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It is great to see this co-operation to keep the public informed.
The ABC local radio on that site is on FM, however in Bega it is AM.
AM radios which are not in cars are becoming hard to find.
There was also failures of fixed wireless NBN and mobile phones. Along with FM transmitters they are all located at the highest altitude in the area to maximise coverage area, but because hot air rises they are a target for fires along with the power line supplying the site.
Remember also that the spread of smart speakers will also stop working because there is no internet to supply the signal.
The advantage of radio is that virtually all vehicles have them, along with a large capacity battery as compared to mobile phones.
The ABC should stop advertising to use facebook and the emergency services websites which are not accessible in fires and cyclones.
Country broadcasters should consider converting to DRM so that their signal will cover large areas and has an emergency warning system. It wakes up the radio, increases the volume and announces the message even if the radio is tuned to another program. It will also show a map of the affected area and an indexed multipage text instructions using Journaline and even for cars the TPEG to reprogram GPS around blocked roads. The disaster area can be defined and only radios within that area will respond to the EWS messages. In city areas, the existing DAB+ transmissions can include the EWS messages etc.
I fully concur with StJohn.
I would like to make a few remarks.
On communicating using IP. I fully agree that communications relying on smart-speakers, web browsing and the use of social media may not work if the internet is not-functioning or not available. This includes landline services relying on the NBN in which the NBN's communications system relies on IP communication. Yes, your landline phone may well rely on an IP-based communications in between source and destination.
I fully agree that if if IP networks are down especially mobile phone networks carrying IP communication that it is totally useless for the ABC radio station to refer to those users. Therefore the ABC should read the information over-the-air that is on the social media platforms and not 'fob' off people to social media. This is especially for those not receiving IP through the landline via the NBN and through mobile networks carrying IP. Let's not forget the elderly and disabled or those who may not be computer literate.
Importantly to consider is whether the link between the tx site and studio is IP based, the radio station may well be out-of-order if the local area's IP system is out-of-order. Perhaps consider using a satellite link between studio and tx site.
On DRM. I have been reading StJohn's mission to converting all radio stations to DRM on this webpage and I have seen his submission to the ACMA. We await the results of the ACMA's determination on all the submissions.
We know the advantages of DRM having wider territorial coverage, reducing power consumption as compared to AM especially and FM transmissions.
The further advantage of DRM is to be able to send textual information and HTML-type/style formatted text for graphical display on a DRM receiver. StJohn's reply mentions a feature of DRM to communicate with GPS units in cars.
Updating the car's GPS system with information on road blockages may well be a boon to drivers wanting to know how to manage their journey.
The important word is 'updating'. I presume there is a person handling information on road blockages at the radio station to update the DRM-GPS information when roads are clear to drive.
Country broadcasters should consider using DRM. I agree with StJohn and an engineer from a rural radio station who wrote to this webpage regarding implementing DRM.
However, there are little or no DRM receivers. AM radio stations have been converting to FM not DRM because AM/FM receivers are ubiquitous. Even relay stations of the 'founding' AM stations are FM. Not DRM. I doubt that with 2XL's recent conversion from AM (918kHz) to FM (96.1MHz) the local electrical store is selling DRM receivers.
Note: I did check a well known national brand of electrical retailer in the Cooma area and all receivers were AM/FM, not DRM as at 9-01-2020.
When digital TV was mandated in 1998 and implemented in 2001 (NB I have written about this elsewhere on this webpage), there was to be a simulcast of the new digital service and old analogue service for a few years until a certain analogue service cutoff date.
Consequently the same simulcast of digital and analogue signals for radio broadcasting could be mandated with a complete switch off analogue.
But we await the decision of the ACMA in light of the submissions in regards the future use of the broadcast spectrum in the MW, SW and VHF bands.
Thank you,
Anthony of exciting Belfield
No doubt, DRM is the practical way of he future for regional radio. In the mean time and reference the lack of AM radios these days, I was in the Aussie Storm Shop in Beaudesert Q, this week. They have these beaut AM/FM small, easily carried radios, canary yellow, so you should't misplace them. They have battery power, solar panels and a winder on the back which drives an internal generator (similar to the ones designed for African countries where many areas do not have mains power). They are <50 bucks!
The media has not done a good job of describing what happened in Moruya. The MT WANDERA site is typical in country areas. This means that to get the maximum coverage area with a minimum of black spots, the highest location is used.
At Mt Wandera there are the following;
ABC local radio transmitter
Radio National transmitter
NewsRadio transmitter
ABC Classics transmitter
2 Commercial transmitters
5 TV transmitters
Fixed Wireless NBN transceivers (not the fibre optic cable to the user)
mobile phone transceivers.
Since hot air rises the fires will burn up to these peaks. Commonly the power line is burnt down. Access is not always possible to bring generators and fuel, when this communications is needed most. Thus no communications.
The high altitude sites mention above also applies to cyclones as well, where towers are also blown down.
The NBN’s suggestion to keep fixed phone lines going is not in Telstra’s interest as it will rarely get any money for any phone calls let alone paying linesmen’s and technicians wages.
The NBN’s bandaid of using Skymuster to Wifi in townsites does not help those in danger.
The solution is to install a high powered high frequency Digital Radio Mondiale transmitter in the centre of Australia. There is only low scrub and it is distant from any military threat. This transmitter can cover the whole of Australia
DRM has an emergency warning system which will wake the radio and tune the radio to the emergency broadcast. The volume is increased for a voice message, but it can also use Jounaline to give detailed indexed instructions on what to do and show maps of the affected area. It can also transmit the latitude and longitudes of the corners of the emergency, so only radios in the affected area will switch.
This solution needs DRM receivers. To make the purchase of radios attractive, the 400,000 Australians cannot hear any radio whilst mobile in cars, trucks and boats, can listen to ABC Newsradio and Grandstand live. For regional Australia DRM using the vacated analog TV channels 0 – 2 can transmit all of the channels available to Capital city residents. In addition commercial radio can drastically reduce their transmission costs.
I made a submission to the ACMA’s “The future of Australian Radio Delivery” in June last year and they are in https://www.acma.gov.au/consultations/2019-08/future-delivery-radio-services-australia-consultation-132019 IFC13/2019 Submission 4. Please read both of my submissions. These submissions give much more detail including reduce he huge unnecessary electrical consumption.
I must give credit to Grant Broadcasters for keeping their services on air during the emergency. Very well done, obviously they have made significant investments in redundancy and backup systems. AM and FM radio is the best way to go in an emergency. It's best kept the role of the broadcasters to interrupt their programming with emergency information in situations like the bushfires. They're smarter than technology. I think the last AM / FM portable radio I bought cost me $12 from K Mart about 18 months ago.
Where an ABC local AM transmitter is taken out by natural disaster they should have the ability to quickly switch local radio programming onto an alternate frequency such as one used by Classic FM. AM and FM transmitters are rarely colocated.