Welcome to the NNODE Radio Network
The NNODE Radio Network is based in the north-west region of Victoria in Australia. The primary goal of the network is to measure propagation from mediumwave (MW), shortwave (SW) and frequency modulation (FM) across the interior of the eastern side of Australia. However, a secondary use for these stations is to also perform DX (better known as long distance reception) of broadcast and amateur stations.
Currently there are 2 FM / VHF and 1 HF (LW/MW/SW) stations to utilise, listed below.
NNODE Radio 1
LOCATION: Mildura South, Victoria, AUS
RECEIVER: TEF6686 Headless
FREQUENCY RANGE: 65MHz to 108MHz - FM signals only
ANTENNAS:
1: 3 Element DIGTEK Yagi - Vertically Polarised - Beam direction 220 degrees west. AGL: 5.0m
2: 4 Element Stellar Labs Yagi - Horizontally Polarised - Beam direction 95 degrees east. AGL: 3.6m
WEB URL: https://fm1.nnode.net
SITE DETAILS:
Located in the north-western town of Mildura, this station provides good reception for the vast majority of local stations within 200km of the Mildura township.
Tropospheric ducting and scatter occurs on a fairly regular basis, with logs often received from most of Victoria, western New South Wales and eastern South Australia.
Areas which have been noted as fairly regular DX catches include the Murray Valley (Swan Hill), Central Goldfields (Bendigo and Ballarat), the Wimmera (Horsham, Turriff and Nhill), the Riverina (Griffith), Broken Hill,
the South West region (Mt Dundas) as well as the Riverland (Loxton and Waikerie) and Adelaide metropolitan (Mt Lofty / Crafers). Extreme ducting has been noted to travel as far as Mt Macedon and Melbourne to the south, and to the South Western Slopes (Bethungra) to the east.
During times of active E layer ionisation during the early summer months, DX has been logged from as far away as Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Brisbane, Lismore and Mt Middle Brother on occasion, with Esperance and Northam in Western Australia being a rare catch.
Noise Levels
Due to being located in an urban environment, the noise levels can vary wildly depending on local area activities from neighbours and the property owner. During most days, the noise floor is measured from anywhere from 5dBf to as high as 15dBf, hindering weaker signals from being received.
Bleedover from local broadcasts on 106.7 and 107.5MHz can also cause issues with erroneous RDS decodes on offset frequencies.
Availability
Available 24 hours a day.
NNODE Radio 2
LOCATION: Yelta, Victoria, AUS
RECEIVER: TEF6686 Headless
FREQUENCY RANGE: 65MHz to 108MHz - FM signals only
ANTENNAS:
1: 5 Element DSE Wideband (Band I to IV) - Horizontally Polarised - Beam direction 230 degrees west. AGL: 7.0m
2: 4 Element Stellar Labs Yagi - Vertically Polarised - Beam direction 120 degrees east. AGL: 6.5m
WEB URL: https://fm2.nnode.net
SITE DETAILS:
Located in the far north-western parish of Yelta, 15km to the north west of Mildura, this station is intended for much longer and larger reception distances, with up to 400km distances logged regularily.
As with NNODE Radio 1, tropospheric ducting and scatter also occurs on a fairly regular basis, however this site has an unobstructed view to three-quarters of the horizon, especially towards the east and west.
Reception areas for this site are similar to NNODE Radio 1, with Adelaide, Loxton and Swan Hill now being considered as permanent, with reception of these locations very regularily received. During extreme ducting events, locations as far away as the Warrumbungle Ranges (Coonabarabran) and
Mount Kaputar (Upper Namoi / Narrabri). Meteor Skip is also noticed thanks to the open view of the horizon, with logs noted from Brisbane, Sydney and Hobart.
During times of active E layer ionisation during the early summer months, DX has been logged from as far away as Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Brisbane, Lismore and Mt Middle Brother on occasion, with Esperance and Northam in Western Australia being a rare catch.
Noise Levels
Thanks to being based in a rural environment, noise levels are generally not an issue on this receiver. It is worth noting that this site is co-located to irrigation infrastructure, which when running is noticeable on both antennas.
During most days, the noise floor is measured from anywhere from -2dBf to as high as 5dBf. However these can rise to 15dBf during certain times.
Availability
Available 24 hours a day.
NNODE Radio 3
LOCATION: Yelta, Victoria, AUS
RECEIVER: KiwiSDR 2.0
FREQUENCY RANGE: 0kHz to 30MHz - AM, SSB and CW including variations
CONFIGURATION: 20kHz wide - 2 public RX channels plus 1 reserved channel
ANTENNA: 21.6m / 71ft End-fed Longwire with 9:1 ratio Balun and 1:1 CMI choke
WEB URL:
https://hf.nnode.net (main)
http://22973.proxy.kiwisdr.com:8073/ (secondary)
SITE DETAILS:
Located in the far north-western parish of Yelta, 15km to the north west of Mildura, this station is primarily set up for DXing on the Mediumwave (MW) bands. However, very good sensitivity for shortwave / HF channnels has been noticed.
MW reception during the day is excellent, with most if not all MW stations within 600km of the station receivable during the day. At night, nearly all stations across the Eastern Seaboard of Australia are noted along with non blocked Western Australian stations,
with international reception on MW being noted from countries as far away as China, Japan, the United States and New Zealand.
All amateur bands down to 160m are usable, with atmospheric conditions notwithstanding. FT4/8 and WSPR decodes have been logged from all over the world, on most of the bands.
HF Weatherfax is also available on the receiver, with both BOM sites (VMC and VMW) being receivable during the day and night when propagation conditions allow.
Noise Levels
Thanks to being based in a rural environment, noise levels are generally not an issue on this receiver. With that being said, repeating SMPS noise from 4.5MHz and above is due to PoE powered CCTV cameras in the vincinity of the receive array. Other noise from the solar array
powering the receiver may be noticeable during poor propagation during the day, with no detectable noise during the night. Severe splatter due to excessive negative modulation is noticed on the local MW broadcast station, RIVER 1467, varying in distance from 20kHz to 50kHz.
Availability
Available 24 hours a day.