FM Radio Station That Can Be Heard From The Most States/Provinces

[Dirt Roads]

99.1 WSLQ Roanoke, VA (200,000 watts)

WSLQ was the favorite in Blacksburg in the early 1980's and has been the quintessential 80's radio station ever since.  I've been to get them as far away as Winston-Salem, Beckley and Bristol at various times.  It wouldn't surprise me if you could pick this up at Breaks Interstate, and if so you get five states: VA/WV/NC/TN/KY.

WSLQ is a MONSTER of a signal. I live in Charleston, SC and I get them regularly. At least 3-4 times a year. That's close to 300 miles. The other stations on Poor Mountain at 100kw (WSLC 94.9 and WVTF 89.1) are also like that. Huge signals.

Make it six: VA/WV/NC/TN/KY/SC.  I woke up with a bubble-gum 1980's song as an earworm this morning (ouch, it still hurts).  It reminded me that when Q99 was a Top-40 station they were proud that they played some of the top songs five times and hour.  It couldn't take more than 15 to 20 minutes before I had to change stations (usually opting for Country or Bluegrass).  We used to joke that Q99 was getting paid by Virginia Tech so that everyone would leave the dining halls after hearing the same song twice every 12 minutes.  It got to the place it was more like a Top-5 station once every 10 minutes.  But the same songs stuck, and they still play them (hopefully not as often).

[ftballfan]

92.5 KTWB and 96.5 KNWC in Sioux Falls, SD can likely be heard in SD, IA, MN, and NE on a regular basis (both are 100kW near the SD/MN/IA tripoint)

106.5 KTMO New Madrid, MO can likely be heard in five states (MO, AR, TN, KY, IL) despite being "only" 50kW.

[Roadgeekteen]

I know Boston radio stations can be heard from MA, CT, RI, NH, and ME.

Maine is a barely. They fuzz out about one second into Kittery.

[Roadgeekteen]

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WHYN&service=FM

93.1 out of Springfield, only one I found which reaches 6 states.

[CapeCodder]

I know Boston radio stations can be heard from MA, CT, RI, NH, and ME.

Maine is a barely. They fuzz out about one second into Kittery.

On a portable radio, maybe. In a car (older model preferably) the antenna will pick up Boston stations (depending if there are co-channel stations) as far as Scarborough. Newer car radios are not as good at picking stations from far away.

Case in point: In my 1999 Ford Ranger out in St. Louis, I could pick up KCMQ 96.7 from Columbia 100 Miles away with great ease. Another one I could pick up with ease was KWWR 95.7 from Mexico, MO which was about the same distance. Whereas in my moms car, a 2008 Hyundai with a small "shark fin" antenna couldn't pick either of them up.

[The Nature Boy]

99.1 WSLQ Roanoke, VA (200,000 watts)

WSLQ was the favorite in Blacksburg in the early 1980's and has been the quintessential 80's radio station ever since.  I've been to get them as far away as Winston-Salem, Beckley and Bristol at various times.  It wouldn't surprise me if you could pick this up at Breaks Interstate, and if so you get five states: VA/WV/NC/TN/KY.

WSLQ is a MONSTER of a signal. I live in Charleston, SC and I get them regularly. At least 3-4 times a year. That's close to 300 miles. The other stations on Poor Mountain at 100kw (WSLC 94.9 and WVTF 89.1) are also like that. Huge signals.

Make it six: VA/WV/NC/TN/KY/SC.  I woke up with a bubble-gum 1980's song as an earworm this morning (ouch, it still hurts).  It reminded me that when Q99 was a Top-40 station they were proud that they played some of the top songs five times and hour.  It couldn't take more than 15 to 20 minutes before I had to change stations (usually opting for Country or Bluegrass).  We used to joke that Q99 was getting paid by Virginia Tech so that everyone would leave the dining halls after hearing the same song twice every 12 minutes.  It got to the place it was more like a Top-5 station once every 10 minutes.  But the same songs stuck, and they still play them (hopefully not as often).

FM Locator has the signal terminating south of Greensboro and only catching a TINY sliver of Kentucky. Is FM Locator that far off?

[hotdogPi]

99.1 WSLQ Roanoke, VA (200,000 watts)

WSLQ was the favorite in Blacksburg in the early 1980's and has been the quintessential 80's radio station ever since.  I've been to get them as far away as Winston-Salem, Beckley and Bristol at various times.  It wouldn't surprise me if you could pick this up at Breaks Interstate, and if so you get five states: VA/WV/NC/TN/KY.

WSLQ is a MONSTER of a signal. I live in Charleston, SC and I get them regularly. At least 3-4 times a year. That's close to 300 miles. The other stations on Poor Mountain at 100kw (WSLC 94.9 and WVTF 89.1) are also like that. Huge signals.

Make it six: VA/WV/NC/TN/KY/SC.  I woke up with a bubble-gum 1980's song as an earworm this morning (ouch, it still hurts).  It reminded me that when Q99 was a Top-40 station they were proud that they played some of the top songs five times and hour.  It couldn't take more than 15 to 20 minutes before I had to change stations (usually opting for Country or Bluegrass).  We used to joke that Q99 was getting paid by Virginia Tech so that everyone would leave the dining halls after hearing the same song twice every 12 minutes.  It got to the place it was more like a Top-5 station once every 10 minutes.  But the same songs stuck, and they still play them (hopefully not as often).

