Surf Net Victoria

09/02/2024

Jase & Lauren have literally KIISSED their old station goodbye, but instead of being on the sidelines, they're going head to head with their replacements Kyle and Jackie O

Jase and Lauren will be on Nova 100 breakfast in Melbourne. In all of the reports, a date was never revealed, but you'd assume it's very soon

The previous breakfast crew of Ben, Liam and Belle will host a new national show weeknights from 6pm to 8pm, in what is labelled as "Late Drive" timeslot

07/02/2024

Here's something you can try from anywhere in the world

http://sdr-amradioantennas.com:8075

It's a radio you can control online, theoretically, you can listen to anything that is receivable from a location in Melbourne

For example: Let's say you want to listen to 3GL, but they aren't streaming online. Select band MW and type in 1341 on the box next to it and that's it

On the PC, the box is on the bottom right of your screen
On the phone, it's front and centre

Keep in mind, AM reception at night has a lot of interference from other stations, but daytime listening is very adequate for a few distant stations like 3GG, 3CS and Gold 1071

There's also LW and SW bands to explore. Enjoy

12/01/2024

Just to let you all know, our monthly newsletter "Surf Vic Radio" Issue 253 was sent out 2 days ago

However, some of you have not have received this newsletter for a very good reason.

We recently upgraded to Windows 11 and the computer dude only somehow backed up 90% of contacts. We have noticed that some of the email addresses are missing from our system when importing them into the new email program on this machine.

Furthermore, we've noticed that after sending the recent newsletter, that some addresses came back as not being valid, I'm assuming we've somehow got your old addresses again instead of the new ones (I've got no idea how the computer dude did it, as I always replace the old addresses with the new ones that you guys tell us to replace)

For this reason, we have advised in our latest email, that if someone, and all it takes is just ONE person, to send a previous email they've received from us, then we can have a complete address book again

From our observations, we're missing about 4 contacts, plus 2 contacts need to be reupdated again

Also, if you want to be on our newsletter list, please let us know by messaging this page. In the past we have tried to reach out to people to revolve their invalid email addresses without any reply, those people have simply been removed.

If you've changed your address recently, and didn't get the November or December editions, let us know

10/01/2024

Quick 3GL update

https://3gl.com.au - Registered to Geelong Broadcasters 5 days ago. It only contains a "Coming Soon" and reception email address at the moment

Some are guessing it'll launch next Monday, 15th of January. We haven't heard anything being advertised yet, but if they were going to launch, we're sure they'd be saying something on air

Plus, we've heard they're using some LPON licences around the area, 87.6 in Leopold, Geelong and perhaps a few other places

Here's an idea, for the licences on 88.0 at the MCG and Marvel Stadium that usually relay K-Rock on AFL days (when K-Rock is calling the game) - The transmitter is usually turned off otherwise, Why not relay 3GL until it's game day. That'd make use of the licences for 99% of the year, instead of just AFL games

08/01/2024

We've heard news today of the evacuation orders for both Seymour and Yea

Please keep in mind, despite what you may read and hear "on the street" the official broadcasters FOR THESE AREAS are

ABC Melbourne 774 AM and ABC Goulburn Murray 97.7 FM

The signal from 91.1 FM for Bendigo will only offer emergency advice for the Bendigo area, Say the Cricket is on, 91.1 will continue with the Cricket while both 774 and 97.7 will have the emergency information relevant for that area (which is Seymour and Yea). That's how it works

But if you want Bendigo alerts, sure, tune into 91.1 instead

Seymour Region Community Notice Board - Seymour Victoria - Yea, Victoria - Kerrisdale, Victoria, Australia

07/01/2024

Much to our amazement, Vision Christian Radio has appeared on Digital Radio in Melbourne at 64kbps

That's a station that holds the licences of 1611 in the Western suburbs and 1665 in the Eastern suburbs

Who's multiplex are they leasing off? 202.928 is also where SEN are located, but is it their space being used?

