It’s all Mee

On the evening of April the 23rd, a spontaneous decision was made to travel to Mount Mee. This mountain is also part of the D’Aguilar range. Access was via Dayboro (below).

Once at the destination (below), altitude and temperature measurements were taken.

The photo (below) illustrates conditions. The weather was fine with a temperature of 27.8 degrees celsius. The altitude was approximately 580 metres above sea level. There was no fog present (one indicator of potential tropospheric ducting).

The altitude is no match for the mountains of Glorious and Nebo on the same range, but the location is probably easier to navigate. Whilst permanent FM reception suffers at Mount Mee, there are far fewer residential streets. That means more remote parking spots are available to choose from. There is also less risk of getting the car bogged in mud.

This video shows broadcasts from Rocky & Bundy, including:

• 105.5 News Radio – Rocky (QLD) – 80 kW – 435 km
• 103.1 Radio National – Rocky (QLD) – 80 kW – 435 km
• 93.9 4RUM Hitz FM – Bundy (QLD) – 3 kW – 252 km

Prefer a longer recording of News Radio?

This video shows broadcasts from the Kingaroy CBD and an unknown Christian station. If readers have any clues regarding 100.5 MHz, please don’t be shy! None of the stations filmed have been heard in the city:

• 93.1 Radio TAB – Kingaroy (QLD) – 25 watts – 108 km
• 96.3 K FM – Kingaroy (QLD) – 50 watts – 108 km
• 100.5 Was ist diese Station?

With the car facing north, co-channel interference from Lismore was alleviated. As a result, RDS (below) was possible from this 5 kilowatt station, 101 kilometres away.

RDS (below) was taken from this 200 watt translator, 79 kilometres north.

The aforementioned Mount Mee highlights were made with a ‘marginal’ Hepburn tropospheric index of 1.4.

As good as it gets

Last year, memorable mountain top reception was heard at the same spot. On those occasions, moderate tropo ducting prevailed; so weather conditions were optimal for some planned mobile FM madness.

1 May

98.3 2NOW Now FM Mt Dowe – Narrabri – 100 kW – 435 km

10 May

107.9 Hot FM Mt Archer (pictured below) – Rocky – 10 kW – 471 km

The following bloggers have photographed D’Aguilar NP. Their travels and observations are definitely worth reading:

Mt Mee Wedding
Relocation to Mt Mee
Sunday drive to Mt Glorious
Day trip to Mt Nebo
Camping at Archer Creek

A previous trip to Dayboro can be found here. Coming up: the final entry from Mt Glorious.

Station logos are solely provided for the purposes of research & education under the Fair Use provisions of the Copyright Act in this jurisdiction.

A glorious vista part two

Mount Glorious is an ‘urban mountain’ that is a well known destination for hiking, bird watching and televison/radio projects, situated in the D’Aguilar National Park. Briefly, FM radio reception was observed in a street with an altitude of 767 metres above sea level. This may be indicative of permanent reception possible.

By using specialized car receivers & antennas, high altitude ‘mountain topping’ may offer better long distance FM reception compared to multi-element, rooftop yagi antennas in built-up areas. For the uninitiated, beware that there is a catch! Mountains rarely provide unobstructed paths to all towns. No matter how high the receiving location is, nearby mountains in this region tend to kill any opportunity of reception from one or more particular directions, even if the surrounding mountains have lower altitude. At Mount Glorious (for example) serious impediments affect line of sight to the north.

The on-line path profiler Hey What’s That suggested the mountains of O’Reilly (503 m), Lawson (473 m) and Samson (689 m) may obstruct reception towards the north. This proved accurate with no Bundaberg FM stations receivable under baseline conditions. Towards the north-east was another impediment, Mount Tenison Woods (757 m).

The 100 kilo Watt stations on Mount Coot-tha (above) are sited 22 kilometres east of Mount Glorious. Images of Nova & ABC Classic FM from there appeared on 102.3 & 103.1 MHz, respectively. These ghost signals were noticeable only when the automotive antenna was orientated towards the east.

