Is anyone going to listen to LPONS with Digital Radio?
Daeta
going to snuff out the analogue stuff?
As people migrate to Digital Television the Community TV Stations are
going to have a problem, until they get onto the digital signal..
Won't the same apply to Analogue Radio?
Daeta.
LBP
panasea that
some are hoping it will.
Remember, DAB is anti competative, it only allows for the
establishment and totally
blocks any new would be private broadcaster from getting a piece of
the action.
Anyway - Germany discovered almost no one was interested in DAB and
the dropped it
like a two ton bomb.
.
Until open access is allowed then digital radio doesn't win any major
points with me.
At least analog radio has spectrum put aside for LPONs, MF NAS, VHF
NAS, HF Domestic
as well as room for other analog radio catagories.
Seagull
>
> Remember, DAB is anti competative, it only allows for the
> establishment and totally blocks any new would be private
> broadcaster from getting a piece of the action.
This is not a fault with DAB+ radio, which has the ability to allow
more stations, not fewer.
Radio licences in Oz have been anti-competitive since the 1930s.
It's called regulation. It's the system that we've always had.
Melbourne's lively community TV station Channel 31 after a pretty good
"Fair Go Kev" campaign is getting government funding to go digital
next year.
Over time the better community radio stations will receive government
assistance to go digital as well. We are in the early days of a new
era. Rome wasn't built in a day.
LBP
Regulation is one thing - but supporting a cartel is another.
I agree and totally support a regulated radio space - and with that I
believe there should be
room for independent broadcasters including hobby entertainment radio.
DAB+ in itself is just dandy - it's the access to the independent
broadcaster that I find abhorrent.
Community Radio isn't my cup of tea - too political and too left for
my liking
and there's commercial radio that's too right for my liking as well.
What I want is space for the indy entertainment music and talk
stations to operate in.
The Philistine
"LBP" <privat...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:f239bad9-2325-4ccf...@z3g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
> Some how I don't think Digital Radio (DAB) is going to turn out the
> panasea that
> some are hoping it will.
>
> Remember, DAB is anti competative, it only allows for the
> establishment and totally
> blocks any new would be private broadcaster from getting a piece of
> the action.
>
> Anyway - Germany discovered almost no one was interested in DAB and
> the dropped it
> like a two ton bomb.
>
> Until open access is allowed then digital radio doesn't win any major
> points with me.
>
> At least analog radio has spectrum put aside for LPONs, MF NAS, VHF
> NAS, HF Domestic
> as well as room for other analog radio catagories.
I think DAB Radio will carve out it's niche in the Australia landscape and
remain a dynamic feature of it. I think it kills the notion of
narrowcasting because the diversification that it affords the commericals
and ABC is turning them from Broadcasters into narrowcasters virtually
overnight. You can even do temporary special events radio with DAB+ on a
citywide basis, which could be awesome.
I agree that DAB+ is a bit of cartel in its current structure and that
sucks. New players should be given access to the bandwidth in this spectrum
category. Of course, if Commercial Radio operators decide to co-opt another
service and slot it into their DAB+ stream - perhaps even a narrowcaster so
defined - then we could start to see some interesting things happening.
I am noticing an upswing in the sales of DAB+ radio units where I work. I
have even bought a tuner myself - go Kaiser Baas! I admit that it is quite
nice to have a nifty new radio in the house again, after I lost my Sangean
SW receiver a couple of year ago. I guess this surge in sales, and it's not
massive but it is noticeable, is partly due to the Xmas rush. But what
matters most to people who are looking at DAB is content and most people
buying DAB radios are avid AM listeners! This tells me that AM-band radio
is where the first shifts in the current structure of the industry will be
felt, unless ACMA allows a DRM standard for AM to be implemented. If there
is a trend emerging and it accelerates over the next few years, then I think
you could see a push for the switching off of commercial and AM radio in
metro areas in favour of DAB+ alternatives.
