In summer 2007 Gtfm began broadcasting on 107.9 FM
- at the very top of the FM radio dial - and it's old 106.9 frequency ceased transmission on Friday 6th July 2007.
Our move to a new frequency in 2007 was requested by media regulator Ofcom
because 106.9 was only available for our 'Access radio' trial broadcast
period (over the previous five years) and we now operate as the first
Community Radio licensee in Wales.
GTFM’s new 107.9 transmitter
provides a stronger signal in Pontypridd itself as well as places
to the north including Glyncoch, Ynysybwl, Cilfynydd and Abercynon
and westward along the Rhondda river valley to Porth and beyond. Good
reception is also maintained as far south as Taff’s Well, M4
Junction 32 and most of Radyr – and along the M4 between junction
33 and the Pyle turnoff near Bridgend. We have also received favourable
reception reports from the Vale of Glamorgan, Mountain Ash and Aberdare
– though reception will still be patchy in these areas because
of the shadow of local hills.
Unfortunately however, GTFM’s signal on 107.9 is generally not
as good as it was on 106.9 towards the Bristol Channel coast including
parts of Cardiff, plus Caerphilly and everywhere to the east of both
places. This is partly because more hills lie between our new transmitter
and listeners in these areas and partly because of interference on
our new frequency from Bath FM, plus ‘adjacent channel’
interference from Star FM (in Weston-Super-Mare) on 107.7.
‘Interference Limiting’
This is the name given to the planning policy adopted by Ofcom to
make most efficient use of FM frequencies so they can squeeze as many
new stations onto the waveband as possible. But it results in local
station signals bumping into each other in places outside their ‘official’
coverage areas, which unfortunately is now the situation with reception
of GTFM on 107.9 in Cardiff.
So if you live in the Cardiff, Caerphilly or surrounding areas and
experience poorer off-air reception on 107.9 than you did on our previous frequency, there are
two things you can do:
1. Listen on-line via this website;
2. Consider investing in a directional FM aerial pointed at Pontypridd
(with its rods mounted upright – i.e. in the vertical plane).
But you should only consider the (potentially expensive) option '2' if
you have a suitable FM ‘tuner’or radio with an external
aerial socket and can already hear some sort of signal from GTFM on
107.9 - even if it is accompanied by interference from one or both
of the radio stations named above. In that situation a directional
FM aerial should do a good job of focussing our signal and reducing
the effect of the other stations as they lie in the opposite direction.
Email us at mail@gtfm.co.uk with
any further questions, comments, or 107.9 reception reports.
Digital
TV Switchover is complete!
(Click for details)
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