The average portable may ‘shit its pants’ here in Brisbane Forest Park, which is why using a car radio is likely a better choice! Back in the 2000s, this sensitive portable (which is still functional) was taken to a vegie BBQ at Jolly’s Lookout, Mount Nebo. Regarding FM reception, no wonder there was disappointment!

Highlights from a predominantly unobstructed SSW-S-SSE coastal path (based on Hey What’s That terrain analysis) included:

91.3 2ABCRR ABC Central West Bonalbo (NSW) – 50 watt translator – 160km
(never heard in the city)

98.7 2ABCFM Classic FM Taree (NSW) – 100kW – 486km &

99.1 2NWR ABC New England Mt Dowe, Narrabri (NSW) – 200kW – 415km

*102.5 The Breeze Mt Mackenzie, Tenterfield (NSW) – 4kW – 211km (corrected)
(never heard in the city)

This video shows broadcasts on 98.7 & 99.1 MHz from Taree & Narrabri, respectively. Note the ‘spew’ audible on 102.3 MHz.

RDS was receivable on 88.9 MHz from the Breeze translator, 88 km south-south-east. 92.1 MHz also has RDS.
(88.9 MHz never decoded in the city)

On 99.1 MHz, a Toowoomba narrowcast operation was heard mixing with Narrabri. The music programming was ‘old time stuff’. According to the website, this is Kids FM. Without hearing an ID this is a guess but it fits, being 85 km west-south-west.

These Mount Glorious highlights were based on half an hour of listening during the early evening on 18 March (recording denoted with an asterisk) & 15 April. Fine weather prevailed. The Hepburn tropospheric index was marginal / 1.4.

These two recent trips suggest it is likely that tropospheric scatter varies noticeably at this altitude on a daily basis. Permanent residents would be better qualified to judge whether this observation is accurate.

Thank you to the companions on the trips for assistance with compass direction-finding, photography, three point turns in bogged mud, car washing & night navigation. Not quite as bad as this!

This is a three part entry. The rationale was to split this into parts rather than bombard ‘time-poor’ readers with too much information at once. Next week, the final section will be published with four more clips from Mt Glorious & Mt Mee. There will also be some photos of the beautiful scenery… so ideally it’s not too dull!

Southern Cross Austereo is owner of the copyright in the logo for Kids FM. Station logos are solely provided for the purposes of research & education under the Fair Use provisions of the Copyright Act in this jurisdiction.

The copyright holders of photography included on this blog have licensed their works under the Creative Commons for non-commercial use (such as this not-for-profit blog) with attribution. To view more of their work, type the photographer’s name into Flickr.

Altitudes specified are approximate, based on GPS mapping. Distances are from FMscan.

Two great artists, one is a better marketer

The first artist being assessed is John Lydon from Public Image Limited. This blogger remembers Public Image Limited rather than the Sex Pistols. In Australia, PIL are known for the following songs:

• Public Image (1978)
• This Is Not a Love Song (1983)
• The Order of Death (1990)
• Open Up (1993)

The latter became a club anthem, with Lydon on vocals as part of electronic outfit Leftfield. Order of Death featured in various films including the smash hit, Blair Witch Project.

Lydon is touring Brisbane, Sydney & Melbourne in April. He markets himself in this manner:

Consider the second artist, Chris Isaak. Isaak’s eleven Australian shows have now been completed. The performance of Isaak & his band received incredible reviews. Even this blogger’s parents said this was one of the finest intimate live shows ever attended.

Isaak & his band Silvertone are known for the following songs:

• Blue Hotel (1987)
• Wicked Game (1990)
• Somebody’s Crying (1995)
• Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing (1995)
• Go Walking Down There (1995)

Isaak markets himself in a quite different manner:

In this blogger’s humble opinion, these are both great artists, but one can memorably cultivate controversy. ‘Johnny Rotten’ has been been doing that since the late ’70s. See Richard Branson’s autobiographies, for example. Evidently, acting like a ‘prick’ never gets old.

