Similar thread to the one on the Ohio board, what are some stations that have exceptionally great signal ranges? I have always been impressed by both WUGN 99.7 from Midland and WIOG 102.5 from Bay City. I live in Vermilion, OH and I can get both of these stations on my Tecsun PL-390 radio even in dead band conditions. As for AM, both WJR and CKLW tend to register higher dBu levels on my radio most of the time than local WTAM 1100/Cleveland.
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Michigan AM/FM Powerhouses
- Thread starter Buckeyes2001
- Start date
I'd put Michigan Radio's WUOM Ann Arbor (91.7) in that category, since they have higher than the usual class B wattage, and cover pretty much all of SE Michigan and a lot of NW Ohio, too, despite some flutter along the Detroit River downtown. I often listened to it well south of Findlay, Ohio (probably 100 miles from its transmitter location) on drives down US 68. I think some of the new crop of religious stations might be jamming up that fringe coverage now. Back in the day, Detroit's WMUZ 103.5 was also one of those 115kw or so type stations with a big signal, but its programming was time-brokered religious fare, and had little audience. But it came in as strong as the class A-type local stations in Toledo, before the Tiffin station on 103.7 boosted its power.
WKAR-FM Lansing (90.5) was always a wide area station, thanks to its grandfathered high power status and tall tower. Growing up in Detroit, when the lower part of the dial was still fairly quiet, they were received almost like a local station in metro Detroit, and made it easily to Toledo, too.
Didn't Grand Rapids MI once have the "most powerful FM station" in America? Something like 300kw? I believe they powered back some years ago, finding the wasted wattage didn't really pay off.
WKAR-FM Lansing (90.5) was always a wide area station, thanks to its grandfathered high power status and tall tower. Growing up in Detroit, when the lower part of the dial was still fairly quiet, they were received almost like a local station in metro Detroit, and made it easily to Toledo, too.
Didn't Grand Rapids MI once have the "most powerful FM station" in America? Something like 300kw? I believe they powered back some years ago, finding the wasted wattage didn't really pay off.
That would be WJFM 93.7 (now country WBCT). It runs 320,000 watts. WSRW Star 105.7 (formerly WOOD-FM) is also grandfathered in at 265,000 watts. I believe Star 105.7 is actually the station that powered down several years ago. They're back to 265,000 watts now but don't have the coverage they once did. I'm sure someone more versed in the technical aspects of the industry than I can correct/expand on this.
I once had WIOG coming in around Findlay, OH while driving northward on I-75. I get them up north in Gaylord all the time, even during dead-band conditions.
WKAR-FM is huge for sure. I've noted them flashing RDS on a car radio as far east as Emmett, MI (west of Port Huron). Their horizontal coverage is stupendous; their vertical coverage, not so much. From my experience, WKAR disappears quickly once you get south of about Coldwater and, going northward, south of Mount Pleasant.
I frequently get 104.5 WSNX, 105.3 WHTS and 106.9 WOOD from Grand Rapids/Muskegon at my dad's place north of Lansing. 105.3 and 106.9 I've also picked up clearly as far away as Clare, under normal conditions.
Among Detroit area signals, I have received 104.3 WOMC and 93-9 The River from Windsor/Detroit in Gaylord before.
I live in the Ann Arbor area and I recall once when 91.7 WUOM went off the air for about thirty seconds or so, CMU Public Radio's 91.7 WCML-FM from Alpena boomed in.
Northern lower Michigan has a number of FM stations with huge coverage areas. 103.5 WTCM and 101.9 WLDR from Traverse City all carry from around the Harrison/Clare area northward into the Upper Peninsula. Interlochen's 88.7 WIAA also made it that far north before Mackinaw City's 88.5 (which now ironically simulcasts WIAA) signed on.
I once had WIOG coming in around Findlay, OH while driving northward on I-75. I get them up north in Gaylord all the time, even during dead-band conditions.
WKAR-FM is huge for sure. I've noted them flashing RDS on a car radio as far east as Emmett, MI (west of Port Huron). Their horizontal coverage is stupendous; their vertical coverage, not so much. From my experience, WKAR disappears quickly once you get south of about Coldwater and, going northward, south of Mount Pleasant.
I frequently get 104.5 WSNX, 105.3 WHTS and 106.9 WOOD from Grand Rapids/Muskegon at my dad's place north of Lansing. 105.3 and 106.9 I've also picked up clearly as far away as Clare, under normal conditions.
Among Detroit area signals, I have received 104.3 WOMC and 93-9 The River from Windsor/Detroit in Gaylord before.
I live in the Ann Arbor area and I recall once when 91.7 WUOM went off the air for about thirty seconds or so, CMU Public Radio's 91.7 WCML-FM from Alpena boomed in.
Northern lower Michigan has a number of FM stations with huge coverage areas. 103.5 WTCM and 101.9 WLDR from Traverse City all carry from around the Harrison/Clare area northward into the Upper Peninsula. Interlochen's 88.7 WIAA also made it that far north before Mackinaw City's 88.5 (which now ironically simulcasts WIAA) signed on.
