How far do your local radio stations go?

[dvferyance]

I have the Classic Rock stations pretty much memorized for I-94. Detroit is of course 94.7, then once you start to lose that 106.1 is best for the Jackson and Albion area, then 107.7 for Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, then for awhile before you start pulling in 97.1 out of Chicago in you'll have to deal with 107.7 for awhile. Usually I'll turn it to 780AM for awhile until I feel I can pull in 97.1.

For I-75 in the Lower Peninsula it's rather easy, you'd start with 94.5 for Toledo, then 94.7 for Detroit, 103.9 for Flint, 104.5 for the Tri-Cities, 93.3 a little north of that but usually 98.5 is reachable by the time you get to Bay City and you can listen to that station all the way to the Mackinac Bridge. I was sitting under the bridge on the Lower Peninsula side and pulling 98.5 out of Houghton Lake in.

For Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio, 98.9 out of Fort Wayne is usually the best choice or 94.5 out of Toledo. I have all these channels set on my presets in my car since I travel around these areas enough. Going towards Cleveland 98.5 is a good station.

My go to station and I have their app on my phone is 107.5 in Houston, Texas.

Add 96.5 for Milwaukee then 101.5 for Madison. After that you may not have any luck until 92.1 in Eau Claire as stations are few and far between in tiny markets.

Yeah and you probably lose 101.5 by the time you get to the 90/94 split in Tomah. And Tomah really isn't big enough to have radio stations like the one's we've been mentioning. Your probably right on Eau Claire being the next city to have a Classic Rock station. We've done pretty good so far I think we got from Port Huron (you can pull WCSX in there) all the way to Madison covered. 92.1 for Eau Claire but the transmitter is north of Elk Mound so there's going to be a gap in between that station and 101.5.

Actually not anymore. I just discovered 94.5 out of Tomah is now classic rock. They had previously been oldies. Now I got to finish the rest of I-94.

[Flint1979]

I have the Classic Rock stations pretty much memorized for I-94. Detroit is of course 94.7, then once you start to lose that 106.1 is best for the Jackson and Albion area, then 107.7 for Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, then for awhile before you start pulling in 97.1 out of Chicago in you'll have to deal with 107.7 for awhile. Usually I'll turn it to 780AM for awhile until I feel I can pull in 97.1.

For I-75 in the Lower Peninsula it's rather easy, you'd start with 94.5 for Toledo, then 94.7 for Detroit, 103.9 for Flint, 104.5 for the Tri-Cities, 93.3 a little north of that but usually 98.5 is reachable by the time you get to Bay City and you can listen to that station all the way to the Mackinac Bridge. I was sitting under the bridge on the Lower Peninsula side and pulling 98.5 out of Houghton Lake in.

For Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio, 98.9 out of Fort Wayne is usually the best choice or 94.5 out of Toledo. I have all these channels set on my presets in my car since I travel around these areas enough. Going towards Cleveland 98.5 is a good station.

My go to station and I have their app on my phone is 107.5 in Houston, Texas.

Add 96.5 for Milwaukee then 101.5 for Madison. After that you may not have any luck until 92.1 in Eau Claire as stations are few and far between in tiny markets.

Yeah and you probably lose 101.5 by the time you get to the 90/94 split in Tomah. And Tomah really isn't big enough to have radio stations like the one's we've been mentioning. Your probably right on Eau Claire being the next city to have a Classic Rock station. We've done pretty good so far I think we got from Port Huron (you can pull WCSX in there) all the way to Madison covered. 92.1 for Eau Claire but the transmitter is north of Elk Mound so there's going to be a gap in between that station and 101.5.

Actually not anymore. I just discovered 94.5 out of Tomah is now classic rock. They had previously been oldies. Now I got to finish the rest of I-94.

92.5 for the Twin Cities, that's as far west I've been on I-94. It's nice to know that you'll hear Classic Rock music on these stations. I love cruising and listening to these stations.

