Newcastle Stations in Sydney
John Keane
Glenn P
that they have left the 160 - 220 degree line off the LAP (typo), Mt
Sugarloaf is almost WNW of Newcastle, so if NX had zero signal in the
direction of 160 - 220 degrees, parts of Newcastle & all of Lake Macquarie
would have no NX FM reception.
NX FM can be received in parts of Sydney, people have called in for on air
competitions from as far south as Campbelltown, there is a 2kW community
station in Wollongong on the same frequency that over powers NX in parts of
Sydney.
"Paul Mech" <n...@ddress.com> wrote in message
news:3b91d794$1...@news.iprimus.com.au...
> And here is how the commercial services operate in Newcastle
>
> KO FM 102.9 ERP 20kw 0-160: 20kw
> 160-220: 2kw
> 220-360: 20kw
>
> NEW FM 105.3 ERP 20kw (Same as KO FM)
>
> NX FM 106.9 ERP 20kw 0-160: 20kw
> 160-220: Nothing
> 220-360: 20kw
> No signals in the 160-220 degree range, thats why you cant get NX FM in
> Sydney.
>
>
>
Glenn P
"Marco Spaccavento" <rbge...@iprimus.com.au> wrote in message
news:3b91...@news.iprimus.com.au...
>
> At the risk of appearing ignorant on this topic (which I am), does that
mean
> 160-220 degrees as in on a compass? ie, no NXFM signal going south hence
no
> sound in Sydney? I wasn't aware you could do that, had always assumed
that
> your signal just went out same strength in all directions.
>
> (no, I don't work in radio!)
>
Yes the degree settings are as on a compass, but 0 degrees is True North not
Magnetic North.
To answer the next part of your question I'll try not to be too technical.
I'll start by telling you that the transmitter is a piece of electronic
equipment housed in the hut at the base of a tower be it for AM or FM.
Secondly an FM tower has no electrical current or voltage passing through
it, the radiating elements are bolted to it (this is where the signal comes
from), see http://members.optusnet.com.au/~glennpri/index.html for some
pictures of FM antennas.
One station usually has a number of these linked together, depending on how
many & which direction they're pointing, gives you the power output or ERP
in a particular direction.
AM radio works a slightly different way, with AM the actual tower is the
radiating element, it's usually the height of a half or quater of the
stations wavelength, (they're usually placed on flat swampy ground because
they use the wet ground for the other half of the wavelength). Single tower
stations broadcast all directions at the same power, multi tower stations
are directional & operate like this. Depending on what direction the power
is to go, the two or more towers are placed in a previously determined spot
(in relation to each other), then in the transmitter hut they have equipment
which sends the signal to one tower that is out of phase with the other one,
(in other words one tower will be transmitting the positive half of the wave
& the other tower will be transmitting the negative half of the wave), it
can be partially out of phase depending on how much of the signal you want
to cut out & in what direction the power has to be cut, this in association
with the towers positions, cancels out or reduces the power levels of the
signal in a pre-determined direction, thus making the signal directional or
having a greater signal strength in one direction over another.
I hope this explains it to you & isn't too technical to understand.
Regards
Glenn P.
Paul Mech
news:3b934b6e$0$20924$7f31...@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au...
> NX FM has the exact same radiation power pattern as KO & NEW FM, it's just
> that they have left the 160 - 220 degree line off the LAP (typo), Mt
> Sugarloaf is almost WNW of Newcastle, so if NX had zero signal in the
> direction of 160 - 220 degrees, parts of Newcastle & all of Lake Macquarie
> would have no NX FM reception.
> NX FM can be received in parts of Sydney, people have called in for on air
> competitions from as far south as Campbelltown, there is a 2kW community
> station in Wollongong on the same frequency that over powers NX in parts
of
> Sydney.
So it was a typo. Still, doesnt explain why I havent been able to ever pick
up NXFM in Sydney, while I have been able to pick up the others.
--
Paul