The FM spectrum was shared with TV channels 3, 4 and 5. Channel 3 and 4 use to be used by ABC TV in Ballarat and Traralgon and have since been moved to UHF thus releasing space for radio stations.

I have an interest in long distance FM station reception. Back in the 1990s it was easier to receive non Melbourne stations as the spectrum was not flooded with local stations. In the 2000s the band has many more narrow cast community stations that are located closely to each other.

During the 1990s the federal government allowed a large number of narrow cast test stations to use the FM band. A small number of these stations are now allocated on the Melbourne air waves. Test stations not heard today include Hitz FM, Kix FM, Street FM, Melbourne Gospel Radio and Monash University Student Radio.

Many of these test stations were on air for 1 to 4 weeks at a time. The frequencies of 89.9, 90.7 and 91.5 were heavily used for test transmissions. These frequencies overlapped with ABC TV 3 in Ballarat and only had low powered tests. These frequencies now allow permanent full strength stations.

Place your mouse over a hot spot to show the name of that station. Click a hot spot to see more details on that station.

Shortwave Radio

For over 20 years, I have listened to Shortwave Radio. I currently use a Sangean ATS-818 receiver to listen to international broadcasts. My first shortwave radio is a Voxson VP-2 that I purchased during the 1980s from a retail store at Southand shopping centre.

During the 1980s it was exciting to listen to the BBC and VOA broadcasts with overseas news and experience non Australian culture. I was fascinated to listen to international christian news from HCJB in Ecuador South America. This was before HCJB ran its Australasian service from offices here in Melbourne. Well before Rhema FM and Light FM were here in southern Victoria I could listen to christian radio on shortwave. I listened to both HCJB and WHR in the evenings.

HCJB Australia http://www.hcjb.org/ World Harvest Radio International http://www.whri.com/ Trans World Radio http://www.twr.org/ CVC Australia http://www.cvc.tv/ BBC World Service http://www.bbcworld.com/ Radio New Zealand International http://www.rnzi.com/ Radio China International http://www.crienglish.com/ Radio Japan http://www.nhk.or.jp/english/ Voice of America http://www.voanews.com/ Radio Australia http://www.abc.net.au/ra/
Pacific Region English Shortwave Stations.

Analogue TV

I have interest in the long distance reception of tv transmissions.

I erected aerials at our home in Royal Melbourne Golf Club during the mid 1980s. I have used these to receive local ABC and Network Ten transmissions during golf tournaments. This included mobile TV vans and an internal score board.

I was able to receive ABC TV on channel 4 from Gippsland and watched test match cricket on the regional ABC TV station. The ABC is a government network that did not have commercial breaks. During the 1980's test cricket was transmitted in regional Australia on the ABC. Unlike the city that watched all cricket transmissions via the commercial 9 network.

During atmospheric skip conditions I have received TV stations from: Shepparton, Taralgon, Ballarat, Bendigo and Mount Gambier

Before the nationalisation of the Australian Television industry. I use to enjoy watching channel 6 Ballarat and channel 8 Bendigo during atmospheric skip. These were independent country networks with some unique programming. Most of Australian TV is now repeated from Sydney. This excludes local news services and current affairs.

During the late 1980's, I lived with my parents on the Mornington Peninsula and erected Deep fringe UHF aerials to receive VK3RTV. This is an amateur television station on Mount Dandenong that use to transmit at 10 watts ERP on UHF channel 35 but now transmits on channel 16.

Shown above is my 18 element UHF band 4 fringe aerial (on top), old dual band VHF 1 & 3 and a tri band standard tv aerial for VHF 1 & 3 and UHF 4 (with orange fixtures).Not shown was my gold 96 element deep fringe UHF 4 & 5 aerial that I used to receive Bendigo TV from almost 200 kms away from Mt Alexander in central Victoria.

When the extra country tv stations were introduced back in the 1990's. My reception of VK3RTV was slightly effected. At this time VK3RTV transmitted between channel 35 & 36, the new Bendigo channel 35 VIC TV (now Win TV) made things a little difficult. I used the 18 element UHF aerial with a UHF -> VHF down converter to convert channel 35.5 to channel 4. My 96 element UHF aerial was connected to the main pre-amplifier and received Bendigo channels 29, 32 & 35. This allowed reception of both services.

While the new country Analog TV networks were being installed I received many test patterns from around Victoria on my tv in Rye. This included clear transmissions from Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton. I assume these TV stations disappeared because their spectrum transmission footprints were established.

