Better reception for Perth’s community radio stations

Listeners will now have better reception for three Perth community radio stations after various transmitter changes were granted by ACMA. Nova also scored a change to its technical specs, validating some improvements made at its transmission site, but 6PR, which also requested upgrades to transmission to fill various black spots, will have to wait for a while longer while the regulator continues to consider its requests.

The changes affect newly licenced indigenous station 6NME, and also allow slight variations for 6SON, 6RTR and 6PER.

6NME, Noongar Indigenous Radio

ACMA has allowed changes to the technical specifications of community radio broadcasting service 6NME after considering a request by the licensee, Peedac Pty Ltd (PPL), for a change in their nominal transmitter site location. PPL advised that they have been given an opportunity to share the TVW7 mast site with TX Australia at Bickley, with consequent savings of time and money, thereby making PPL a more viable broadcast provider. As a consequence of this, the antenna height will increase substantially and there will be a slight change to the radiation pattern.

Perth’s new Noongar Radio station 6NME 100.9fm officially launched earlier this month after an earlier community licence was forfeited following format complaints.

100.9fm Noongar Radio is operated by Noongar Media Enterprises, a company run by an all-Indigenous Board of Directors. It receives funding from the Commonwealth Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.

Christian Radio 6SON

Changes to the technical specifications of community FM radio service 6SON have been approved after considering a request by the licensee, Good News Broadcasters Inc. It had informed the ACMA of its need to replace its existing 95 m antenna tower (as it is over 20 years old) and that the technical specification be changed to allow for a new antenna tower to stand at 116 m.

Youth Radio 6RTR

ACMA has also approved changes the technical specifications of community broadcaster 6RTR following a request by the licensee, Arts Radio for a change in their antenna height from 95 m to 116 m and to also share the Good News Broadcaster Inc. transmission site.

Nova 93.7 (6PER)

Changes the technical specifications of commercial radio broadcaster 6PER have also been granted. This allows for the service to transmit from an alternative location at New 10 Tower Welshpool Road, Carmel.

Although the specified antenna height of the service increased from 105 m to 128 m, it resulted in an overall reduction in the effective antenna height because of the lower elevation of the new site (295 m as opposed to 340 m). The licensed service is therefore within the performance envelope of the previous licence area plan technical specification and the licence area plan has been varied to modify the technical specification to align with the actual installation of the service.