Which brings me back to professor Justin's comments about FM-RDS. IF
city-based LPONs operators (of which I am soon to be one) deploy RDS
technology, then they may start to capture new audience slices who are
migrating to DAB+, which automatically includes FM-RDS by default. And if
they capture new audience in metro areas, then ACMA may have to rethink
their planning, and hopefully they will plan to keep them.
I have some sympathy for Station X's propositions, but I think the cat is
out of the bag when it comes to free LPONs. ACMA has been charging wannabe
FM narrowcasters for the privilege (?) of owning a licence for a decade now
and it would be grossly unfair to those who have bought licences (some of
them through me) if they suddenly changed to the NZ LPFM model and made the
drop-through frequencies a free-for-all, with a planning model that included
a 'no networks' restriction.
The other aspect of the NZ model, as I understand it, is that you don't
have spacing limitations which should ensure interference free operations.
Wannabe operators have to basically squat on a frequency and then negotiate
with other operators using the same frequency to try and avoid interference.
SO if you are the first to squat on said frequency in a town, you
effectively have that for yourself. But a rival could then squat in the
same frequency 5 KM up the road and then what have you got? IN practice, I
figure that they come to agreements so as to avoid interference. Our system
is built to minimise this problem at the outset. And I am fairly certain
that the NZ system does not prevent networking of LPFM licences, and you
have tenure for as long as you hold onto your frequency with a 24/7
operation.
I actually think LPON FM will survive the 2013 deadline, but it is not as
certain as it may have been when the drop through provisions were last
renewed in 2003. If it does get renewed, then I suspect LPONs will still
cost money to acquire from ACMA, that networks will still be allowed, that
the exclusion zones around TV stations will be lifted, that some kind of
tenure will be created, and that the planning model will be changed slightly
so that ten watters will be slightly easier to get in rural areas, that the
development of DAB+ sector will mean that narrowcasting may be redefined out
of existence and that I will be back in business! But I think the sector
needs to show boldness and continue to expand if ACMA is going to be
convinced of the need to continue this third tier of Australia's broadcast
system.
Many people despise my efforts at buying and then selling LPONs. When I
tried to sell an LPON on eBay last year, the knives came out and even some
of my own mob thought I was the antichrist. I am aware that there are over
150 LPONs (about 20 of them mine) currently for sale on the open market -
that's close to 7% if the entire sector up for sale. One hopes that this is
not symptomatic of an emerging crisis of confidence brought about by the
looming deadline in 2013. This should not be allowed to dampen interest and
investment in LPONs because if the sector does expire, what then can smaller
independent and hobbyist operators turn to for an outlet for the creative
impulse through radio? VHF or MF NAS licences? I doubt that these will be
desireable as a replacement for LPFM, although they are not without merit
for narrowcasting. We should do our best to preserve that which we
currently have, and lobby for something incrementally better.
Keep investing in LPONs. Even the Kiwis have to spend a decent amount of
money setting up their stations, despite the fact that there are no
'licences' per say. No radio operation is truly FREE. You have to spend
money somewhere to get it up on the air and keep there.
BearCave
wrote:
> We should do our best to preserve that which we
> currently have, and lobby for something incrementally better.
That sums up what I'm been saying in just a few words (in regards to
what I wrote in another thread yesterday).
We're turning 1 year old today at Surf FM in Frankston and
Cranbourne. The best part of having been involved in Melbourne's
newest LPON network in the last 365 days has been to strive towards
getting above that hobby level of tinkering with radio broadcasting.
We've had just enough of a result to gain experience in assembling a
target market, a value proposition and a network - not just in terms
of an LPON network, but a supply chain to help us deliver a service.
Over the remaining certain 4 years that we have under the current
tenure, we'll be striving to do more each year to best preserve the
LPON way.
You don't have to have buckets of money to achieve this (not that we
don't wish to thrive), but a business mindset is required, even if the
outcome is that you still don't even come close to being a serious
competitor to the big commercial and non-commercial players (which is
not the purpose of open narrowcasting anyway).