Before MCT 31 was given a long term license, I received SKA TV from St. Kilda on channel 31.

In total, the stations I could receive were:
Melbourne: 2, 7, 9, 10, 28, 31, 35
Bendigo: 29, 32, 35.
Arthurs Seat: 58, 61.

I had line of sight to Arthurs Seat from my parents home on the Mornington Peninsula.

If I pointed my 96 element UHF 4 & 5 aerial towards Melbourne, with it connected to the masthead pre-amplifier, I received lots of duplicate channels from the different repeaters around the greater Melbourne area.

Here is a listing of the Melbourne and Bendigo Analog TV services in 2003. Note that Bendigo now has channel 38.

I have received many country television stations from almost 200kms away using deep fringe UHF aerials and a masthead pre-amplifier.

During atmospheric skip I have received direct television services from King Island and Launceston. During unusual skip conditions I have received Channel 0 from Toowoomba Queensland and TV ONE from New Zealand. New Zealand channel 1 is between Australian channels 0 and 1. During this skip event, that occurred in the evening before 10pm, I watched TV ONE close for the day. An analogue clock with the time of midnight was transmitted by TV ONE.

With the introduction of digital tv services accross Australia my hobby of long distance tv reception is coming to a close. The new digital tv signals give sharp dvd quality picture at the cost of not being receivable outside reasonable signal strength range. The signal attenuates from good to unwatchable with a very rapid distinction.

TeleText

Back in 1986 I purchased the DSE Teletext kit. I successfully assembled it and used it to decode the 7-Text (now AusText) service on Channel 7.

Teletext is a digital service that is transmitted inside the unused space of the vertical blanking area of analogue TV pictures. In recent times a backward compatible service is transmitted inside newer digital tv services.

Shown above is the teletext hardware that I assembled. The main components of the system are teletext PCB, RF modulator to output on channel 0, television tuner to receive VHF and UHF tv stations, two mains power transformers for 240 volts and the infra-red remote control receiver. The chassis is made of a metal alloy and has mounting holes for components, infra red diode and cables.

I have some interference problems with the circuit that I never repaired. I upgraded the unit with the IR-Remote kit and the additional tuner module. Alas, while testing the turner unit I accidentally shorted a pin and smoked the tuner and have never replaced it since.

Shown above is Channel 7 page 121. This is a news item page for the Australian Open Golf at Royal Melbourne Golf Club on Sunday 27th November 1987. An advertisement for the Sun newspaper is found at the bottom and contains a blinking red icon.

A teletext page is made up of 40 x 25 characters. It may contain simple block like graphics. Pages are in groups of 100 starting with 100 thru to 899. Pages may have a subpage id within a time format for changing pages. Teletext remotes have a reveal function to reveal text marked as initially hidden.

Before the new digital tv services commenced in 2001, ABC and Channel 10 had test teletext services here in Melbourne. At the time of digital tv introduction these services were discontinued.

Teletext has not taken off here in Australia however it serves one important service. The ABC, Channel 7, Channel 9, Channel 10 and SBS all transmit teletext subtitles for programming. With a teletext receiver set to page 801 on these channels you will receive overlay subtitles for hearing impaired viewers. This remains to be the main benefit of teletext here in Australia.

Update September 2009

The AUSTEXT service was discontinued on September 30 2009. Before it was turned off I captured a video of the closing pages using my DVB-T Set-Top-Box.

Amateur Radio

My uncle Bob Smith is a silent key. I have one of his QSL cards

Melbourne Digital Amateur Television

My professional web site has further details of my reception of VK3RTV the Melbourne Digital Amateur Television Repeater.
http://www.rocode.com/amateurradio/.

VK3KHB has a regular program on air of a Friday night around 9pm. The weekly WIA news is also played on air of a Sunday morning with a repeat Wednesday night.

NASA Suit Sat Event

I am interested in the NASA Suit Sat Amateur Radio event during February 2006. I watched the live space walk on NASA TV where McArthur and Tokarev deployed their old Russian space suit.

Digital TV

DVB-T Reception in Melbourne

I have a Freeview certified Set Top Box to receive digital TV here in Melbourne. I use antenna splitters and RG6 wiring for optimal reception of the Mt. Dandenong transmitters.

My professional web site has details of receiving Freeview in Melbourne using a Mythbuntu Linux computer.
http://www.rocode.com/asrock/.

Sky Wave Reception of Gippsland

This video shows sky wave reception of Gippsland Digital TV received in Melbourne on February 8 2010. The main Gippsland channels are 5, 6 and 8.