How far do your local FM stations go?

How far do the signals travel before you lose them? I'm curious as to know about each city. Here in Saint Louis I've been west on I-70 and have marked where I've lost each signal:

KDHX 88.1- Lost past Warrenton as KCOU starts to make inroads.
WSIE 88.7-Start losing them before Warrenton, by the time you reach Jonesburg it's too sloppy.
KCLC 89.1- I've started losing them past Montgomery City.
KWMU 90.7- Lost just past Jonesburg.
KSIV 91.5- Lost just before "Mineola Hill"
WIL 92.3-Lost before Jonesburg.
KSD 93.7-Lost before "Mineola Hill"
KSHE 94.7-Again falls victim to Mineola Hill
WFUN 95.5-Lost at the hill.
KIHT 96.3- Lose it just past the hill.
KFTK 97.1- Lost past Kingdom City
KYKY 98.1-Yet another victim of the hill.
KTJJ 98.5- Although not a local, I decided to check it out, I lost it just before Columbia.
KFUO 99.1-Lost before the hill.

I'll post more later.

Terrain is the primary issue in New England (near Worcester MA) along with lower power levels and antenna heights in other parts of the U.S. For the most part 50-60 mi is max except for stations like WHOM Mt Washington NH which gets out for 100 mi or so.
We had a rock station WAAF that used to get out somewhere in between but, to the consternation of MANY fringe area listeners, the station moved it's transmitter closer to Boston.
I've been in Kansas and Florida and many stations get out 75 mi or so....

Here in Tampa, I can hear many of the Orlando FM stations all day with no tropo, though the signal strength is poor.


Another reason they are heard farther here is because, unlike much of the northeast, we don't have as many local adjacent stations spilling over into the other frequencies.

gar fla said:

Here in Tampa, I can hear many of the Orlando FM stations all day with no tropo, though the signal strength is poor.


Another reason they are heard farther here is because, unlike much of the northeast, we don't have as many local adjacent stations spilling over into the other frequencies.

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About 30 miles north of Chicago I can get a couple of Milwaukee FMs, about 75 miles and Rockford without tropo.

Going north, some San Diego / Tijuana FM stations are audible at the top of the grapevine on I-5, as well as near the town of Crestline in the San Bernardino Mountains near Hwy 138 (east of I-15). Those same stations are typically unreceivable in the lower areas like San Gabriel, Hacienda Heights, Riverside, Loma Linda, etc, even though they're quite a bit closer. A few can be received in parts of Moreno Valley and possibly Long Beach, though.

Here in the swamplands. Class A good for 20 miles, WPNC WLQM. Class B 45 miles, Virginia stations WVBW WWDE. Fullpower Class C 60+ miles WERO WNCT.

Really tough to answer in Pittsburgh because the terrain is so rough. There are many FM's I can get 50 miles away but
I lose them in some of the valleys in closer to town.

Biggest catch was WRRK-FM 96.9 at mile marker 79 of the Ohio Turnpike. That is basically the
outskirts of Toledo! Beyond that they got blown away by WLAV out of Grand Rapids, MI.

KRTH is audible to varying degrees in the Coachella Valley. If you're near the San Jacinto mountains, reception can be tough, but as you drive further east away from LA out towards Indio reception gets better.

Charleston is a unique market because there are so many stations that come in from different places. The weakest stations (88.9, 88.1) only are available for about 10 miles around their transmitters.

Even some of the translators (like 99.3, simulcasting the sports station at 1390) have some punch. 99.3 can be heard down to the beaches, to Wadmalaw Island, past Summerville, and almost all the way to Moncks Corner before another station comes in over it. At 250w, it's not really a translator.

The smaller FMs like 105.5 and 98.1 can be heard well for about 35-40 miles in most directions. They are very prone to skip because their transmitters are farther S than the others, but they are great beachside.

100.5 and 98.9 probably have the worst signals of any Charleston FM. The worst is probably 100.5. It barely gets to 190 on I-26 before Orangeburg's 100.3 starts interfering. 98.9, due to being farther N and weaker than the other FMs, stops coming in just a few miles N and W of Summerville, hampering them. 95.9, at 50kw, has a great signal. They pretty much have the frequency to itself except toward the south.

The big Charleston FMs (95.1, 101.7, 103.5, a couple others) can be heard almost anywhere in SC east of I-95, and well past it too. I've heard them in Columbia itself, south of the Downtown area. They don't go away until you get into the Savannah area, and they skip very well. I know lots of people who have gotten them in Jacksonville, Orlando, and Daytona Beach during DX.

Dave said:

In my immediate area of NW Indiana, I lose the Chicago stations just as I hit the county line going into St. Joseph County (home of South Bend), around Demotte, IN in Jasper County, Roselawn or Morocco in Newton County. On the Illinois side, I usually lose Chicago stations going south of Manteno, with losing 100.3 around Peotone, due to 99.9's 50kw signal splattering over their station. Going north of Chicago, I usually lose Chicago stations once I get around Franksville (just west of Racine) on the Wisconsin side, while I usually use 97.1 in the middle of Lake County, IL, due to sister station 96.9 having more of their signal in Lake County, IL. On the Wisconsin side, the Chicago stations are usually still strong (around Kenosha), but many slowly get splattered by many of Milwaukee's first adjacents. As for Milwaukee stations, I can only speak of their Class B stations south of Milwaukee, & their stations have made it on my car radio up until around Zion, then I lose most of them. 100.7 & 99.1 are the only 2 Milwaukee area stations (100.7 licensed to Racine) that make it further than that, due to no first adjacents in the Chicago market on 100.5 or 100.9 for 100.7, & no 99.3 or 98.p for 99.1. I usually lose those stations once I get into Cook County IL., around Northbrook.