02/01/2024

THINGS WE'D LIKE TO SEE IN 2024 - Part 4

There are many MF-NAS stations that are not on air, either for one reason or another, sure there's a few that are broadcasting a service, but what about those who are essentially hoarding their licence?

There's a "Use it or lose it" rule for LPON's on the FM band but no such thing exists for MF-NAS stations on the AM band

The ACMA has explained that they can contact the licence owner but they have no obligation to turn on their transmitter to provide a service, which we find strange, after all its a radio licence, why wouldn't they be obliged to provide something?

We'd like to see the licences that are unused, to provide a service. In the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne we are very aware of the inactivity of 1620 AM from Bayswater and 1647 AM from Wheelers Hill, these are just two examples of many across the state

What do the owners do? They simply renew the licence each year, after all its not that much to renew and keep the licence for when someone approaches them to lease it out, right?

The licence in Bayswater has previously been used for GB Radio which was also known as Hillside Radio, owned and run by a couple of UK expats who were recording and airing radio stations content from the UK into Melbourne, but delayed due to the Australian regulation that timecalls had to be correct, so a live broadcast wasn't possible

Recordings from the overnight shift would be heard during our afternoon, as the presenter simply said "it's 5 past 4" which ticks the Australian box perfectly fine

Later, that licence would be contested by Radio 2, who had 1611 in Sydney and were looking at expanding their network into Melbourne, a court ruled that Radio 2 had sufficient evidence to obtain the licence from GB Radio (you can look up those articles online) which basically reduced them to only their LPON licences of 88.0 in Bayswater and 87.6 in Mitcham

Not long afterwards, they were calling themselves "Way Go Radio" apparently asking presenters to pay $50 to be on air. Understandably the station faded away from the FM band

Meanwhile on 1620 AM, Radio 2 vanished after awhile, and the leasing process began, Radio Nostalgia and 3CW were two notable stations heard in recent times, both of which have vanished, so the licence is unused today

Meanwhile at 1647 AM, we've never heard a signal at all from its existence of being owned

We know there's plenty more stories out there, but we'd like to get a call out to anyone who'd like to get these licences on air, maybe even take ownership of them

What do you reckon? Did we miss anything? Let us know, we'll do more Things we'd like to see soon

31/12/2023

THINGS WE'D LIKE TO SEE IN 2024 - Part 3

We're back with the LPON licences again, but this time in the leafy eastern suburbs of Melbourne where two licences were recently surrendered during an ACMA audit

There used to be a licence on 87.6 in Mitcham and one on 88.0 in Bayswater, owned by a lady who's contact details were listed as being in the suburbs of London in England

In what was a strange situation, it was found on a map that Mitcham and Bayswater were also close to their England address listing. Coincidence? But that's beside the point

The licences here in Melbourne were not on air, and haven't been for over a decade or even more. And now they sit unusued, without an owner

Here's a picture of what we are proposing for the local area. The outer area licences are listed with a 5km radius while the new licences we are proposing are indicated with a 10km radius, this is to indicate that transmitter sites can not overlap inside that 10kms from other services on that exact same frequency. No transmitter is overlapping on this diagram, only signal radius

We are proposing, to whoever wants to obtain these licences, that you might want to consider moving them around a bit. After all, the Yarra Glen 88.0 licence was moved to Christmas Hills, which means Mooroolbark can no longer have a local 88.0 licence due to being inside that 10kms range

Let's say the Mitcham 87.6 service was moved to a place like Croydon Hills, this would mean an extra service on 88.0 can be made available, as it's adequately spaced geographically away from Christmas Hills and Doncaster

At the same time, Bayswater's 88.0 would need to move south, to be out of the way of the new proposed Croydon Hills service, maybe relocated to Ferntree Gully, which gives them the opportunity to add an extra licence as well, being on 87.6. It seems there's no other services out that way in the surrounding suburbs either

One thing to factor into all of this, there's an LPON service on 87.8 broadcasting from the Sky High Restaurant on Mount Dandenong, it's a Kiss FM relay, and it covers a lot of kilometres from Blackburn to Yarra Glen (as an indication) due to it's elevation

So, who's up for a challenge to take on these licences? We've noted there's a few Faith FM relays around, and Middle Eastern Radio is sometimes heard in the distance. We don't think Vision Christian Radio would take these on, since they're already broadcasting from Vermont South on 1665 AM

Maybe Smooth Jazz? Country? What could fit in that isn't covered by commercial stations? Maybe 3GL's example of playing 60's music is a viable option?