Australia is a much bigger market than New Zealand and should continue
to allow a stream of radio stations that can network, that can profit,
that can build skills and ultimately develop innovative new business
models. At the same time, let's help LPON stations be change agents
of innovation by making incremental improvements to the LPON license
structure and the technology platform that allows them to be on air.
It's not an unreasonable request that LPON license conditions are
upgraded for the better as the rest of the industry upgrades to
Digital.
MF-NAS license holders also need to assert a position on where they
need to be by 2020. Starting with building on a little historical
perspective - that if a radio station like 3RPH in Melbourne was able
to transition from outside the broadcasting services band (from 1629
kHz to 1179 kHz in 1990), then it's not impossible for MF-NAS stations
to argue their case to be included in a revised broadcasting services
band that allocates expanded space for open narrowcasting.
Especially given that just as in the United Kingdom, Australia must
decide what it will do with its FM dial in the event that mainstream
analog services are switched off.
Using FM as a platform to solve important inequities caused by the DAB
+ multiplex structure is the most obvious use of FM. That's surely
why FM-RDS standard has been built into nearly every new Digital Radio
reciever.
I appreciate that a few of us here have differing ideas on models for
niche broadcasting, but whichever one you argue for, you need to be
asking the question "How do we get there from here?". The fact of the
matter is that these new radios selling at Dick Smith and other
specialty retailers have two modes - DAB+ and FM-RDS. That's the
future on the horizon that we have to contemplate and deal with.
...From Justin
Station X
Justin pull your head in. Enough with the FAILED business model
bleetings of Surf FM!
1 watt = fuck all distance physically covered period!!!!!!!!!!!!! That
means fuck all revenvue for even a seasoned commercial sales person.
That would even be leaving as i type!
Time to stop the false aspirations of the many who THINK they have a
commercial service and a license to print money! Time to stop pricks
from ripping others off with inflated opinions of their license value
(sorry phil).
Time to right the wrong from back in the begining that these were
really meant as talking billboards.
Time to bring the license value back to earth (sorry Phil & Mark)
Time to hit the reset button!
The idea was good back in the early 90's when the act was rejigged
from the dark ages of AM being the dominant medium. When the internet
was not even a blip on Tandy TRS80. When the closest thing to
automation was called FRED!
But not now! We are all over the buzz of micro broadcasting! Even the
public has the idea in their heads but has got the shits and gone back
to the majors they can hear all the way around town. Sorry FACT!! Ask
anyone that has tried to sell adds on a LPON.
Now we have this dibarkle of Lopns not getting a slot on the digital.
Well F##k me. Sorry ladies reset button time! Reboot it and let's
start again. I call it Hobby Radio for the want of a better name. But
I think it sums it right up. Doesn't mean you can't make a dollar! My
way removes the Narrowcast bullshit! Removes the dobbing others in
shit for not being on air! Removes the 2000 reserve fee IF you get it
at default price! Stuff a bidding war! 2000 is too much now!
Have any of you idiots even seen what ACMA is asking for an opinion
what category your service falls into? Try 13,500 bucks! F##k me! So
if you want to do the right thing it's really 15, 000 + to fire up a
service that might not fit fully the current guides to categorys.
Nop out of control it is - reboot time! Bring in the Kiwi idea!
Oh Phil - it's 20k mate not like the 10 here for the same channel! But
there is 5 channels to pick from mate. So where we have two 88's ten k
apart there's a 87.8 5k away or a 87.6 right on the same pole. Only
three options.
See if in NZ one dude was on 87.6 and you were on 88.4 you would be on
the same split as commercial services for the same area! Nice!!!
LBP
current situation with LPON's is not good.
Sure it's a lot better than nothing but it could do with a decent kick
in the pants.
I wanted an LPON for my area but Trycycle Pty Ltd (Kiss FM) have
snatched the middle channel 87.8
so no one can get 87.6 or 88.0 side channels (frequencies).
All these networkers are stopping individuals from getting their own
space on the band but then again that's the free market for you !