[KEVIN_224]

I used to see how far WBLM-FM 102.9 of Portland, ME would reach. While heading south from Old Orchard Beach, ME to central CT, I would leave the car radio alone. I would usually get the last bits of signal into far northeast MA on I-495 South. I never did see where WDRC-FM 102.9 of Hartford would start taking over.

[bandit957]

I read somewhere that FM signals are actually very good right behind pointy hills and mountains, because the signal bounces downward from those. But this doesn't apply to more rounded, gentle hills.

[ce929wax]

Thread bump...

I believe that I received WVCY out of Milwaukee in Holland today when I was visiting family.  It did battle with WRKR until I got east of Fennville on M-89.  This was on a car radio in a 2015 Hyundai Accent.

[Flint1979]

I'm currently in Valdosta, Georgia pulling in WJR. It's coming in strong like it's a local radio station around this area. I'm passing through on I-75 and was doing some DXing to the northern 50,000 watt stations. WABC comes in good, WGN comes in good, WTAM comes in good, KMOX comes in real good about the same as WJR. It felt pretty good to hear WJR's top of the hour, once I heard, "from the golden tower of the Fisher Building" I thought wow what a powerful station.

I'm going to attempt to lose WJR tonight I'm driving south into Florida and don't know where I'll lose it but I'm assuming I will lose it somewhere in Florida. Going through Atlanta I went down one station to WSB for awhile and then back to WJR and it was still there. I have been trying forever to lose this station and I've never been able to out ride the signal before day break. I know at night the signal blankets most of the eastern half of North America.

[Nanis]

AM: you can get WPHT from as far as DC. KYW dosent usually get further then the northern suburbs of DC. I've heard of people from Roanoke  and Detroit getting it though with special conditions. Same with KYW.

FM: I've heard Philly stations as far North as Tamaqua and NYC.

[bandit957]

WGRR in Cincinnati may have finally fixed their signal problems they've had for years. They used to be really clear, but a few years ago, their signal got bad and kept getting worse. But over the past couple days, they've been clear as a bell.

[Flint1979]

AM: you can get WPHT from as far as DC. KYW dosent usually get further then the northern suburbs of DC. I've heard of people from Roanoke  and Detroit getting it though with special conditions. Same with KYW.

FM: I've heard Philly stations as far North as Tamaqua and NYC.

I'll put that to the test right now since it's 2:01am and I should be able to pull in several 50,000 watt stations at this time of the night.

My result: Both stations came in with a little static probably like you'd receive WJR. For some reason on my end WJR has a little static at night. I'm in Saginaw about 100 miles northwest of Detroit.

[ce929wax]

I should try and get WJR in Kzoo.

[Flint1979]

I should try and get WJR in Kzoo.

You should be able to get WJR in Kalamazoo with no problems. I can get it 24 hours a day and live just under 100 milles from their transmitter. Last Thursday I was driving around the Downriver area and thought to myself I'm going to drive over to the corner of Sibley and Grange and see how this 50,000 watt transmitter sounds when I'm right under their antenna. The station sounded as clear as I've ever heard it sound before and this was during the daytime I tried to outrun their signal again before I would lose daylight so I got on I-75 and started heading south and was pretty far into Ohio when it started to get a little static I was still getting it pretty strong in Dayton though, about 175 miles from the transmitter. Kalamazoo is about 120 miles from the transmitter so I see no reason why you shouldn't get it. You should be able to pull in WGN 720AM with no problem too, both transmitters are about the same distance from Kalamazoo.

[Nanis]

I'm also a DXer and I've gotten stuff from as far out as SLC

[jon daly]

Reading this thread has made me think that my car's antenna is not a good one. I tried to pick up WBZ after reading this thread and couldn't pick it up until I got to Warwick, RI. I live in Mystic, Conn. and can't pick up Hartford stations; even WTIC-1080.

One out of market station I sometimes pick up is 90.3 WAMC out of Albany, NY. It sometimes overpowers URI's station (WRIU) even when I'm about 10 miles rom Kingstown.

[Flint1979]

Reading this thread has made me think that my car's antenna is not a good one. I tried to pick up WBZ after reading this thread and couldn't pick it up until I got to Warwick, RI. I live in Mystic, Conn. and can't pick up Hartford stations; even WTIC-1080.

