2XL/918 Cooma, NSW is no more.  They've gone to the Great FM Heaven in the sky.

Another group reports the tx switched off on 13 January.

More Australian MW stations have permanently switched off. This opens up more clear frequencies for Australian DXers.

I hope they switch off my local 1539 KHz Rete Italia Sydney transmitter. This channel has been blocked for years..

The following Rete Italia network MW stations have permanently closed:

657 Perth.
801 Gosford.
1575 Wollongong.
1593 Melbourne.
1611 Darwin.
1611 Devonport.
1611 Esperance.
1611 Hobart.
1611 Kalgoorlie.
1611 Launceston.
1611 Mackay.
1611 Rockhampton.
1611 Gladestone.
1620 Gold Coast.
1620 Toowoomba.
1620 Wangaratta.
1629 Albany.
1629 Mt Gambier.
1638 Canberra.

Reports indicate that new Australia car tuners no longer include AM. Only FM, and high VHF Digital.

999 KHz 2ST Nowra and 1134 2AD Armidale are planning to switch off and move to FM.

Regards,

Todd
Sydney, AU

PS: This web page list is older, hence some more stations have switched off since then. The above list has been confirmed by DXers.

https://ilglobo.com.au/news/44716/changes-to-rete-italia/

The Australian ACMA website has a list of pending AM to FM conversions. Quite a few stations will go forever such as recently departed 918 KHz Cooma.

Time to record these AM stations while they remain on air. 

https://www.acma.gov.au/am-fm-conversions

Pending AM to FM Conversions:

State	Markets
New South Wales	Armidale Grafton Gunnedah Inverell Lismore Lithgow Moree Nowra Parkes Tamworth Taree Young
Victoria	Wangaratta
Western Australia	Albany

The Australian ACMA website has a list of pending AM to FM conversions. Quite a few stations will go forever such as recently departed 918 KHz Cooma.

Time to record these AM stations while they remain on air. 

https://www.acma.gov.au/am-fm-conversions

Pending AM to FM Conversions:

State	Markets
New South Wales	Armidale Grafton Gunnedah Inverell Lismore Lithgow Moree Nowra Parkes Tamworth Taree Young
Victoria	Wangaratta
Western Australia	Albany

I sent a  message to 3NE's FB page asking about the proposed move to FM. And they replied that there are no plans to turn off 1566Khz. 
Remains to be seen if this person is correct, or may not know about it. 

1566 KHz 3NE at 319 miles is my main mid winter noon daytime skywave test signal. When the D layer is temporarily weakened in terms of density, 3NE will be one of the first to show up.

1566 KHz 3NE is also one of the last skywave signals to fade out most mornings. During the breakfast time window up to circa 0900 LT, 3NE is received at fair levels into Sydney. That said, the D layer is absorbing most of the E layer refracted signal, hence a quality loop and sensitive receiver are needed. I use a 26 inch diameter PK loop for casual DX listening. This suffices for residual noon daytime skywave.

Noteworthy is how PK loop signal nulls peak towards the top end of the FM band. This is mostly because of the relatively small loop diameter. 1566 4GM Gympie (500 watts) can be easily received in the 1566 KHz 3NE perpendicular null.

1593 KHz Melbourne is still on air, but not with Rete Italia program.

With the gradual Australian MW to FM transition, new channels have opened up for DX reception from further afield. Some examples are:

558 KHz Fiji, 918 KHz Cambodia, 1359 KHz New Zealand, and 1575 KHz Thailand. All these signals are frequent into Sydney.

Regards,

Todd Emslie
Sydney, AU