About DAB - in London the situation on FM is so bad with huge levels
of pirate radio activity that it's often impossible
for local Londoners to listen on FM to stations such as Radio Jackie
or LBC or the other stations -
so people like LBC are really promoting DAB to their listeners as a
better choice because it's a lot more reliable than London's FM band.
But we don't have these levels of PR activity on the broadcast bands
MF AM or VHF FM here in Aus
- actually I haven't heard a pirate station in years - I don't know if
there's any operating in our cities.
the man from havana
> For F##k sake. Would some one here spank me? Some sence from Phil but
> Justin pull your head in. Enough with the FAILED business model
> bleetings of Surf FM!
>
LOL !
Station X
There just isn't the audience reach for the same power. If I get my
way from 2013 there will be no need for them to even be pirates! See
it's a win all round. I love it when I'm so right!
BearCave
> For F##k sake. Would some one here spank me? Some sence from Phil but
> Justin pull your head in. Enough with the FAILED business model
> bleetings of Surf FM!
>
> 1 watt = fuck all distance physically covered period!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do everybody a favour and save the flaming stuff for our cross-posters
from aus.politics - we have enough of that already (at least if you're
reading through Google Groups.
Don't get me wrong - I prefer not to make much mention of my LPON
station anymore on this group. That's because most of the people in
here will insist on evading the pragmatic question "How do we get
there from here?". So much easier to do the flaming thing, combined
with declarations that what's needed is radical change (and all the
reset button concepts that go with that).
Even Phil would surely concede that the trading of LPONs for hundreds
or throusands of dollars does not compare with the trading of
commercial licences for millions of dollars.
And while the wheel reinventors contemplate that question they'll most
want to evade about their own alternative ideas - "How do we get
there from here?", there is a collection of LPON single site and
networked stations out there that have asked themselves the most
immediate question - "How do we make the most of what we've got?" -
and go about doing it by building skills and relationships instead of
thinking success or failure entirely depends upon the technology and
the regulation. That's now been my experience.
Enough said from me.
...From Justin
Seagull
> For F##k sake. Would some one here spank me? Some sence from Phil but
> Justin pull your head in. Enough with the FAILED business model
> bleetings of Surf FM!
>
> 1 watt = fuck all distance physically covered period!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm not so sure Station X.
While volunteering at 3GDR last week I actually joined in on a
listeners' studio tour very well handled by President Larry. He said
that GDR is currently broadcasting at the power of one 100 watt
lightbulb. My flabber had never been so ghasted.
Yet GDR has loyal listeners with decent reception from Pascoe Vale to
Rosebud.
Obviously having a wonderful technical staff of three competent
engineering volunteers helps. But it just goes to show what you can
do with 100 watts if things are done correctly.
As far as I understand, there will eventually be 5 DAB+ multiplexes
covering the greater Melbourne radio market. You'd like to think that
eventually 25% of each of these would be available to community
broadcasters to program into one fifth of the Melbourne market ...
probably much more. And hopefully some government financial
assistance will be available ... just as it has been with Melbourne's
Channel 31 going digital next year.
But Justin. No matter how poor or enthusiatic you are, I don't think
it's right for people to hold radio broadcasting licences for months
on end producing nothing but dead air. Radio is there to be heard.
I subscribe to the principle: Use it - or lose it.
Station X
can't be fucked with. Ever seen a flying seagull with one wing? Not
going to work is it?
The height advantage for FM only works because the visual horizon gets
further out from the TXer site. The laws of inverse squared still say
the signal will dissapear at the same rate. I've had this argument
several times with wankers that think the 1000 metre above sea level
mountain we have here called Springbrook is the place to be. Yeah you
will be heard far and wide! But it will be paper thin and the moment
you try to get coverage in an office block 45klms away your fucked!
Give me 100 watts from the Q1 here right in the middle of action!
Bottom line is 1 watt does what it does! Then it's not one watt then
is it? Bottom line is good coverage to average radios! Can't argue
with this man! Further to that 1 watt with all things working as they
should will only have a very limited commerical salability to them -
period! End of story!