What do you think? Is it worth activating these licences and moving them around? Did we miss anything? Maybe we got something wrong? Let us know

There's more "Things we'd like to see in 2024" to come

30/12/2023

We don't want to cause a disturbance, but 3GL has been back on air since yesterday

Happy New Year, Geelongsters 😎

29/12/2023

THINGS WE'D LIKE TO SEE IN 2024 - PART 2

We did some thinking on this one, and reckon the lovely towns of Walhalla and Rawson and Erica News would be interested in this, if they knew about it. But let's put this proposal out there, so they are aware

In case you're not aware, there are many towns and regional cities that use the 87.6 to 88.0 FM range for Low Powered Open Narrowcasting (LPON) stations. This first picture shows that there are only two LPONs in the area, both located on Mt. Baw Baw

Both licences are owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, usually a service named Faith FM is heard under their ownership. They currently hold 87.6 FM and 88.0 FM

However, the reception of those licences can only go so far, they are limited to 1 watt, usually coverage is pretty good for 5kms radius and another transmitter can't be on the same frequency inside a 10km radius

Looking at how far away Rawson is, we have a proposal, for anyone who wants to obtain an LPON licence (87.6, 87.8 or 88.0), keeping in mind regional licences only cost $290 to obtain, then there's a renewal fee each year of approx around $50

We've noticed the 5km radius from Rawson includes Erica, Amor and Walhalla, we've included a second picture, keeping in mind that 5kms is the best reception before the signal starts to fade. Having said that, We're astonished that this vibrant tourist area has absolutely no licences allocated at all. A great golden chance for anyone who is thinking of branching out, maybe UCB's Vision Christian Radio or ARN's KIX Country might like to look at these

But we reckon a useful service for these towns would be a Tourist Information Station, just like the old days. Unfortunately, many (if not all) have closed down in Victoria, but we remember the content including community announcements, local advisories, traffic conditions, weather forecasts, warnings and even what's on TV that night

How about when the Train leaves Walhalla station or the Mine Tours? Or maybe some special events happening in Erica and Rawson? All possible suggestions

Many local Tourist Information stations were owned by the local council, sadly in recent times, local councils have been abandoning their licences, leaving them off air and in some cases, selling the licence

What do you think? Is it worth getting the councils to have a look into this? Did we get it right? Anything we missed? Criticisms? Let us know

More to come in the "Things we'd like to see happen in 2024" series

27/12/2023

The annual New Years Eve station in Melbourne's CBD on 99.7 FM is on air
They're advertising this website for more details on the events held in the city: https://nye.melbourne.vic.gov.au

Dinners, parties and fireworks…there are many ways to celebrate Melbourne New Year's Eve 2023 in the city

27/12/2023

THINGS WE'D LIKE TO SEE IN 2024 - PART 1

We've touched on the surface of 531 3GG's conversion from AM to FM, it was only earlier this year that the ACMA opened up conversions for regional areas where companies only own 1 commercial station, competing against another company in that same region, previously conversions from AM to FM were only open to areas where a company owns both stations, in the usual case, one is on AM and the other is already on FM

For 3GG, they are owned by the Capital Radio Network, the only station that they own in Victoria. The FM station in the area is owned by Southern Cross Austereo, that's Triple M on 94.3 for the Latrobe Valley with a relay on 97.9 in Traralgon

Finally, the gate is open from the ACMA for 3GG to move to FM, but could they? Was there enough room to do so? Hopefully this lengthy piece can be of interest as we go through what we think could work as possible proposals

