VK Logger Ham Radio Forum Archive

Hi,
as most six metre ops in our region will know, the TV transmitter known as ABMN0 CH0 (46.240MHz vision) will be going QRT on June 5th 2012 at 9am E.A.S.T. I have taken the plunge and decided to travel the the Mt Ulandra site (N.E of Wagga Wagga) to witness the turn off of this well known six metre beacon transmitter

I have applied to and received permission from Broadcast Australia to be on site to see the turn off for myself (more might be coming), so if you have any special requests for photo's / video on the day please let me know. As the transmitter is a lowband LARCAN transmitter I have my own special interest in seeing some of these 1KW modules up close to see what magic has been worked to get them operating below 50MHz.

This will be a 10 hour plus drive each way from my home across the hay planes, I will have HF, 6, 2 and 70cm on board (706MkIIG) so if any one needs a grid square along the route, please contact me and we can try some skeds.

Regards,
Peter, vk5pj

Hi Peter,

Do you know when the service began operation? I'm just interested to know how long its been running.

Also I was recently up that way and took some photos:

Should get the cook to put together a suitable wine and cheese platter and a portable BBQ up to Mt Ulandra and make a proper send off day for Wagga 46.240MHz?

It is well worth the drive up to the top of Ulandra, particularly if the weather is fine. On the other hand I've been up there when it was all but snowing... but that is another story! The views to the south & west are quite spectacular. If you look carefully to the SW you can actually see Galore Hill- over 100km and line of sight from ground level. It would be great to see some photos & some form of record to mark the end of a part of broadcast history. It served the communities of the Riverina well for so long.

Cheers,


Richard
VK2AAH

Richard,
If we were able to get you to sneak in a portable repeater or a small beacon, see if you can get it hooked up?
Anyway, and very seriously does anyone know of the end result for the tx rx link equipment, main tx, antennas etc?
Probably just going to be left behind to decay away.
Sad but that's the world we live in these days...

Now wouldn't that be interesting! Mind you up around the top of the Broadcast Australia tower is just a bit "hot". The noise floor from low VHF through to VHF high band is quite high. Our 400MHz service has always had a db or 2 of desense on it but that is the price you pay sharing a site like Ulandra. On the plus side it is line of sight from a huge area stretching from north of Cootamundra, well west of Junee through to just east of Wagga, and then along a fair stretch of the Hume Highway. Even if your rx is a bit desensed it still covers a big area.

BA usually insist on the antennas and hut equipment being removed pretty promptly. I guess the big issue is if the antennas can be removed without significant outages to other services. There may still be some very good "scrap" coming out.

Cheers,

Richard
VK2AAH

Hi Richard,

VK2AAH wrote: BA usually insist on the antennas and hut equipment being removed pretty promptly. I guess the big issue is if the antennas can be removed without significant outages to other services. There may still be some very good "scrap" coming out.
Cheers,Richard, VK2AAH

When I spoke with the senior BA person for that region, they mentioned they were keen to get the CH0 array down before it fell down. From what I could gather all maint had been suspended for quite a while and they are keen to get it down. As to how you do that now that the tower has so many services on I have no idea

Peter, vk5pj

Thanks for that info Peter. Given it is a 400ft'er that is going to be a BIG job. I'd like to know when this is happening as it would be worth trying to find an excuse to be on site that day. I'll tell the boss that I'm going to make sure it doesn't fall onto our array... sadly he knows we aren't on the same tower! Photos of the process that day would be worth sharing.

Which way are you heading across? Hay-Narrandera-Coolamon-Junee? I've found that to be a good run, little traffic & pretty straight.
Ulandra is only about 20 minutes north of Junee.

Cheers

Richard

I think the Wagga club has an fm repeater at the site. They had to instal tone access due to excess noise on site. I think it's on 146.775.

The site is 80 km from Yass so I have been unable to use 50 MHz even though the Canberra tv stations are actually closer and all the ch0 and ch2 antennas in Yass look like they are inoperative. But rules are rules.




Andrew Davis VK1DA & VK2UH
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Vk1da.info vkfaq.ampr.org vk9na.com

Hi Richard

VK2AAH wrote:Which way are you heading across? Hay-Narrandera-Coolamon-Junee? I've found that to be a good run, little traffic & pretty straight. Ulandra is only about 20 minutes north of Junee.
Cheers, Richard

Yes that will be my route pretty well, there might be a small detour to pick someone up, it has been a few months in the planning so now I can not wait for the day to arrive.

Peter.

VK2AAH wrote: I'd like to know when this is happening as it would be worth trying to find an excuse to be on site that day.
Photos of the process that day would be worth sharing.
Cheers Richard

Maybe some time to set up a camera to do a few time-lapse stills or an abridged version of video on U-Toob?
Probably take a few days to remove the antennas (unless they're on a single mounted array section)
A piece of radio/tv history gone for good.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. 05/06/2012.
Gone? Not till 9am I see...

ABMN0 RIP 23:00:15 z 4/6/2012

Tnx for posting screen shot Scott.

No one has yet been able to tell me how long it had been in operation for.

From what I've been able to uncover- about 1958 or 1959. It was one of the very early Australian TV sites.

Cheers,


Richard
VK2AAH

First Air Date > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABN_%28TV_station%29

1965? Not quite as early as I had been led to believe.


Richard
VK2AAH

Leigh,

FYI, here is a quick potted history of Channel 0 usage on the eastern seaboard.

Channel 0 Melbourne ATV-0 Commenced 1 August 1964, transferred to channel 10 20 January 1980

SBS 0/28 took over channel 0 from 24 October 1980 - not sure exactly when they closed down channel 0

Channel 0 Brisbane TVQ-0 Commenced 1 July 1965 transferred to channel 10 10 September 1988

Darling Downs RTQ-0 swapped to channel 0 after TVQ-0 transferred a short time after 10 September 1980
previously RTQ had been on channel 10 from 13 July 1962 startup

RTQ-0 ceased transmissions on channel 0 on 6 November 2011


Channel 0 Wagga ABMN-0 Commenced transmission on 30 April 1965 ceased transmission on channel 0 on 5 June 2012

Of course there were other lower powered repeaters/translators in use as well on channel 0 during the 1970s through to 2000's, but the main 200KW plus transmitters were the ones listed above.


I was never sure why channel 0 was chosen for both Melbourne and Brisbane, as summer time Es often caused severe inteference problems in the poorer signal areas of both capital cities and certainly if you got out to 100kms plus from the city areas, it was often quite easy to watch both channels by using a suitable channel 0 yagi, such as the early Channel Master extended coverage units.

Living in Melbourne, it was not possible to watch ABMN-0 when it came on in 1965, but I well remember watching the channel from down in the Colac area 150 kms south west of Melbourne, during the Christmas holiday period January 1966 on short Es skip.


Hope that clarifies a few things. I am sure there are plenty of others on the forum who can shed some more specific light on these transmitters, probably having worked for the relevant organisations that installed and ran them.

Cheers

Peter VK3QI

Thanks for that Peter.

VK2KRR wrote:Tnx for posting screen shot Scott.

No one has yet been able to tell me how long it had been in operation for.

CH0 Wagga have no idea site had no details, but we lost 50-52 in JAN 1964

and now WAGGA hams can operate 50-50.3 with 100w like the rest of us until we get the 46.260 penny whistler off in TAMWORTH on NOV 27th 2012.

Then in theory we get 50-54 restored Australia wide 400 w pep

Or so the story goes..




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