One out of market station I sometimes pick up is 90.3 WAMC out of Albany, NY. It sometimes overpowers URI's station (WRIU) even when I'm about 10 miles rom Kingstown.

It depends on the time of the day. During the day I get static on 760 and that's WJR in Detroit I'm about 97 miles from their transmitter location. Nighttime it can have static at times but is usually pretty clear. WBZ's antenna pattern is directional though shooting a majority of their signal westward. It's nighttime signal covers most of eastern North America.

[jon daly]

Yeah, most of my radio listening is during daylight hours.


Oddly enough, I was looking for something unrelated this morning and came across a Guardian article that discussed the distraction of the radio while driving. I'm not sure if that will stop me. It's one of the few times I listen to music and I really enjoy listening to a ball game on a Sunday drive.

[Flint1979]

Yeah, most of my radio listening is during daylight hours.


Oddly enough, I was looking for something unrelated this morning and came across a Guardian article that discussed the distraction of the radio while driving. I'm not sure if that will stop me. It's one of the few times I listen to music and I really enjoy listening to a ball game on a Sunday drive.

I can pull most of the big stations in Chicago in during the day too. WLS is the worst one of all though I have no idea what is up with that signal, WGN and WBBM both come in good.

I usually listen to the Tigers games on an AM station but the other day I was in the Detroit area and the Tigers flagship station is a FM station, 97.1 The Ticket and the audio on it was so much different. I long for the days when the Tigers flagship station was WJR.  Right now the only Detroit sports team to have WJR as their flagship is the Lions.

WJR use to have such a legendary lineup of hosts it was the best station to listen to in Michigan. J.P. McCarthy was the king of WJR until he passed away in 1995. WJR's studios are also in a well known location, part of their original lease with the Fisher Building was that they had to make mention of the Fisher Building on the air so their TOH jingle goes, "From the golden tower of the Fisher Building, this is the great voice of the Great Lakes, news-talk 760, WJR Detroit." I was driving around in Georgia one time in the middle of the night and was pulling WJR in and when I heard that TOH jingle I thought this is pretty cool. The Fisher Building is an iconic landmark on Detroit's skyline.

[jon daly]

It took me a while to get used to listening to sports on higher fidelity FM. I'm not sure what the audio equivalent of cinematography is, but some things sound better in lo-fi.

[Flint1979]

I was out driving last night and at about 3:00am I started seeing what stations I could pull in. WBZ was so clear that it was just like it was a local radio station in the area I was in then I started going around the band and WLW, WSB, KDKA, KMOX, WFAN, WSCR, WGN, WLS, WBBM, WHAS, CFZM in Toronto, WTAM, WCBS, WOR, WABC, KYW, WPHT were all coming in just as strong as WBZ was. Of course all Detroit stations were coming in WJR and WWJ. I went back to FM after awhile and was listening to WCSX out of Detroit it's the Classic Rock station in Detroit.

But after I heard WBZ's signal coming in so clear I thought to myself that signal is coming from Boston and I'm about 650 miles from their transmitter I love doing that. Since WBZ shoots their signal in the westward direction I think that is why it comes in so clear here. I'm not sure if I can pull it in during the day and my guess is that I won't be able to but it'd be worth a try.

This is WBZ's transmitter tower. https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2769734,-70.8753547,3a,60y,344.71h,105.15t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1soMStrW1WXcd01S0IG2iEgw!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

[Flint1979]

I counted the number of 50,000 watt blowtorches that I can receive and got 24 of them.

WTMJ, WSM, WFAN, WSCR, WLW, WGN, WSB, WJR, WABC, WBBM, WGY, WBAP, WCCO, WHAS, WCBS, WLS, KDKA, WBZ, WHO, KYW, WTAM, KMOX, WHAM and WPHT.