Since 3GG were contacted by us in December 2022, and they actually HAVEN'T responded, we're putting these suggestions on the public record instead

We saw some rather interesting wording in the ACMA documentation earlier this year, where it stated that if a reserved ABC licence hadn't been activated yet, it can be negotiated to be reassigned, in order for the AM station to move to FM, and it just happens that the ABC were given two licences back in 2001

The two licences were 95.1 and 95.9. As we all know, the ABC introduced News Radio to Gippsland by using the 95.1 licence, but have never used the 95.9 licence. Knowing that they have Triple J on 96.7, ABC Gippsland on 100.7 and ABC Classic FM on 101.5, it was only Radio National who aren't being heard from Mt. Tassie

The question is, was it needed though? Apparently the signal from Melbourne is sufficient enough on 621 AM that Mt. Tassie doesn't need a local relay, so 95.9 has been left sitting for 2 decades

It would make sense for 3GG to indicate that they'd not only be interested in moving to FM, but to ask the ACMA to use 95.9, with agreement from the ABC, as they aren't using it, we don't see a reason why they'd object, especially when it's now ACMA's intention on using these unused frequencies

But that's only one piece of the puzzle, GG FM, as we are predicting it will be called, would need a relay, just like Triple M does out at Traralgon at 500 watts Directional, but where would GG FM's relay be located on the FM band?

Some possible proposals, if we may suggest them, either silly or have merit, you may judge for yourself

Firstly, a direct frequency swap with Vision Australia Radio, or 3RPH. They're currently on 93.5 covering Warragul, right next door to Triple M on 94.3. Let's say they were offered 531 AM, along the same lines as Ace Radio offered Vision Australia Radio in Warrnambool to move to AM to let 3YB go to FM, the precedence is there

If 3RPH accepted, then the 93.5 frequency would be available. If it were to be a relay in Traralgon, it would be further away from any interference that the Bendigo licence, Triple M (3BO) could have caused, or vice versa, and be amended to 500 watts Directional, the same as Gippsland's Triple M relay on 97.9

It would also be beneficial to 3RPH as they'd cover more of the Valley on AM than they currently do on FM

By the way, does anyone know why 3RPH on 93.5 is currently broadcasting a stereo signal? It's been on for months now. Is this an indication of movement of some sort for next year on a possible agreement?

However, if that offer were to be knocked back, we have a second proposal. Another direct frequency swap but with the Horse Racing outlet RSN (3UZ) who have a HPON relay on 92.7 FM in Yarram, along with various LPON's scattered in many towns in the Latrobe Valley. If they were to move to 531 AM, even as a HPON, they'd have better reception in the region, and not need the LPON's, another player could use them like UCB's Vision Christian Radio who only have a relay on 97.5 in Bairnsdale, or maybe KIX Country who don't have any relays in the region

Therefore 92.7 would be available for GG FM's relay, moving the licence location from Yarram to Traralgon is a matter of going North, nothing complicated, plus any interference with Bendigo's ABC Classic FM also on 92.7 wouldn't be a factor. A reclassification would be needed, increased power, and it would be all done and dusted

However, we are aware that RSN might not agree to that situation either, so we've found a final proposal which is probably more likely to happen as it involves another unusued licence that was reserved for use by the ABC, but still hasn't been activated

The licence in question is in Foster on 88.7, we've put our thinking caps on and wouldn't think any ABC station from Mt. Tassie would need a relay in Foster, and if it did they'd need 5 frequencies, but there's only 1 reserved, so we're guessing maybe Radio National was the plan, but again, Melbourne's signal on 621 AM is sufficient

So, let's say the ACMA were approached by 3GG to also look into that unusued frequency in Foster, and the ABC agreed to the licence being converted into a commercial licence, that would resolve and finally complete the whole conversion from AM to FM for 3GG

And since they've shown interest in recent times of converting to FM, any of these proposals could be a viable option

Thoughts? Criticisms? Did we get it right? Did we miss anything?

