Radio geeks

[mcdonaat]

I just received a Soundesign PLL combo AM/FM/Cassette/8-track player, and bought an adapter to connect the coax cable from my rooftop antenna to the stereo as an FM antenna. I noticed that I can pick up some amazing stations (country music from Baytown, TX; hard rock from New Orleans, etc), which the FCC says shouldn't be available for pickup. I have spent maybe two hours picking which stations I like the most, and find it very neat. I don't want this to turn into a "terrestrial radio sucks, Pandora is better" or "iHeartRadio lets you listen to anything you want" discussion, but does anyone else have an interest in terrestrial radio stations? I always love going somewhere different and picking up cool stations. Comments?

[bandit957]

I've been into radio almost my whole life, but radio these days is so horrible that I don't even bother.

Bring back CLU 132!

[hotdogPi]

I've been into radio almost my whole life, but radio these days is so horrible that I don't even bother.

Bring back CLU 132!

When you say that radio is horrible, are you talking about content or are you talking about how well you receive the signal?

[ZLoth]

Insert obligatory "terrestrial radio sucks" comment here.

I've had some fun with radio skips. One time over ten years ago, on a evening in Sacramento, I was able to pull in a LA Dodgers game from a radio station in Las Vegas in my Honda. It wasn't 100% clear, but it was clear enough. I've also driven to Reno, and was able to pick up KCBS from San Francisco (with lots of static) all the way up to the I-80 California/Nevada state line. Yet, I have problems picking up classical station KXPR on my drive home due to power lines along my route. (Sigh)

[xcellntbuy]

I have enjoyed talk radio since I was a young boy, more than 40 years, when evening radio in upstate New York was dominated by an original General Electric station, WGY. 

In south Florida, if the radio is positioned just right, you can pick-up a northern Bahamian station at 810 on the AM dial.  The only AM-810 station in the USA is the same I mentioned above, one of the first radio stations in the country and an original clear frequency, WGY in Schenectady, NY, which began broadcasting nearly 100 years ago.

AM Station CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, Canada often came in on the radio late at night in upstate New York.

Every once in awhile I have been able to pick-up AM-770, WCBS in New York, nearly 1300 miles away from south Florida.  Another long distance station that can be occasionally tuned in is AM-700 in Cincinnati, OH.

When south Florida lost most of its electricity during Hurricane Wilma in October 2005, radio stations in the Washington, DC came in quite clearly with so many broadcasters down at that time.

[US81]

I tend not to spend a lot of time experimenting with what unexpected signals I can get at home, but on roads trips I often get in the mood to hit the "scan" button and see what comes up. I really enjoy hearing something different and offbeat when it can be found. It can be fun (and funny) sampling the local color, the low-powered college/high school/small town stations with sometimes a less-than-polished sound. 

[hbelkins]

I used to enjoy listening to various FM stations when I was a teen. The big rock station in our area was 98.1, WKQQ-FM from Lexington, but reception could be tricky at times. There was a station out of the Tri-Cities area in Tennessee that would come in OK sometimes that I would listen to.

I spent many years working in radio hell where the only stations that would come in were the god-awful local stations. Then when I got interested in talk radio, the fluorescent lighting and the valley location where I worked made AM reception nearly impossible except for the local station, which didn't carry the show I wanted to listen to.

I work in radio hell now, but I"m grateful for iHeart Radio and stations streaming so I can listen to the programming I like at work.

[SteveG1988]

[mcdonaat]

What I find to be very neat are the micro-radio-pockets... Avoyelles Parish, even though they are in the range of Alexandria radio stations, has its' own radio group... KZLG, KAPB, and KLIL. Natchitoches has a couple of stations, along with two for Leesville, although these markets are about 45 minutes from Alexandria. Marksville is 25 minutes.

[bandit957]

When you say that radio is horrible, are you talking about content or are you talking about how well you receive the signal?

Both, but mostly the content.

[bandit957]

Small market stations were usually better than a big market station of the same format. Some of the stations in larger cities seemed like they had a playlist of only about 6 songs.

When I was in high school, I was just far south enough to pick up WLAP-FM in Lexington, which I thought was better than WKRQ in Cincinnati.

