian trip in December 2003/January 2004, which is almost 4 years ago now. During January 2004, 3SR played nothing but 70s music for almost a whole month, and when I was back home in Sydney that same month, I discovered that 2GO was also doing a 70s month. Back then, both 3SR & 2GO were owned by RG Capital, and now they're both owned by Macquarie Regional Radioworks.

Correction: The River in Albury is on 105.7, not 104.9. During my Victorian trip, The River (owned by RG Capital at the time) was competing with Star FM on 104.9 (owned by DMG at the time) in the Albury market. Now, both Star FM & The River are owned by Macquarie Regional Radioworks.

The one regional commercial radio station that I liked during my Victorian trip was 3BA-FM in Ballarat, which is owned by Grant Broadcasters. I was based in Ballarat during that trip & therefore listened to them quite a lot. They played "Great Classics & Today's Favourites", ranging from the 60s to today, centred on the 70s & 80s.

Didn't have a lot of time there but here were my observations.

That's alright. Good to see that you had a nice trip down south.

[mgaleano]

Did you had a brief listen to Gold 104.3 whilst there? If so, how would you compare it with WS-FM?

I agree that 2CA is a good music station.

I agree that 3SR is a good station, although the last time I listened to them was during my Victorian trip in December 2003/January 2004, which is almost 4 years ago now. During January 2004, 3SR played nothing but 70s music for almost a whole month, and when I was back home in Sydney that same month, I discovered that 2GO was also doing a 70s month. Back then, both 3SR & 2GO were owned by RG Capital, and now they're both owned by Macquarie Regional Radioworks.

Correction: The River in Albury is on 105.7, not 104.9. During my Victorian trip, The River (owned by RG Capital at the time) was competing with Star FM on 104.9 (owned by DMG at the time) in the Albury market. Now, both Star FM & The River are owned by Macquarie Regional Radioworks.

The one regional commercial radio station that I liked during my Victorian trip was 3BA-FM in Ballarat, which is owned by Grant Broadcasters. I was based in Ballarat during that trip & therefore listened to them quite a lot. They played "Great Classics & Today's Favourites", ranging from the 60s to today, centred on the 70s & 80s.

That's alright. Good to see that you had a nice trip down south.

Yes you are right The river is 105.7 FM. I didn't get a lot of time to listen to GOLD 104.3. I was so busy. I would have like to. I would of like to listen to 1278 AM a bit more as well. Next time. Can always listen to the stations online!

[Moasaica]

I didn't get a lot of time to listen to GOLD 104.3. I was so busy. I would have like to. I would of like to listen to 1278 AM a bit more as well. Next time. Can always listen to the stations online!

True, you can listen to every Melbourne commercial radio stations online. Same with the South-East Queensland commercial radio stations.

Near Campbelltown at night, with my Sangean, I can get Magic 1278 with little to no interference from 2SM, as well as 1377 3MP, which means I'm far enough away from Homebush to get them through. Of course, 774 ABC Melbourne booms in at night.

It's interesting that while Sydney does not have a 50s/60s Rock n' Roll Saturday night party program, Melbourne, which is a bit smaller than Sydney, population-wise, has two of them (not counting the fortuitous stations), with both Magic 1278 & 1377 3MP providing these kind of programs. I'm also under the impression that both Magic & 3MP are, overall, better easy listening stations than 2CH.

Next time I go down to Melbourne, I might want to listen to the Geelong (Bay FM & K-Rock) & Ballarat (3BA & Power) commercial radio stations wherever there's good reception, part of the reason being that they do not stream on the net. If I were to make day trips to Geelong & Ballarat, I'd listen to their respective local stations.

Having said that, I'll still listen to quite a lot of the Melbourne commercial radio stations whilst in Melbourne, especially Gold 104, with a little bit of Vega.

I would like to go and visit Melbourne again one day, as it's been nearly 4 years since the last time I was there (ie. outside of the airport).

[(ツ)]

I'll still listen to quite a lot of the Melbourne commercial radio stations whilst in Melbourne, especially Gold 104, with a little bit of Vega.

I would like to go and visit Melbourne again one day, as it's been nearly 4 years since the last time I was there (ie. outside of the airport).

Funny how you get magic 1278 here but when I go to melbourne I get 2SM very well until about 6am.

Next time I go there, I'll try 1611am (if it's still there), If you like 80's try 98.9fm.

When on standby, they play a lot of rare 80's music and the "extended mix's" which was very common in the 80's.

Otherwise GOLDfm, MMM, k-rock, RRR, 3PBS or SYN.