The Philistine
"Station X" <ad...@stationx.com.au> wrote in message
news:7c2ef475-ffc2-4aaa...@k19g2000pro.googlegroups.com...
Truthfully, I actually like the NZ model for LPFM, so idealistically
speaking I'm with you on that Pete. And I can assure you that there are
more than a few ACMA frequency assigners who would love nothing more than to
be rid of the headaches associated with assessing LPON applications - many
of them mine for the past four years - every three months. LPONs in
Australia are already designated a class licence, but NZ has taken the idea
to a deeper level..
NZ has what they call the 'media commons' - a space on the radio spectrum
where anybody can have a go so to speak, without any significant regulation
of oversight or apparatus licencing . Lovely - a slice of spectrum at the
Top (>107 MHz) and bottom (<89 MHz) where everyone who wants to say
something on radio can do so in relative freedom for the cost of a one-watt
TMX and an antenna. Exactly what the hobbyist and activist (Green,
Christian, Muslim, Kalathumpian, Gay, Nazi, Raelian, conspiracist)
broadcaster would want. A 'little preacher' radio as they are sometimes
called in the USA.
If this is what we were to transform into post 2013, I would a) have to
change my (pretty ordinary) business model and b) have a lot more success in
getting stations for various charitable groups that sought my help in doing
so and don't have a lot of money to afford anything at the best of times.
As far as my opinion of licence value is concerned, I see myself as a
cheapskate. More often than not it is not me who has an inflated opinion of
the value of a licence. I only charge up to 40% more than cost price
(<$600) on a new licence because I think I deserve something for the effort
of actually getting the thing in the first place. Some owners think they
are sitting on a gold mine and some groups have gone belly up trying to buy
the best networks in the country. Some licences, like the one I got in
Auburn SA, are hardly worth the paper they're written on. Others have to
have more value by some measure because of the number of people that could
potentially reach with in a dense urban area. We humans tend to put a
dollar figure on that value, and I reckon it would be the same in
libertarian anarchist NZ as well.
The NZ model - which is what the LPON System was closer to for the first
decade of its existence in Australia (ie virtually free licences) - would
certainly kill off a lot of pointless speculative investment and price
rigging on false pretenses. An LPON 88 network (10 licences) across
Brisbane - What's it worth? Half a Million bucks? $100K? $10K? Nothing?
And what if you owned nearly every LPON in Adelaide and wanted to sell the
whole thing as one package, or perhaps split it up into common frequency
chains across the city? What - $300K? $30K? Nothing?
Believe it or not but these 'networks' are in fact for sale right now as we
debate on this forum, as well as a network across Geelong, a few 87.6s in
Melbourne, across north Tassie too. And since ANRA know about them, it is
virtually a matter of public record now, but I won't go into details! What
are they worth? Pete says they're worth nothing. (Actually, that probably
is a misrepresentation of what he really means because he knows from his
experience with station X that setting up a radio station that works, even
at low power, is no mean feat and COSTS something in terms of equipment and
labour and creative talent expenditure). Then why won't the owners give them
to me, because believe me I have already asked in a round about sort of way!
Well because to them the licences are worth something - quite a lot
actually - and with or without my help, the owners intend to get something
significant for them.
Even though NZ LPFM are free on startup, once established, these operations
can be sold as a commodity on the unregulated open market. I can assure
you, once a station has a presence on the dial and a following, it is no
longer worth nothing. I suppose an operator who wanted out could just shut
the station down and move on. This happens in NZ and it also happens here
in Australia all the time. LPONS and NAS licences are surrendered, and a
guy like me comes along, surveys and area, and says I'll have that newly
vacated frequency thank you very much. My Perth licence is a case in point.
I was a day away from writing a letter to a guy offering to buy his LPON,
and suddenly I learned he'd handed it back to ACMA. Bonza! I win!
