AM radio fights for survival

[tidecat]

Farthest AM DX I've had was in Tuscaloosa, AL - I could get WGN over the air, as well as several stations from Oklahoma.  My roommate at the time actually was a regular guest on WGN.

The best FM catches I've had were also in Tuscaloosa, when I could get 101.1 out of New Orleans instead of 101.1 out of Cullman in the middle of the afternoon; that was probably the result of ducting in the atmosphere.  I can get 99.7 WTN out of Nashville in Shelby County (KY) instead of 99.7 DJX in Louisville sometimes, even though DJX is only about 35 miles away and running at 50 KW.


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[BamaZeus]

I had some FM skip from Houston the other day on the same frequency I use for my XM radio.

From here in Tuscaloosa, I've gotten KOA from Denver and as far north as Montreal.  I'm guessing I've also received some of the border blaster Mexican stations, but I don't speak Spanish, so I couldn't really ID them.

When I lived in Connecticut, I used to regularly get as far west as Des Moines and St. Louis on a boombox and on my little clock radio.  I also got some low power stations from Newfoundland, which fascinated me because of the time zone change.  I was used to hearing Central/Eastern time stuff, but never Atlantic time zone.

[bing101]

https://radioinsight.com/blog/blogs/105742/where-do-they-kgo-from-here/

Wow KGO-AM in a catch 22 for now. Im Not sure how Cumulus will convince the current Demographics in the Bay Area to go to 810 AM for News/Talk when they are doing OK listening to talk radio on the FM side as in NPR Affiliate KQED.

[slorydn1]

When I first moved to eastern NC from the Chicago area I used to listen to WBBM-AM 780 on a nightly basis, and it was clear as a bell. I haven't really tried in years, I may go out to the car and give it a shot one night this weekend.

[D-Dey65]

Another idea is when a big local AM station simulcasts on an FM "sister" or with a commonly-owned station. Here in Hartford/New Britain/Middletown:

WTIC-FM 96.5 HD2 simulcasts WTIC-AM 1080
WUCS-FM 97.9 HD2 simulcasts WPOP-AM 1410
WDRC-FM 102.9 HD3 simulcasts WDRC-AM 1360 (the head of the 4-station Talk Of Connecticut group)

If I recall, WALK-AM (1370 AM) and WALK-FM (97.5) in Patchogue, New York used to simulcast the late Robert Kline's "Kline 'til Nine" radio show.

[ftballfan]

Clearly none of y'all knew about using 87.7 and 87.9 on your FM transmitters. Because both of my cars were/are from the early '00s, they had/have a CD player and did not have a cassette player or aux port, so I've had to use an FM transmitter. I currently use the 2009 version of the iTrip in "international mode" and it works well in rural areas, and used to work well in urban areas. However, now that the FCC has allowed  stations on those bands (and all of the low power "inbetween" bands), it won't work in any city that does. I can't use it in Philly or DC, but fortunately (for now) I can still use it in most of Baltimore. I can't use it when I am close to TV Hill or Hopkins hospital due to antenna interference, but otherwise it works.

ETA: amusingly, I would have gotten a different radio for my car, but since the GM factory radio has great AM capabilities, I refuse to do so.

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My mom had an FM adapter for XM in her 2000 Ford Excursion. However, it didn't have much use on long road trips as the frequency would have to change often. Luckily, I'm from a somewhat rural area, so she was able to use the same FM frequency for all of her daily trips (usually 88.3 or 89.1)

[ftballfan]

Longest regular AM at night has to be KOA from Denver or WWL from New Orleans. However, I did receive KGOW from Houston once at around 9am (!!!).

Side note: My car radio has HD Radio (for AM) and I can usually pick up WTMJ's HD feed (at ~130 miles). Some of the Chicago HDs occasionally come in.

[jwolfer]

Longest regular AM at night has to be KOA from Denver or WWL from New Orleans. However, I did receive KGOW from Houston once at around 9am (!!!).

Side note: My car radio has HD Radio (for AM) and I can usually pick up WTMJ's HD feed (at ~130 miles). Some of the Chicago HDs occasionally come in.

[Darkchylde]

I once picked up WWL all the way out in Canon City, CO, and I've picked up WGN down near New Orleans. Haven't had much chance to DX since, though. The electronics in the Explorer are a little messed up with some bad grounding, meaning that half the time I can't even get the local AMs in KC.

[golden eagle]

It probably wouldn't be worth it for Cumulus or iHeart to buy CBS because in a bunch of markets (like DFW) they'll have to turn around and sell off a bunch of stations. FCC rules cap the amount of stations a company can own in a single market. That rule would have to change.

iHeart is on the verge of bankruptcy. So much so that there are rumblings on whether or not they can afford to keep Rush Limbaugh after his contract expires at the end of the year. He'd have to take a huge haircut to keep him (current contract is $400 million).