For saturday nights I probably go with GOLD, end then after midnight 979FM, or 98.7 who both play NRBS

[Moasaica]

Next time I go there, I'll try 1611am (if it's still there), If you like 80's try 98.9fm.

When on standby, they play a lot of rare 80's music and the "extended mix's" which was very common in the 80's.

The 98.9FM station in Melbourne that you speak of is North West FM, which its licence area covers the north-western suburbs of Melbourne, including Broadmeadows, Tullamarine, Coburg & Brunswick. It broadcasts at a maximum ERP of 400 watts, transmitting from Broadmeadows Town Hall.

Otherwise GOLDfm, MMM, k-rock, RRR, 3PBS or SYN.

Good choices there, even mentioning a Geelong commercial radio station. I can also see that the Melbourne-wide community stations are much better than the Sydney-wide community stations.

Not sure when was the last time you listened to K-Rock, but have a look at the new music played on the station here: http://www.krock.com.au/newmusic.html

You could say that the rock music played on K-Rock is a bit, if not, a lot more modern than Star 104.5, but it does play some pop music on the station too (then again, Star does that a bit too).

For saturday nights I probably go with GOLD, end then after midnight 979FM, or 98.7 who both play NRBS

Unlike with Sydney commercial music radio stations, Saturday night radio on Melbourne commercial music radio stations are listenable.

The frequencies' station names around Melbourne that takes NRBS that you mentioned are 97.9FM from Melton (which you can listen to online) & 3RPP from Frankston/Mornington Peninsula.

[(ツ)]

The frequencies' station names around Melbourne that takes NRBS that you mentioned are 97.9FM from Melton (which you can listen to online) & 3RPP from Frankston/Mornington Peninsula.

There's a few more "NRBS" stations there but i'm not sure if it's a permanent arrangement.

Bathurst 2MCE streams "NRBS" in stereo, and I think a melbourne station does too but I'm not sure.

As for reception, I've never really had any problem, but (as I reported somewhere here) VEGA at 91.5 are disadvantaged. In fact they are in a similiar situation as C91.3 in sydney in that they are surrounded by community stations,

and can be hard to find.

[RF Burns]

I quite like the mix of music of 2CA in Canberra and also 2GN. I listen to them on the way home. Different from WS fm / Vega/ MMM. Although i don't like music on AM.

Music on 2CA is fantastic, 2GN too. I also like the music mix on 2XL Cooma, which I listen to regularly at night here in Lake Macquarie.

I love music on AM, especially the old stuff 70's & 80's, takes me back to my younger years when we only had AM radio, & it makes the songs sound like they used to (they sound different on FM).

This argument has been played out many times on usenet so I'm not really going to start it again here, but once you've heard music in true full wideband (((AM STEREO))) as transmitted by 2CA, you'll never want to go back to FM & you'll wonder what all the fuss about FM radio is. Technically the way AM Stereo is transmitted differs from the way FM Stereo is transmitted (& I don't mean AM & FM) so AM Stereo will always give a better sound than FM Stereo ever can. Electrical interference such as lightning is the only thing that lets it down. 1053 2CA most nights in AM Stereo at home in Lake Macquarie, heaven.

Cheers

GlennP.

Edited September 26, 2007 by GlennP

[(ツ)]

Another Station that sounded good in "AM stereo", was 2CN in Canberra which had a fairly high level of music content, and could explain why luxury ford EAfalcons/NAfairlanes had AM stereo as standard equipment.

If you really are keen to hear "AM stereo" the EA ford radios are commonly available at wreckers, (make sure you get the 4 digit radio code) then all you need is a 12Vdc powersupply, antenna, and speakers and youre away.

BUT am stereo is NOT on 2CN or 2CC anymore, but is on 2CA Canberra.

Just elaborating on that - the luxury fords were used by the pollies in the mid-late 80's, and the AM stereo radio was your only way of getting ANY stereo radio in Canberra, (apart from ABC fm) so I think the radios' in the fords catered for this. They also had HI-FI sound as well, if you deactivate the "FIL" filter button, your AM sound was very close to FM quality sound. (AND it was stereo).

2CA is one of the few AM stereo stations left.....

[RF Burns]

Another Station that sounded good in "AM stereo", was 2CN in Canberra which had a fairly high level of music content, and could explain why luxury ford EAfalcons/NAfairlanes had AM stereo as standard equipment.

If you really are keen to hear "AM stereo" the EA ford radios are commonly available at wreckers, (make sure you get the 4 digit radio code) then all you need is a 12Vdc powersupply, antenna, and speakers and youre away.

BUT am stereo is NOT on 2CN or 2CC anymore, but is on 2CA Canberra.

