Any chance of picking up transmissions from the Sugarloaf transmission tower in Auckland?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Any chance of picking up transmissions from the Sugarloaf transmission tower in Auckland?

PaulZA

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#102427 15-May-2012 19:07

Might sound like a stupid question. However someone stated that with RF bleeding, you can pick up signals thousands of kilometers away. Since Christchurch is less then 800km away from Auckland, I was wondering with a big enough antenna if one would be able to pick up some transmissions from it?

Mainly interested in a few FM commercial radio stations.

Thanks

sbiddle

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#625661 15-May-2012 19:16

No chance

Why not just listen to their online streams?

cyril7

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#625678 15-May-2012 19:30

Your dreaming.

Cyril

Dunnersfella

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#625789 15-May-2012 21:49

Online streaming would be your key.
What stations are you looking to receive?

xarqi

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#625794 15-May-2012 21:54

They're probably right, but this put me in mind of an event years ago when a friend who had a 2 m whip antenna on his car and I were listening to an AM radio station in Otago while we were in Hawke's Bay, and we were on the plains, not up Te Mata Peak or Mt Erin. Curious stuff, that aether.

B1GGLZ

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#625798 15-May-2012 21:56

It is possible but extremely rarely usually in Summer and mid-Winter.
Reception of FM broadcasts from Oz is also possible and less rare.
Tropospheric ducting is required which is common across the Tasman when a large cold front extends across OZ and NZ.
Very rare though within NZ.

oxnsox

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#625809 15-May-2012 22:15

I can Understand ducting from Otago to Hawkes Bay (mostly an over water path with fairly consistent temperature gradients.

Chc to Akl... to much land mass with variable topography. You won't get Wgtn-Akl either.
Christchurch Wellington (and vice-versa) is OK, (if you're in the right spot in Wellers).

grant_k

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#625817 15-May-2012 22:52

xarqi: They're probably right, but this put me in mind of an event years ago when a friend who had a 2 m whip antenna on his car and I were listening to an AM radio station in Otago while we were in Hawke's Bay, and we were on the plains, not up Te Mata Peak or Mt Erin. Curious stuff, that aether.

AM radio is a different kettle of fish entirely compared to FM. At night time, the signals bounce back down from the ionosphere, and it's possible to receive AM stations from the US, if you are using a frequency that is reasonably clear of local stations with a directional antenna. Wherever you are in the country, at night it's also possible to receive 2YA Wellington, and some of the more powerful stations like 1YA Auckland, 1ZD Tauranga etc. If you are right by the sea, or driving on a bridge over the sea, it is even possible to receive some far-distant AM stations during the day, but the signals are usually pretty weak.

FM signals are more affected by the Troposphere as others have already said, but also by the sunspot cycle:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cycle

It has a period of approximately 11 years, and next year will be close to the peak of activity. During this time, it will not be unusual for VHF TV signals from Australia to be received, and also other VHF signals from around NZ which are not normally present.

So it's not inconceivable that you could receive Christchurch FM stations in Auckland during the coming months, but reception will be unreliable and patchy. You would also need to find a clear channel in Auckland, corresponding to one that is used in Christchurch, and that's not easy to do nowadays!

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cyril7

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#625880 16-May-2012 08:10

Yes AM (in the MF band) and VHF and UHF are totally different animals, you are really stretching it to expect a UHF signal to make it that far, further to that, DVB-T uses quite low base power, this is because the coding can work with 10dB or less of signal than an equivalent analog VSB system, so add that to the mix and maybe a VHF VSB signal can be found far from home, but UHF DVB-T, dreaming.

On the AM note, Grant, remember antenna coupler tuneups, with the network analyser receiver on an antenna like pango it was like a tower of babel with AM reception from the whole southern hemisphere seemingly there.

Cyril