Where are most of the FM broadcasting tower farms in St. Louis?

I am from the west coast, where it is typical to have every broadcasting antenna in one, centralized location. I realize that practice is not common in the Midwest. Are most of the broadcasting companies sharing microwave sites? Are most of the FM stations in St. Louis using some sort of low class C licence? (i.e, C0)

From downtown, take the Metrolink to the Shrewsbury Station. Getting off the train and walking toward the stairs, look slightly to your right. Those towers about 1-2 miles away are most of the class C and C1 stations. KIHT 96.3 is about a mile north of those towers just west of the intersection of Manchester and Hanley.

Kent - 96.3 is now also on the Shrewsbury tower; they do maintain a backup still on the Manchester tower. The Manchester tower now houses 104.1 WHHL, which is a 50kW C2, and Classical translator K297BI 107.3. WIL and WXOS both broadcast 100kW from a nearby tower. The only other commercial StL FMs not broadcasting from the tower - KMJM; which broadcasts as a C3 from Olivette, KFTK whose tower is in O'Fallon, MO off I64, and WFUN, a C3 which broadcasts from the old KMJM Majic 108 tower on DeBallevire in the Central West End of St. Louis. Here is a nice article Scott Fybush did last year about the StL Master Antenna: http://www.fybush.com/site-20131218/

So currently broadcasting from the Shrewsbury tower: 90.7 KWMU, 91.5 KSIV, 93.7 KSD, 94.7 KSHE, 96.3 KIHT, 98.1 KYKY, 99.1 KLJY, 101.9 K270BW, 102.5 KEZK, 103.3 KLOU, 103.7 W279AQ, 104.9 KBWX, 105.7 KPNT, 106.5 WARH, and 107.7 KSLZ. There is a filing for another translator at 93.1 to move to the tower, and it also houses some LPTV operations.

mbatchelor said:

Kent - 96.3 is now also on the Shrewsbury tower; they do maintain a backup still on the Manchester tower. The Manchester tower now houses 104.1 WHHL, which is a 50kW C2, and Classical translator K297BI 107.3. WIL and WXOS both broadcast 100kW from a nearby tower. The only other commercial StL FMs not broadcasting from the tower - KMJM; which broadcasts as a C3 from Olivette, KFTK whose tower is in O'Fallon, MO off I64, and WFUN, a C3 which broadcasts from the old KMJM Majic 108 tower on DeBallevire in the Central West End of St. Louis. Here is a nice article Scott Fybush did last year about the StL Master Antenna: http://www.fybush.com/site-20131218/

So currently broadcasting from the Shrewsbury tower: 90.7 KWMU, 91.5 KSIV, 93.7 KSD, 94.7 KSHE, 96.3 KIHT, 98.1 KYKY, 99.1 KLJY, 101.9 K270BW, 102.5 KEZK, 103.3 KLOU, 103.7 W279AQ, 104.9 KBWX, 105.7 KPNT, 106.5 WARH, and 107.7 KSLZ. There is a filing for another translator at 93.1 to move to the tower, and it also houses some LPTV operations.

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Hey, where is the Shrewsbury and Crestwood tower? Sorry.. out of town-er here

I checked out the tower that Kent mentioned at the corner of Manchester and Hanley. Is that the backup? Or is that the major Shrewsbury site that you were referring to?

That is the 104.1/107.3 site, and 96.3 backup at Manchester and Hanley. The main antenna is located in Resurrection Cemetery near Watson and Mackenzie Rd. in Shrewsbury.

mbatchelor said:

That is the 104.1/107.3 site, and 96.3 backup at Manchester and Hanley. The main antenna is located in Resurrection Cemetery near Watson and Mackenzie Rd. in Shrewsbury.

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Found it! Although i'm not partial to a massive microwave relay site being placed in a cemetery, this seems like a better choice than the 104.1 site. Why did they place it right in the middle of a subdivision I wonder?

You mean the ex-KIHT now 104.1 site? That site wasn't in the middle of a subdivision when it was built. The subdivision grew up around it!

Kent said:

You mean the ex-KIHT now 104.1 site? That site wasn't in the middle of a subdivision when it was built. The subdivision grew up around it!

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I spoke to a friend who lives in St. Louis, he said that Manchester and Hanley tower made the news a few years ago after it was constructed. Its actually been there for a long time, though?

The 104.1 tower has been there since the 70s at least. It used to be the tower for 96.3 when it was KADI, and yes, it was the middle of nowhere when it was built. Same thing with the 97.1 Tower in O'Fallon, MO; in the middle of absolutely nowhere, now in the middle of a huge subdivision with guy wires in some people's back yards...

mbatchelor said:

The 104.1 tower has been there since the 70s at least. It used to be the tower for 96.3 when it was KADI, and yes, it was the middle of nowhere when it was built. Same thing with the 97.1 Tower in O'Fallon, MO; in the middle of absolutely nowhere, now in the middle of a huge subdivision with guy wires in some people's back yards...