Just elaborating on that - the luxury fords were used by the pollies in the mid-late 80's, and the AM stereo radio was your only way of getting ANY stereo radio in Canberra, (apart from ABC fm) so I think the radios' in the fords catered for this. They also had HI-FI sound as well, if you deactivate the "FIL" filter button, your AM sound was very close to FM quality sound. (AND it was stereo).

2CA is one of the few AM stereo stations left.....

Great shame 2CA is one of only a few AM Stereo stations left.

I have a Sony AM Stereo walkman (model SRF-AX51V) radio I bought from Japan 18 months ago. AM stereo is widely used in Japan & AM Stereo radios are easy to come by. You can get them online from http://www.audiocubes2.com/category/Radio.html for around $100 aus.

Cheers

GlennP.

[mgaleano]

Music on 2CA is fantastic, 2GN too. I also like the music mix on 2XL Cooma, which I listen to regularly at night here in Lake Macquarie.

I love music on AM, especially the old stuff 70's & 80's, takes me back to my younger years when we only had AM radio, & it makes the songs sound like they used to (they sound different on FM).

This argument has been played out many times on usenet so I'm not really going to start it again here, but once you've heard music in true full wideband (((AM STEREO))) as transmitted by 2CA, you'll never want to go back to FM & you'll wonder what all the fuss about FM radio is. Technically the way AM Stereo is transmitted differs from the way FM Stereo is transmitted (& I don't mean AM & FM) so AM Stereo will always give a better sound than FM Stereo ever can. Electrical interference such as lightning is the only thing that lets it down. 1053 2CA most nights in AM Stereo at home in Lake Macquarie, heaven.

Cheers

GlennP.

I heard your soundclip on the web. Yes it is sad it didn't take off . Listening to sport with AM Stereo would be great also. Bad marketing... Also I think it was too expensive to buy an AM stereo radio.

How good does the reception have to be to hear the full stereo? Does it flick over to mono when the reception was not at a certain level ?

[mgaleano]

Great shame 2CA is one of only a few AM Stereo stations left.

I have a Sony AM Stereo walkman (model SRF-AX51V) radio I bought from Japan 18 months ago. AM stereo is widely used in Japan & AM Stereo radios are easy to come by. You can get them online from http://www.audiocubes2.com/category/Radio.html for around $100 aus.

Cheers

GlennP.

How does standard AM sound like with this unit?

Matt

[RF Burns]

How good does the reception have to be to hear the full stereo? Does it flick over to mono when the reception was not at a certain level ?

Yes it does flick over to mono, but it holds stereo to a surprisingly low signal strength, much lower than FM, but that has to do with the way AM stereo is transmitted. To put it in simple terms in AM the Stereo (L-R) channels are separate from the mono channel (L+R), but in FM the Stereo (L-R) channels become the mono channel (L+R).

To answer your question, your almost about to lose the AM reception completly as you lose the AM Stereo.

[RF Burns]

How does standard AM sound like with this unit?

Matt

If you switch it to mono it sounds just like any other good quality AM radio, but if you leave it in Stereo mode, it's hard to explain but it sounds kind of like a FM radio with "stereo wide" switched on. ie. In stereo mode it's still receiving "Wideband AM" even though it's not Stereo or has no channel separation.

Cheers

GlennP.

[mgaleano]

If you switch it to mono it sounds just like any other good quality AM radio, but if you leave it in Stereo mode, it's hard to explain but it sounds kind of like a FM radio with "stereo wide" switched on. ie. In stereo mode it's still receiving "Wideband AM" even though it's not Stereo or has no channel separation.

Cheers

GlennP.

does it sound like a mono fm station? What type of battery does it take?

Edited September 26, 2007 by mgaleano

[dkint3]

I have a Sony AM Stereo walkman (model SRF-AX51V) radio I bought from Japan 18 months ago. AM stereo is widely used in Japan & AM Stereo radios are easy to come by. You can get them online from http://www.audiocubes2.com/category/Radio.html for around $100 aus.

Cheers

GlennP.

A couple of points of note in case you're thinking of using these to also listen to FM:

Japanese FM radio is around the 70-80mhz range, so unless it has a switch to change the FM range to 88-108mhz range, then it won't be of any use for FM here.

Also, I bought an SONY CD Walkman with digital AM mono/FM stereo radio in America back in the 90s. It works fine on AM (you can change the AM spacing from 10khz back to 9khz), but FM radio sensitivity is not suited to Australian markets - it is difficult to get a clean FM signal of even a local station.