Which brings me back to my point of an earlier posting. For ACMA to
revolutionise the LPON system and adopt the NZ model for LPFM would just be
unfair to all those who have paid money for their opportunity to use
spectrum for bonafide radio activities, commercial or otherwise. Our system
has gone too far in one direction to turn back now. Mind you, closing the
whole system down in 2013 would have the same or worse result, and for that
reason, despite the written statements in the regulations, I really don't
think ACMA can do it and hope to escape the wrath of the LPON operators
community.
I will admit that the category of service investigation fee is a scary
monster, very unjust, so I'll take my chances with my deliberately and
studiously narrow format, and fight like a scorpion if anyone sparks ACMA to
investigate. The fact is that people are making a tidy buck out of running
LPONs commercially. They usually stretch the definition of narrowcasting a
bit, but in most cases it is the network owner covering one or more regions
that can do more than break even, although I'm sure the margins are tight,
right Mark? Our system recognises that there is in broadcasting an impulse
to make money, and by allowing this to be possible, owners of LPONS can take
practical steps to try and make a quid. Or they can stay non-commercial,
which for certain types of radio is also a good thing.
Let's lobby ACMA to preserve and improve the LPFM system in Australia
between now and 2013, and to release more HPONs, and give NAS more bandwidth
and DRM. We could ask for more frequencies I suppose, but I kinda like the
simplicity and elegance of our system - 88 FM or below and you're in LPON
territory.
Here's a thought for the wannabe pirate operators - use a overclocked Belkin
IPOD transmitter or something similar (Low Interference Potential Device
[LIPD]) and broadcast to your heart's content whatever you like, complete
with a small antenna on your garage roof. Then stream on the net and
you'll be in hobbyists heaven, and I will dip my hat to ya. You might
manage an audience of a dozen people in your suburb or on your city block,
and what's wrong with that? You're a hobbyist. You care more about
experimenting with new toys (that usually cost money) and having fun on the
radio with me myself and I as your enthralled audience. This is what I used
to do with my camp radio experiments, until they graduated to 5 Watt special
Events Licences, although the basic running of these stations remains the
same.
In closing, answer this - why would commercial radio stations complain to
ACMA about misbehaving LPON users if the LPON was not in some way posing a
threat to their business by doing the wrong thing? It was commercial radio
more than any other element that led to LPONs being allocated a price tag by
ACMA, because the 'comrads' felt that if they had to pay through the nose
for their spectrum, then why shouldn't the punk with the LPON owner have to
pay for his? or hers?
Station X
liked by those thinking they were handed a commercial license for 30
bucks back in the early times.
I have no problem with paying fair price for the spectrum I use. But
based on what scale? Some silly dickhead in suit that was stupid
enough to pay 160 million for a Sydney wide commercial FM. Don't start
me on that the whole system there is shot too.
We have a chance to fix a few things from the ground up with digital
coming in and 2013 coming for Lpon's.
"Hobby Radio" needs to be recognised as a category by ACMA now. Swap
all LPON's to that. Even bring in NAS and Domestic SW as options too.
Treat them as training or experimental grounds! Because let's face it
after all is said and done they will have little commercial impact.
I do Station X as a hobby and make no missrepresentations about it's
limitations on the outlets I've got available to me. If ACMA did the
Kiwi thing tomorrow I'd be switching the 1 watter on in the garage in
minutes.
On the price thing. ABA bullshit now spills over into the comms world
thanks to ACA and ABA becoming ACMA! Overnight the bullshit thinking
raised comms repeater fees 90% - no shit! Nope sorry mate time to fix
a few things. I'm starting with Lpon's! That's the bee in my bonnet at
present!
Seagull
> I think it's time to pop the balloon Phil.
Seagull is flying blind. The smog is bad up here.
Not for the first time, I'll be the bunny.
Would one of you LPON "hobbyists" please advise the rest of us non-
technical plebs here as to what is an LPON's station's "reason for
being".
What makes it different to a local community station?
And please don't take this request as trite. I reckon that I'm in the
majority on this list. I don't know enough about LPON stations ...
and I think I'm safe in saying that the majority here don't know
enough about them either.