There's more posts to come in the "Things we'd like to see in 2024" series

24/12/2023

As we approach the New Year, we have had a look at the radio landscape in Victoria and will publish a few posts on what we'd like to see in 2024

This could be conversion of AM music stations to FM, even using up LPON licences that are currently unused or without an owner

We've put our thinking caps on, and we reckon you'll enjoy what we've come up with

In the meantime, as it's Christmas Eve, we'd like to wish all of our readers and followers a safe and enjoyable festive season, and may you be greeted by great reception

21/12/2023

South Coast FM (3MFM) posted yesterday that they have got a backup transmitter on air at their 89.5 Foster site after windy weather initially swept them off air the other week

Nice to see they took our advice 😎

We are pleased to announce that FM 89.5 is now back on-air using a temporary installation at our Foster transmitter site. Areas distant from Foster may still be impacted by poor or no signal. We are working through the significant budget & engineering works required to bring us back to normal operations. Timing on that is open. A reminder that we are a not-for-profit Community Radio station run by volunteers. 😀

20/12/2023

Last year we mentioned that on our yearly trip along the Warburton Highway, we noticed that the Woori Yallock relay for Vision Christian Radio on 87.6 was off air

Checked it again earlier tonight and it's still off air

🤔🤔🤔

18/12/2023

Geelong Broadcasters have confirmed that they are no longer leasing out their 1341 Narrowcast licence, and will be launching 3GL officially next year as a "Nostalgia Station"

What you're hearing right now is a soft launch. Expect advertisers and announcers when the official launch happens

Will there be a website? Will there be a webstream?

And as for being Narrowcast on AM, you can count AM Stereo out of the equation

Maybe, a little further down the track, when digital radio is launched in Geelong, they might be one of the extra channels on their multiplex with K-Rock, Bay FM and Kix Country

Serious question though, who's been listening all weekend and got some 3GL jingles stuck in their head now?

16/12/2023

Signal from Geelong's 1341 AM playing 60's music and original 3GL jingles might be an indication that the Chinese station 3CW has officially departed

Geelong Broadcasters are apparently putting 3GL into test broadcast mode as we speak. There's no advertisements, just music and jingles promoting the name of what it once was back in the days of 3XY in Melbourne

This YouTube video was recorded 2 days ago

https://youtu.be/-F7sAVJPYyo?si=abaQjX-Ba0tqo5H6

11/12/2023

Major disruptions have plagued the AM stations in Melbourne this morning as Radio National, 3AW and ABC Melbourne went off air shortly after 8am

As a result of a cable fault, it's now RSN, News Radio and Vision Australia Radio that continues to be off air

What's the bet the cord was transferred from one lot of stations to the other? 🤔

11/12/2023

SCA's dedicated channel to Mushroom Records 50th anniversary has now become Aussie Pub Rock

09/12/2023

LiSTNR has become Easy Hits.

What are SCA doing? Easy Hits was replaced by Oldskool 80's, but now both can co-exist?

Yet, Santa Radio and Elf Radio are nowhere to be seen

We're getting the impression that Light Christmas will be the only Christmas station this year, which is very unusual

Didn't both ARN and SCA state that "due to popular demand" they brought those stations to our radios months in advance?

So, perhaps it wasn't so popular anymore and there's no demand? We're intrigued 🤔

08/12/2023

It's a bit windy isn't it?

The whole SCA network is broadcasting dead air on digital radio

Yep, just a bit windy

23/11/2023

While we seem to be focusing on Sydney radio on a Victorian page, on the 100th birthday of Australian radio, the very station that started it all is turning off their hourly time pips at midnight

Those of you in regional Victoria don't get time pips anymore, however Melbourne still does

On top of that, anyone who listens online and on digital radio don't get the time pips either, as it wouldn't be on time, due to delays in audio processing

We'll let you know of any news on this front locally for 774 listeners

The short tones previously used by listeners to set their watches are no longer necessary due to smartphones.