It’s all fun & games but one part is troubling. Acting like an awful human being (even if it is acting), means ultimately others may think that ‘act’ was the real person. Being remembered after death as a horrible person is probably not something this blogger would intentionally aspire to.

Related articles

• John Lydon Calls Carrie Bickmore The Sexist (noise11.com)
• Chris Isaak Revisits Memphis In 2012 (vividseats.com)

Ten favourite ‘love’ songs!!!

Alanis Morissette – Tapes (2008)

http://www.alanis.com/music/flavors-of-entanglement-2008/

Powderfinger – Nobody Sees (2007)

Videos

R.E.M. – E-Bow the Letter (2007)

http://www.remhq.com/hqtv/

Linkin Park – In The End (2001)

http://site.linkinpark.com/music/2000/hybrid-theory/

Moby – Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad (1999)

http://www.moby.com/videos

Bob Dylan – Love Sick (1997)

http://www.bobdylan.com/us/music/time-out-of-mind

K’s Choice – Not an Addict (1995)

http://www.kschoice.be/music.asp

Madonna – Live to Tell (1987)

http://www.madonna.com/#

Prince & the Revolution – When Doves Cry (1984)

http://www.allmusic.com/album/purple-rain-mw0000382324

Bruce Springsteen – The River (1980)

The River

Fischer-Z – So Long (1980)

http://fischer-z.com/discography

Yes, the rumours are true. This blogger owns all of these albums or singles and enjoys a quiet drink whilst listening to them. 

Related articles

• Second Bernard Fanning Solo Album Due In June (noise11.com)

A glorious vista part one

On the evening of Easter Thursday, the blogger visited Mount Glorious for recreation. This ‘urban mountain’ forms part of the D’Aguilar National Park. Briefly, FM radio reception was tested in a street with an altitude of 767 metres above sea level. Those observations will be summarized in a forthcoming entry.

Panorama from Mt Glorious © 2006 Sherwin Huang

Observed at Mount Glorious’ Rainforest Circuit in the Maiala section of the park were rabbits, possums and a 15 centimetre wide brown frog.

Rainforest Path, Mt Glorious © 2011 Nick Bedford

To the east are spectacular views of the CBD and Samford village, particularly on Alex and Fahey Roads.

Rainbow, Mt Glorious © 2012 DamienQuick.com

The residents of Mount Glorious can take full advantage of the view.

Mt Glorious © 2008 hacklock.net

Mount Glorious is located on the border of the Esk, Pine Rivers and Brisbane local government municipalities. Bitumen road access is from Lake Wivenhoe, Samford or The Gap. Sealed access is not available from the north.

Summit of Mt Glorious © 2012 DamienQuick.com

According to the Department of National Parks, Mount Glorious is home to longer walks including Greenes Falls and the Westside track. Only for the ‘hard core’, the Aquila loop is a six to 10 hour hike. It starts at Mount Glorious’ Maiala. Perhaps next time!

The Vines, Mt Glorious © 2010 Nick Bedford

Rainforest canopy, Mt Glorious © 2013 Peter Ostergaard

Like many city and regional areas, Mount Glorious was also affected by a notorious low pressure system back in January. On January 28th alone, 408 millimetres of rain fell. Here is an extract from the special report prepared by the Bureau of Meteorology:

Throughout its lifespan, [tropical low Oswald] brought heavy rainfall, especially in moist easterly
to northeasterly flow on its southern flank. The system was also associated with strong
winds, with numerous sites experiencing gusts in excess of 100 km/h, and coastal
storm surges and high waves, as well as a number of tornadoes, particularly in the
Bundaberg area.

Like all savvy bloggers, photographic artist Damien Quick took some extraordinary photographs and video footage which illustrate significant damage. Fortunately, few reminders of this ‘freak of nature’ are visible at Mount Glorious two months later.