[Flint1979]

Is something wrong with WJR's transmitter? For some reason tonight I can pull WGN in fine, WWJ comes in fine but WJR is nowhere to be found. All I'm getting on 760 is static and I can hear some voices under the static. I've had this problem before with WJR and can't ever figure it out. I'm 97 miles from their transmitter which is located in Riverview, Michigan a little south of Detroit and can't pull in a 50,000 watt clear channel blowtorch signal in? It just don't make sense to me. I didn't try WLW but I bet that's coming in fine and to have WWJ come in fine but not WJR? Not that I really wanted to listen to WJR in the first place right now but I was interested in a few long distance stations that I wanted to try to pull in and when I turned it to AM it was on WJR and I heard static I was thinking this probably isn't going to be a good night for DXing.

Why does it seem like WJR's signal was stronger years ago? When this station really was the great voice of the Great Lakes it was a flat out blow torch and I could pull it in on an indoor radio at night. It just seems like certain stations like WBZ, KMOX, WLW come in really strong and then there's WJR in the sunset barely getting over the static. I'm pretty sure with WBZ it's because I'm on their directional pattern where they are shooting a majority of their signal.

[txstateends]

KRLD and WBAP are supposed to be the nighttime clear-channel AM's in north TX, but I've heard that WBAP ends up with a much wider signal.  They even have a long-running show that caters to truck-drivers because they can pull up the station at night from so far away.  I've seen a WBAP nighttime coverage map somewhere, and it takes up a good bit of the nation.

A co-worker of mine who lives in Glassboro, NJ was able to get Boston's WBZ (AM 1030) there.

How big is the range of am radio?

I got WBZ while driving in the mountains of West Virginia one night. WBZ is a clear channel station and its signal actually covers most of the eastern US at night (and it can go as far west as Southern Ontario during the day).

I wish local music radio stations were am.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM_broadcasting
this site might help you with any AM questions or background.  As for wanting music on AM, sadly you are about 40-50 years too late on that one.  Ever since FM became popular, and more recently internet-oriented sources and stations, AM has become what little you are finding.

Even though this isn't the market where you are,
http://www.dfwradioarchives.info/
would give you background on how one market's radio history has evolved.

[kalvado]

KRLD and WBAP are supposed to be the nighttime clear-channel AM's in north TX, but I've heard that WBAP ends up with a much wider signal.  They even have a long-running show that caters to truck-drivers because they can pull up the station at night from so far away.  I've seen a WBAP nighttime coverage map somewhere, and it takes up a good bit of the nation.

A co-worker of mine who lives in Glassboro, NJ was able to get Boston's WBZ (AM 1030) there.

How big is the range of am radio?

I got WBZ while driving in the mountains of West Virginia one night. WBZ is a clear channel station and its signal actually covers most of the eastern US at night (and it can go as far west as Southern Ontario during the day).

I wish local music radio stations were am.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM_broadcasting
this site might help you with any AM questions or background.  As for wanting music on AM, sadly you are about 40-50 years too late on that one.  Ever since FM became popular, and more recently internet-oriented sources and stations, AM has become what little you are finding.

Even though this isn't the market where you are,
http://www.dfwradioarchives.info/
would give you background on how one market's radio history has evolved.

Music quality on AM would be the issue. Frequencies for AM broadcast have 9 or 10 kHz spacing, so maximum sound frequency is heavily limited. Not that big of an issue for voice, but music would suffer big time. Hence FM on a wider spacing in a roomier band

[jon daly]

There's a few small AM stations that play music near me,  but they're not part of my rotation.

[mapman1071]

I am in Glendale, AZ and AM DX at Night and have listened overnight to:

KSL   1160am Salt Lake City, UT/St George, UT (AM Repeater)
KFI     640am LA,CA
KNX   1070am LA, CA
KOB   770am Albq, NM
KTNN 660am Window Rock, AZ
WBAP 820am Dallas, TX
WCBS 740am San Francisco, CA

[Flint1979]

CFZM 740AM in Toronto still plays music and broadcasts on a 50,000 watt clear channel signal which covers the entire eastern half of North America. At night this station is picked up as far west as Winnipeg and Minneapolis and as far south as New Orleans. I can pick this station up clearly in Saginaw, Michigan.