Please explain ...
LBP
Radio seems to be run by committee -
usually too many people trying to be boss - a little bit of this and a
little bit of that.
And boy oh boy, community radio can be a mean and nasty beast with
power struggles and internal political
infighting.
I don't like the whole "run by committee" thing.
To me an LPON is independent of that constraint - it is run by an
individual visionary - someone passionate about radio
that has an ambition to do something their own way without committees
and groups getting in the way.
LPON's are best when they're vanity stations.
Community Radio is a different thing all together in my books.
LBP
Individuals should be able to have some space to run their own vanity
broadcast stations
even if it is only half a watt !!
By the way Pete/Station X can you expand on the repeater fee increase
-
I seem to remember you had a UHF 476/477 MHz repeater at one stage ..
am I right .. it was a while ago
when I saw it on the ACMA site.
Station X
silliness of ABA attitude being brought over to ACA and now being
called ACMA.
License fees went up over night!
Glenn Hampson
"Seagull" <ian.da...@bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:4a0e6b71-036e-4a59...@13g2000prl.googlegroups.com...
Further to the use it or lose it principle prove you have an audience,a
sustainable business plan,sound technical capabilities and a way of
sustaining such a station without merely choking up the airwaves.
Those that can good and well those that cant should lose their licence.
Such a licence shouldnt be for just sitting on or to periodically throw out
some mixed music and a few ID's
G
LBP
Radio stations except the
content is more "entertainment" and the transmitter is in permanent
"key on" mode.
You don't tell an Amateur Radio station they have to have a business
plan or they must have an audience
and really you don't tell an Amateur Station they must use it or
they'll lose it.
However, AR is a bit different in that the Amateur bands & frequencies
are shared between all the AR stations
and no one Amateur station has sole use of a particular channel
whereas NAS and LPONs do have sole use in their
service areas and of course that's a big difference.
My pet annoyance is with license banking or license sitting - whether
it be MF NAS, HF Domestic or LPON.
If you're doing nothing with this valuable resource then why not free
it up so someone else you can do something with it.
If you have a plan and are working towards doing something with your
currently unused license then it's fair enough that you should have
time to get it all up and working.
(but not forever..).
But if you're just sitting on the license and basically have it so no
one else can have it then that's unfortunate.
HF Domestic broadcasting has been a near total failure .. (did anyone
read the ACMA report) all these people with licenses and nothing is
going out over the air ..
where's the diversity and choice for the listener. Now I did read the
other day that Radio Symban were transmitting on 2368.5 KHz AM (126
metres) -
but I tried over several nights to hear them and alas .. nothing.
Maybe they're running very low power into an inefficient antenna I
really don't know.
Personally I would have thought that with night time MF propagation I
would have been able to receive them here in Melbourne.
Another option that may be worth considering is licensing several
stations within the one service area to the same frequency -
Different stations can share the one frequency each using it at
designated times or by some formal arrangement -
and I am sure this would act as a motivator to the dormant license
holders into activating their stations.
Station X
Radio Symban is on the air mate. Only 100 watts at this minute. Still
ironing out the bugs. I have had a little talk to the boys there.
Apparently a recording studio is having troubles with RF overload 1km
away.
All siad it romps in here at night. Even now!
The aerial is setup for traditional vertical over earth mat operation.
Thus favouring max groundwave locally. It's not set up for NVIS or
anything to maximise night time skywave.
Jacket
Yep - completely different. Community radio is more about people being
involved in getting something to air - especially non-profitable
things that would otherwise be ignored.
LPONS - hard to figure out just what the real intention of the ACMA is
for 10 watters. 1 Watt is just hobby I'd suppose.
Jack@!
Seagull
Sorry Daeta (who created this thread ... and a very good one).
I've created a new one specifically about LPONs.
Let's move there.
I don't think the current discussion has anything to do with digital
radio.
And us plebs need to understand what LPONs are.
Check out: LPON stations explained! ... for the average radio
listener