For South Bend stations, they have few Class B stations, & what few they have, I usually lose 92.9 once I get into Portage, once 93.1 starts splattering on their station. For 101.5, I usually can keep them even as I enter Gary, since there's no 101.3 or 101.7 in Chicago. If I lose them, it might be once I get around Hammond when the signal is weak, but still can hear something. With 104.7 transmitting out of Elkhart County, I usually lose them around Portage or South Haven. For most of their Class A's, I'm lucky if I even hear most of them outside of St. Joseph County, as most hold 3 or 6kw licenses, & most drop out once you reach Michigan City.

Lastly, for Lafayette Indiana stations, there are few stations licensed to that small market, & only 2 of them are 50kw stations. For the 2 50kw stations, they only make it as far north as Rensselaer or Demoote in Jasper County & Morocco in Newton County before they're hammered by Chicago stations. That would be 96.5 & 105.3. For their Class A stations, most can't be heard north of Tippacanoe County, due to the way most of their stations are laid out in the market, & their COL's.

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One or two of the Chicago stations used to come in fairly well in downtown Milwaukee whenever I'd go there. It's been a few years but one of them was WJMK when they were still Oldies. The other one I think was the now defunct WKQX.

Relatively flat central Indiana gives car radio reception of the Class B's about 55 air miles...maybe 60 in some directions. Same radio pulls most A's to 35-40 miles.

Most of the DC area stations reach about 50 to 60 miles, and several Baltimore FMs reach northern VA. One exception is WINC-FM that reaches about 70 miles, even more toward south and east. Its tower is located on a mountain about 55 miles west of DC. The class A's in VA aand MD reach about 30 miles depending on the terrain.

On several trips that I had made to Northern Minnesota I found that WTBX in Hibbing had excellent coverage from NW Wisconsin to well west of Bemidji, Mn. They must have their tower on a hill. It also doesn't hurt that they run 100KW.

Before the onslaught of IBOC hiss, most Boston FM's had a pretty comfortable coverage of 70 to 75 miles in Stereo. Most good FM receivers could easily handle the first adjacents with no problem. In comes IBOC and magically those 70 to 75 miles of good reception whittle down to 45 to 50 miles tops. Fortunately, the IBOC bit has peaked. Some stations have actually shut it down. No ROI. So, who knows. I wish they went with FMeXtra instead.

I've had my share of interesting experiences with FM DX in and around Pittsburgh, usually these days as I drive northeast into the Kiski Valley ...
He's Alive's WRIJ-106.9 can be snagged frequently as a scannable station atop Jacktown Hill just outside Irwin. According to Radio-Locator, that's as far north as its fringe signal is supposed to go. And this is between WAOB-106.7 and WHJB-107.1.
When WDBA was sold to Family Life and became WCOH-107.3 in DuBois it broke my heart. The fringe line is either right through Apollo or just south of my mother-in-law's driveway, but either way it's a notable pickup there, in Washington Township, Westmoreland County.
Using my HD receiver I'm snagging WSAJ-91.1 from Grove City College at that same address. That's just beyond its predicted fringe signal according to Radio-Locator.
I also get "Mega Rock," WMKX-105.5 out of Brookville, at that address on my HD. I thought that might be notable but a check of Radio-Locator puts its fringe on the Murrysville-Washington Township line.
Same address, one more note: WKFB Jeannette's FM 97.5 (COL Monroeville but shares the WKFB770-WKHB620 tower south of Irwin) battles with WDDH out of St. Mary's there.
Notably, Robert Stevens used to own the St. Mary's station (where he used WKVE as his callsign) and now owns the WKFB FM 97.5 translator as well as full-power Mt. Pleasant WKVE-103.1.

The big Charleston FMs (95.1, 101.7, 103.5, a couple others) can be heard almost anywhere in SC east of I-95, and well past it too.

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Charlestondxman, that reminds me of the days when I used to drive up and down I-95 alot between Florida and New Jersey.

I always noticed how at least one of the Charleston stations could always be heard even before crossing the NC/SC state line.

(BTW, is that 'South of the Border' thing on I-95 still there? I remember seeing so many signs for that place for miles in advance. LOL)

Same with some of the stations in eastern North Carolina.

There was one from Washington, NC that was heard from SE Virginia into South Carolina.

Such stations always fascinated me because they didn't have nearly that kind of coverage in New Jersey.

There, it was a treat to hear the New York stations 80 miles away on some nights with tropo.

Speaking of good FM signals can any of the NYC FMs be heard in Philly & vice versa without tropo?

radioman148 said:

Speaking of good FM signals can any of the NYC FMs be heard in Philly & vice versa without tropo?

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When WXTU's IBUZ was off I heard 92.3 Now on I-95 passing through Philly with no tropo.

When all the pirates on 97.5 were off I heard 97.5 The Fanatic in Manhattan with no tropo.

In the car KISQ SF can be heard in West Sac