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I'd be pretty concerned about the energy that its giving off if I was living by it. What is the location of that O'Fallon tower by chance?

fordranger797 said:

I'd be pretty concerned about the energy that its giving off if I was living by it. What is the location of that O'Fallon tower by chance?

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Near Bryan and Feise Rd. - O'Fallon, MO. Tower is visible from I-64.

mbatchelor said:

Near Bryan and Feise Rd. - O'Fallon, MO. Tower is visible from I-64.

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Found it; thanks for the tip.

How is the general FM reception around St. Louis? Where I live, in Western Washington, our local FM dial is loaded with flutter and multipath due to the complex terrain. Is it more like a CD quality signal when you hear any of the stations that originate from these towers?

97.1 Tower

fordranger797 said:

I'd be pretty concerned about the energy that its giving off if I was living by it. What is the location of that O'Fallon tower by chance?

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Feise Road, west of Highway K is the location of the 97.1 tower. Remember, it was blown over during a tornado around 1990-91 and was partially reconstructed. Still, that was prior to the subdivision being [] THAT close to it.

Any of the 100,000 watt stations on the supertower have loud, clear, and noise free signals 85+ miles around the city, and even HD works great out to the fringes. The terrain here is complex as well, but the master tower is well located; its in the South part of the area, which is higher as it starts to slope up into the Ozark foothills. Some of the St. Louis FMs even reach to Indiana with a loud signal virtually noise free. The two translators on there have about a 25 mile noise free coverage, and about 15 more miles where multipath and flutter is an issue. 104.9, which is a C3 from the tower really isn't that much worse then the 100kW sticks; it goes 60 miles+ loud and clear. 101.1/92.3 do even better then the master tower sticks; 97.1 has problems in the city with multipath because of its location 30 miles west of StL; 95.5 is clear about 40 miles around the city, and 100.3 has problems in Downtown and southern parts of the metro because they are a C3 on a short tower in North St Louis county.

fordranger797 said:

I'd be pretty concerned about the energy that its giving off if I was living by it.

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I'm new to St. Louis... and thanks to this thread, I now know that I live right by the 95.5 tower. That pleases the radio geek in me, but raises the same question...

Question: Is KPNT still 100k watts with a stick in Jefferson County or have they moved to south county and dropped to 50k watts? Radio-Locator says either or so wasn't sure.

Oh and 97.1 has horrible reception down in south county. Maybe interference form the other 100k watts stations down there but still, I find it hard to believe that 100k watt station gives receptions issues 30 miles out.

encarta95 said:

I'm new to St. Louis... and thanks to this thread, I now know that I live right by the 95.5 tower. That pleases the radio geek in me, but raises the same question...

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First, welcome to Missouri! I remember you on some of the Texas boards in the past. I moved to the Midwest from Texas in '97. Be ready to tell a lot of people where you went to high school! Oh, and you won't drink pop or coke ever again. It's all soda.

When it comes to the tower radiation, I wouldn't be too worried. I've been told you don't get a significant amount of RF living near an FM tower. It's the AM towers that I'd be more worried about, and I don't think there are any near you. Plus, 95.5 isn't that strong of a station. Besides, it should be moving to the 104.1 tower before too long.

acheron82 said:

Question: Is KPNT still 100k watts with a stick in Jefferson County or have they moved to south county and dropped to 50k watts? Radio-Locator says either or so wasn't sure.

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They're running the "Collinsville" legal ID and have filed the license to cover. So, I'd assume that means they've moved. From what I understand, that move can be done in two steps so long as the original transmitter citygrades the new COL, but the license to cover was filed almost two years ago.

encarta95 said:

I'm new to St. Louis... and thanks to this thread, I now know that I live right by the 95.5 tower. That pleases the radio geek in me, but raises the same question...

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I might be able to ease your concerns. I've been working with some engineers recently, and they claim that living by FM radio communications towers pose no risk. That being said, it is possible to have experience internal body damage if you happen to be right next to the antenna while working on the tower. Certain areas of your body do not have heat sensors, and can actually be cooked by the amount of power being radiated by the antenna if you do not power it down before climbing up on the tower.

At the same time, I have been doing some research that suggests the opposite. There are quite a few sources that suggest that people who live under radiation sites like Mount Sutro, California are at a high risk for certain types of cancer do to the radiation given off by the Sutro Tower.