Has anyone ever heard of “Highway Radio”? Probably not, because as yet doesn’t exist, but wouldn’t it be nice to be able to travel this country and receive continuous radio reception.
More importantly, it would be beneficial if in certain times of disasters, we could tune to Local ABC to get emergency broadcast updates on: Bushfires, Floods, Cyclones, Storm warnings, Tsunami, or what-ever
Those most likely to benefit are people who use the road as their workplace, such as Truckies, Tourist operators, Commercial travellers, and of course Grey Nomads, and Property owners.
If you can recall a few years ago, several truck drivers lost their lives in a bushfire on the Eyre Highway in W.A.
This tragedy may have been avoided if they had access to emergency broadcasts from “Highway Radio”.
We have noticed the preference of broadcasters to replace AM with FM radio for local communities. This gives better quality of reception, but we know that as travellers, we lose this signal in as little as 10km from the town.
AM on the other hand can transmit over long distances, for example from Sydney, ABC 702 can still be picked up (daytime) at Orange, some 300km west of Sydney.
As we travel on many country roads, we notice UHF repeater towers running parallel to the roads, and spaced apart about every 50km.
How difficult would it be to incorporate an AM transmitter on each tower to make “Highway Radio” a reality?
If you think this is a good Idea, please add your own ideas and send them to your local Member of Parliament, It could be a good ‘vote catcher’.
Neil Matthews