FM Locator has the signal terminating south of Greensboro and only catching a TINY sliver of Kentucky. Is FM Locator that far off?

Any part of the state counts. If half signal half static counts, you could even count states outside FM Locator. (I believe there is also variation based on atmospheric conditions, so you might get lucky or unlucky depending on the day if you're on the edge.)

Another question: Why do I never hear two stations at once? The stations that only go a few miles entirely replace what you would normally hear. (I searched for 102.9 seeing if you can get the Hartford station and the Boston station if you're in between. You can't, but I happened find that the Wikipedia article for 102.9 lists a local few-miles-only station in Dorchester, clearly in range of the one in downtown Boston.)

[jp the roadgeek]

99.1 WSLQ Roanoke, VA (200,000 watts)

WSLQ was the favorite in Blacksburg in the early 1980's and has been the quintessential 80's radio station ever since.  I've been to get them as far away as Winston-Salem, Beckley and Bristol at various times.  It wouldn't surprise me if you could pick this up at Breaks Interstate, and if so you get five states: VA/WV/NC/TN/KY.

WSLQ is a MONSTER of a signal. I live in Charleston, SC and I get them regularly. At least 3-4 times a year. That's close to 300 miles. The other stations on Poor Mountain at 100kw (WSLC 94.9 and WVTF 89.1) are also like that. Huge signals.

Make it six: VA/WV/NC/TN/KY/SC.  I woke up with a bubble-gum 1980's song as an earworm this morning (ouch, it still hurts).  It reminded me that when Q99 was a Top-40 station they were proud that they played some of the top songs five times and hour.  It couldn't take more than 15 to 20 minutes before I had to change stations (usually opting for Country or Bluegrass).  We used to joke that Q99 was getting paid by Virginia Tech so that everyone would leave the dining halls after hearing the same song twice every 12 minutes.  It got to the place it was more like a Top-5 station once every 10 minutes.  But the same songs stuck, and they still play them (hopefully not as often).

FM Locator has the signal terminating south of Greensboro and only catching a TINY sliver of Kentucky. Is FM Locator that far off?

Any part of the state counts. If half signal half static counts, you could even count states outside FM Locator. (I believe there is also variation based on atmospheric conditions, so you might get lucky or unlucky depending on the day if you're on the edge.)

Another question: Why do I never hear two stations at once? The stations that only go a few miles entirely replace what you would normally hear. (I searched for 102.9 seeing if you can get the Hartford station and the Boston station if you're in between. You can't, but I happened find that the Wikipedia article for 102.9 lists a local few-miles-only station in Dorchester, clearly in range of the one in downtown Boston.)

I wouldn't be surprised if there is a portion of Sturbridge that is within crossover range of two 93.7's.  It is about the point where if you were leaving Boston that you would lose WEEI and start picking up WZMX 93.7 of Hartford.  The change is quite abrupt without any real loss of signal.  Looking at the map, WEEI's fringe signal goes almost to Southbridge, where WZMX's makes it almost to Worcester, so there is some crossover between signals in the Charlton area. 

[Dirt Roads]

99.1 WSLQ Roanoke, VA (200,000 watts)

WSLQ was the favorite in Blacksburg in the early 1980's and has been the quintessential 80's radio station ever since.  I've been to get them as far away as Winston-Salem, Beckley and Bristol at various times.  It wouldn't surprise me if you could pick this up at Breaks Interstate, and if so you get five states: VA/WV/NC/TN/KY.

WSLQ is a MONSTER of a signal. I live in Charleston, SC and I get them regularly. At least 3-4 times a year. That's close to 300 miles. The other stations on Poor Mountain at 100kw (WSLC 94.9 and WVTF 89.1) are also like that. Huge signals.

Make it six: VA/WV/NC/TN/KY/SC.  I woke up with a bubble-gum 1980's song as an earworm this morning (ouch, it still hurts).  It reminded me that when Q99 was a Top-40 station they were proud that they played some of the top songs five times and hour.  It couldn't take more than 15 to 20 minutes before I had to change stations (usually opting for Country or Bluegrass).  We used to joke that Q99 was getting paid by Virginia Tech so that everyone would leave the dining halls after hearing the same song twice every 12 minutes.  It got to the place it was more like a Top-5 station once every 10 minutes.  But the same songs stuck, and they still play them (hopefully not as often).

FM Locator has the signal terminating south of Greensboro and only catching a TINY sliver of Kentucky. Is FM Locator that far off?

Pretty much what I expected.  I don't generally stay on Q99 when travelling, but I've never picked it up in Greensboro. Historically, the signal drops out in downtown Winston-Salem on US-52 and before you hit Greensboro on US-220.  In-and-out along US-29.

(I believe there is also variation based on atmospheric conditions, so you might get lucky or unlucky depending on the day if you're on the edge.)

It's probably an atmospheric skip into Charleston SC.  I wonder if Sctvhound only gets WSLQ during the summer months?