22/11/2023

The breakfast crew at Melbourne's KIIS 101.1 have had their say

22/11/2023

It's been announced that Kyle and Jackie O have officially signed on with ARN in a 10 year deal, the longest in Australian Radio history, which includes broadcasting their Sydney breakfast show live into Melbourne on KIIS 101.1 starting next year

But you guys knew this was coming when we posted on this page on 16th of October 😉

Christian O'Connell has signed on for 5 years, which would be awkward if the whole ARN takeover of SCA happened, as it's been reported ARN would let go of the Gold network, but there's been no progress in that situation since our previous report

17/11/2023

While we were making our latest newsletter we made mention of a minor issue we found in the Digital Radio section

We found that both radio publications radiotoday.com.au and radioinfo.com.au made mention of the return of Santa Radio. Presumably this was a press release given to them, but published on the 1st of November

It actually mentions, in both publications articles that Santa Radio is on DAB+ but every time we've looked for the past 3 weeks, there's been nothing here in Melbourne. Maybe it's on air for other capitals? We have not heard or seen any evidence of this

Just today, we happen to stumble on an advert played on Oldskool 90's Hits for Santa Radio, it clearly said at the end of the advert "Now available on the LiSTNR App" which is modern way of saying they're streaming online but via their phone app, there was no mention of any DAB+ at all

So, what's happened here? We could suggest a few things, and it comes down to fact checking. Did the people at SCA send that press release through without checking the DAB+ band instead of a simple copy and paste to the publications? Be honest guys

Did the publications actually check the DAB+ band first? That's how we get our information 100% of the time. We check, then check again and double check, triple check, even sometimes rescanning, just to make sure our information is correct

RadioToday's Article Titled "Santa Radio Returns" with the first line saying "Once again, it's an elf world on DAB+": https://radiotoday.com.au/santa-radio-returns/

RadioInfo's Article which is also titled "Santa Radio Returns" with the first line also saying "Once again, it's an elf world on DAB+" : https://radioinfo.com.au/news/santa-radio-returns/

Not this year guys. As mentioned, we've heard the advert on air clearly say it's online, with no mention of DAB+ and we have checked the DAB+ band ourselves for 3 weeks and it hasn't appeared, which means it most likely won't if it's "already launched" on the 1st of November

So with that, Light Christmas is STILL the only Christmas station in Melbourne, starting up on 30th of October, the only competitor left is Elf Radio, which we haven't heard a peep from yet, but we'll be waiting and checking

Earliest guess for Elf Radio's appearance, we reckon 20th November
Latest guess is 1st December

11/11/2023

Annual Remembrance Day bandscan Melbourne

Many, if not most stations observed a minute silence, many community stations were either late or did it with their own presentation, different to what the commercial stations offered

It was observed that Kiss FM, the dance music station and Vision Christian Radio, were very much oblivious to this occasion. Probably due to multiple timezones for UCB

When many stations had their minute silence going to air, stations like 3CR were only just announcing that it was 11am and proceeded to play a piece of music to observe the moment

We did not observe anything for 3MDR 97.1, it sounded like they were playing a rock music track.

Geelong stations were observant, however while the minute silence was happening, the Christian station 96.3 was still playing music

We are also presuming Yarra Valley FM were late, as they were also playing music while others were doing the minute silence

It's always a hard one to scan the entire AM and FM band within one minute, but these are our personal observations, if your station did observe but was very late, then it means it wasn't at 11am and most likely noted as "not observed" - most stations played a lead up and outro which makes it easier to gauge whether the event was observed.

07/11/2023

Alright, fess up....who broke ARN stations on DAB?

07/11/2023

Annual Melbourne Cup bandscan 2023

Stations who aired the race

3AW 693
ABC Melbourne 774
RSN 927
SEN 1116
3KND 1503 (as part of the NIRS who took the ABC's coverage)
SEN Track 1593
Golden Days Radio 95.7
KIIS 101.1
Gold 104.3

The ARN stations kept losing the feed and cited that their feed came from Nine Radio (3AW) - but had it restored after two outages during the 7 minute delay for the race to start