by peregrinator » Sat 31 Aug, 2019 2:03 pm
I walk in mainly in Vic, sometimes SA and NSW, so here's some limited advice. (I'd also walk in Tas, if someone knows where I can get free plane and ferry tickets.)
Portables vary in sensitivity. I read good reports about a Sony model which does seem better than other brands I've used. It has been discontinued, but the replacement model (Sony ICFP26) seems as though it might be very similar if not identical in performance.
The ABC local AM Hobart station's coverage map doesn't appear to be great for the SW, but note that it's based on daytime broadcasts. Expect much wider coverage nocturnally.
But there's the rub. The best weather reports are during the day. If Hobart has the same format as the states I mentioned, the Country Hour program has a cross to a BoM forecaster at c. 12:35 Monday to Friday. You'd normally get a five or six day forecast. Not a "bushwalker forecast", but being addressed to farmers and rural workers, it doesn't assume all listeners are sitting on a couch or in an office. So you might get anticipated rainfall tallies, wind warnings, etc. In other states there are also reports from the BoM on regional stations at c.17:35, and at varying times in the morning, e.g. 06:35. But so far as I can see from the ABC's website, there are no regional stations in Tasmania. That makes sense given the geographical size of the state. So I wouldn't be surprised if all you'd get at those times from the Hobart station is Hobart weather.