[RF Burns]

A couple of points of note in case you're thinking of using these to also listen to FM:

Japanese FM radio is around the 70-80mhz range, so unless it has a switch to change the FM range to 88-108mhz range, then it won't be of any use for FM here.

The Sony model I have (specified) has Japanese FM frequencies but also has Japanese TV frequencies meaning you can listen to all Australian FM radio & Australian TV channels 6-12 (analogue sound only of course) too.

Cheers

GlennP.

[dryfry]

Music on 2CA is fantastic, 2GN too. I also like the music mix on 2XL Cooma, which I listen to regularly at night here in Lake Macquarie.

I love music on AM, especially the old stuff 70's & 80's, takes me back to my younger years when we only had AM radio, & it makes the songs sound like they used to (they sound different on FM).

This argument has been played out many times on usenet so I'm not really going to start it again here, but once you've heard music in true full wideband (((AM STEREO))) as transmitted by 2CA, you'll never want to go back to FM & you'll wonder what all the fuss about FM radio is. Technically the way AM Stereo is transmitted differs from the way FM Stereo is transmitted (& I don't mean AM & FM) so AM Stereo will always give a better sound than FM Stereo ever can. Electrical interference such as lightning is the only thing that lets it down. 1053 2CA most nights in AM Stereo at home in Lake Macquarie, heaven.

Cheers

GlennP.

I'm now able to listen to AM Stereo in Perth after I built an "Alfredo" transmitter. And yeah the stereo separation is so good especially recordings from The Beatles plus I modulate it right up to 15Khz .

And yeah wreckers yards are good sources of AM stereo radios. I got a nice Philips AM ST radio for 5 bucks...

[datvman]

Sounds tempting, I might go to the wreckers this week and pick one up. What is an indication that its AM stereo? And what cars had AM Stereo radios in them

[(ツ)]

Sounds tempting, I might go to the wreckers this week and pick one up. What is an indication that its AM stereo? And what cars had AM Stereo radios in them

I recommend the EA/EB/NA Ford fairmont ghia/Fairlane radios. They have a "wideband" option for better treble, a "ST" light comes on, and they have a digital tuner (AM stereo needs a VERY stable tuner, otherwise the separation is inconsistant)

My '89 Fairlane radio works perfectly for AM stereo.Dont forget you need the 4 digit security code.

Most wreckers should have them, but dont expect too many of them to have any knowledge of AM stereo.

BUT remember! Not many stations are AM stereo anymore, and AM stereo needs a good strong signal.

2CA for instance co-channels with another station at night and it destroys the sound quality,

so you need a good signal for it to work properly.

Edited September 27, 2007 by POWERZONE

[dryfry]

Sounds tempting, I might go to the wreckers this week and pick one up. What is an indication that its AM stereo? And what cars had AM Stereo radios in them

Look for a button marked "AM ST" or "AM Stereo FM Stereo" on it somewhere.

Most Aussie made cars around the mid to late 80's and early 90's had the option of an AM Stereo radio.

[(ツ)]

Its been reported that Triple M in Melbourne will broadcast their last "cage" show in November, any "cage" fans here?

how was it? good? bad?

[Moasaica]

Here's further evidence that Melbourne commercial music radio stations has far much better weeknights programming than Sydney commercial music radio stations, especially on older-skewing stations.

* Gold 104 - "The 20-1 Countdown", 7pm weeknights - counting down the top 20 songs from one particular year out of the 70s & 80s, with plenty of those songs not even played on WS-FM & Vega. This is followed by either "Living in the 70s" hour or "Totally 80s" hour from 9pm (depending on what year the "20-1 Countdown" covered that night). On Friday nights from 7pm, they go "Totally 80s", which also includes "The 20-1 Countdown" highlighting an 80s year.

* MMM Melbourne - "Awesome 80s", 6-7pm weeknights - unlike its Sydney station (which airs The Shebang's highlights program of what went to air that morning), the Melbourne station (along with its Brisbane station) airs an hour of 80s music in that timeslot.

* 1377 3MP - "Top 7 @ 7", 7pm weeknights - playing the top 7 songs from a certain month of a certain year, fairly easy listening-skewed.

* Magic 1278 - "The Classic Top 40", 7-10pm weeknights - playing top 40 music of the 50s, 60s & 70s.

By comparison, in Sydney, we pretty have have got nothing that Melbourne has for granted. Not even listening to C91.3, Wollongong or Gosford commercial stations (probably except Star 104.5) would offer anything special either.

Edited October 22, 2007 by dtv_campbelltown

[Moasaica]

Geelong's K-Rock is set to have their online streaming service soon, according to their website.

[datvman]

Working tonight at 9:45pm