[mcdonaat]

Small market stations were usually better than a big market station of the same format. Some of the stations in larger cities seemed like they had a playlist of only about 6 songs.

When I was in high school, I was just far south enough to pick up WLAP-FM in Lexington, which I thought was better than WKRQ in Cincinnati.

I'd rather listen to KZLG out of Mansura than KEDG out of Alexandria. KZLG plays soft rock, but without Delilah.

[DTComposer]

My second car had a Philco AM radio with a beast of an antenna, so during my middle-of-the-night drives between L.A. and the Bay Area I could regularly get KOA, KOMO, KSL, and others depending on the time of year and other conditions.

Growing up I had a fairly decent short-wave radio with an antenna I strung across my dad's roof. It was neat to hear perspectives on the news from other countries; you'd send the stations a SINPO report and they'd send back a colorful postcard. Obviously this was before the internet made international news a mouse click away.

I also grew up listening to KGO in San Francisco - even if I didn't always agree with their opinions, it was entertaining, and I understood it was a rarity to have a talk station made up entirely of local talent, and they were the #1 station in that market for several decades (also a rare feat). Corporate radio dismantled them a couple of years ago (I imagine it was expensive to pay all that talent) and now they're struggling with an all-news format.

[mapman1071]

I Live In Glendale, AZ (Metro Phoenix) I am not a fan of corporate radio; Clear Channel's Single Playlist and/or DJ's being the same as NY, Chicago or LA.
I do listen to KOOL 94.5 FM (CBS Owned with local DJ's and Playlists) and KSLX (Sandusky Owned with local Dj's and Playlists).

As for AM DXing on a clear night locally I used to hear KFI 640am LA, 660 KTNN Window Rock, Navajo Nation (Talk/Sports/Country Music in English and Navajo) and (K)KOB 770AM Albuquerque and KOA 850am Denver Clearly with some fade out-in nightly and on cloudy nights I would also hear stations from San Fransisco and Dallas. This changed in early 2000's with over 40 Licensed,  Low Powered, Shared Time, Unlicensed (Majority are Spanish Language) and Border/Sub Mexican Border "Blasters" on AM heard in the Metro Phoenix Area, on a good night I am able to hear only KTNN 660am Window Rock, Navajo Nation and KNX 1070am LA (Stronger Signal then KFI).

[SP Cook]

I used to love AM radio at night.  Not that long ago, there was no economicly reasonable to syndicate the talent, so each station was unique. 

Today, in both music and talk, it is simpler to just buy a national syndicated show.  Most of the stations are thus all the same.

[hbelkins]

I haven't listened to music on the radio in forever. I gave up my XM subscription for financial reasons. If I want to listen to music, I have my iPod or Spotify.

There used to be a couple of local (Lexington) talk shows that I listened to, but they're long gone. I understand there's another one on now but I'm usually listening to a podcast of the Mark Levin show from the evening before, and I am not that much of a UK fanatic that I want to listen to the Kentucky Sports Radio show that's on in the mornings after the local talk show.

[froggie]

Was half-hoping this would be a thread about ham radio...as those folks are truly "radio geeks"...

[bandit957]

One of few radio talk shows in modern times I ever really liked was Carmine Guzman. He was on several Cincinnati stations in the mid-'90s.

I don't know what ever happened to him.

[Laura]

Was half-hoping this would be a thread about ham radio...as those folks are truly "radio geeks"...

Me too, if only because my husband is a ham radio geek

[Roadrunner75]

Whatever happened to CB radio?  We used to use them back in the early 90s, and there was a lot of local (non-trucker) activity.  I happened to comment on a CB I saw at a store recently, and my wife ended up getting me a portable for father's day.  Absolutely no one on.  Nothing even on Channel 19, although so far with a CB sitting in my car for the first time in 20 years this was limited to a commute on the Garden State Parkway which is light on trucks to begin with.

As for standard AM/FM, this is mostly limited to all news/traffic stations for me now.  "Radio roulette" with the scan button occasionally is good on road trips.  Sirius was OK, but since my unit is an old portable model that's cumbersome with all the wires, this is probably getting cancelled next time around.

[6a]

Was half-hoping this would be a thread about ham radio...as those folks are truly "radio geeks"...

Me too, if only because my husband is a ham radio geek

W4WIS here