SEN’s recent purchase of iconic Melbourne racing station RSN has prompted speculation of a potential frequency change, raising the question: Will SEN switch from 1116 to 927 on the AM dial in order to achieve better reception, following in the footsteps of 3AW?
It’s now almost 20 years since 3AW swapped its frequency with sister station Magic, switching from 1278 kHz to 693 kHz.
With 693 considered the stronger frequency on the AM band, the switch was made to improve 3AW’s reception, particularly in Melbourne’s inner-city area.
Similarly, SEN 1116 has faced complaints of patchy reception in the past.
Melbourne’s trams are particularly bad for AM reception, with the electrics and metal tracks contributing to degradation of the AM signal, The higher up in the frequency band, the worse the interference. Which is why the lower AM frequencies are considered better for coverage area, strength of signal and less interference. FM and DAB+ do not suffer from the same reception issues as AM, because the older Amplitude Modulation transmission technology is succeptable to electrical sparks while Frequency Modulation and Digital Audio Broadcast transmission use a different type of transmission system.
Read more at: https://radioinfo.com.au/news/sens-purchase-of-rsn-fuels-speculation-of-radio-frequency-change/ © RadioInfo Australia
Chris M to IRCA iog (2025-07-15)