I carried WIOG all the way to Michigan City, IN and CIMX to Lake Michigan a few years ago. Of course now, 88.7 is the home of Smile FM in Benton Harbor and 102.5 is clustered with translators, so that wouldn't happen anymore.
I gotta go with Detroit's WOMC as a powerhouse. They're usually into Coldwater (a little over 100 miles) even during dead-band conditions. I can count on one hand the number of times i've tuned into 104.3 and heard nothing.
WKAR is a powerhouse. I tuned them in on northbound I-69 between Muncie and Fort Wayne, IN one early October evening last year.
I gotta go with Detroit's WOMC as a powerhouse. They're usually into Coldwater (a little over 100 miles) even during dead-band conditions. I can count on one hand the number of times i've tuned into 104.3 and heard nothing.
WKAR is a powerhouse. I tuned them in on northbound I-69 between Muncie and Fort Wayne, IN one early October evening last year.
Lawppy said:I carried WIOG all the way to Michigan City, IN and CIMX to Lake Michigan a few years ago. Of course now, 88.7 is the home of Smile FM in Benton Harbor and 102.5 is clustered with translators, so that wouldn't happen anymore.
I gotta go with Detroit's WOMC as a powerhouse. They're usually into Coldwater (a little over 100 miles) even during dead-band conditions. I can count on one hand the number of times i've tuned into 104.3 and heard nothing.
WKAR is a powerhouse. I tuned them in on northbound I-69 between Muncie and Fort Wayne, IN one early October evening last year.
The only problem with WOMCs 190 thousand watts is the low tower height. They have great building penetration and bad coverage in some of the fringes. WMUZ used to have 115 thousand watts but, chose to clean up the holes in their coverage.
They opted for a more typical Class B set up. Seems like the stick was only 275 feet tall.
Low tower height notwithstanding, WOMC still really gets out. That's why it's so hard for me to understand why I can almost never get them in HD in the Ann Arbor area. I have an easier time getting an HD signal from the much weaker Mix 92.3 than I do from WOMC.
Another public station that seems to really get out is WCMU 89.5 in Mount Pleasant. Until the Smile FM 89.5 in Riverview signed on, they boomed into the Ann Arbor area frequently, especially in the summer months. Along with some of the other Tri-Cities powerhouses like WHNN, WIOG and WUGN, they are one of the few FMs I can hear both this far south and up north in Gaylord.
Forgot to mention also WRKR 107.7 Portage/Kalamazoo. When I lived in Saline, I often could get them like a local even during dead-band conditions. That ended when the 107.7 in North Baltimore, OH moved to Luckey. Still, I can get them pretty easily in the St. Johns area north of Lansing.
On the AM side, I also give a mention to WMIC 660 out of Sandusky. Due to their low dial position and despite being daytime-only, they can be heard listenably from the metro Detroit area to Alpena and even as far west as Lansing.
Speaking of WKAR, its AM signal doesn't do too badly either in terms of coverage, although it did a lot better before it adopted IBOC. Which has also rendered it nearly unlistenable, even if you can pick it up, because of the annoying "buzz" sound. Also from Lansing, 730 WVFN, 1180 WXLA and 1320 WILS have pretty darn powerful northbound signals during the day... nighttime is a different story (of course WXLA is a daytimer).
As far as coverage "wimps"... pretty much any AM station in northern lower Michigan with the possible exception of 580 WTCM (which has 50,000 watts on a low dial position in its favor) would count, due to the poor soil conductivity. Worst of all would probably be 1210 WJNL. 50,000 watts with a coverage area equivalent to 250 watts... or so it seems. It's a chore to get them to stop the Scan/Seek on a car radio in Traverse City, which is in their county of license!
Another public station that seems to really get out is WCMU 89.5 in Mount Pleasant. Until the Smile FM 89.5 in Riverview signed on, they boomed into the Ann Arbor area frequently, especially in the summer months. Along with some of the other Tri-Cities powerhouses like WHNN, WIOG and WUGN, they are one of the few FMs I can hear both this far south and up north in Gaylord.
Forgot to mention also WRKR 107.7 Portage/Kalamazoo. When I lived in Saline, I often could get them like a local even during dead-band conditions. That ended when the 107.7 in North Baltimore, OH moved to Luckey. Still, I can get them pretty easily in the St. Johns area north of Lansing.
On the AM side, I also give a mention to WMIC 660 out of Sandusky. Due to their low dial position and despite being daytime-only, they can be heard listenably from the metro Detroit area to Alpena and even as far west as Lansing.
Speaking of WKAR, its AM signal doesn't do too badly either in terms of coverage, although it did a lot better before it adopted IBOC. Which has also rendered it nearly unlistenable, even if you can pick it up, because of the annoying "buzz" sound. Also from Lansing, 730 WVFN, 1180 WXLA and 1320 WILS have pretty darn powerful northbound signals during the day... nighttime is a different story (of course WXLA is a daytimer).
As far as coverage "wimps"... pretty much any AM station in northern lower Michigan with the possible exception of 580 WTCM (which has 50,000 watts on a low dial position in its favor) would count, due to the poor soil conductivity. Worst of all would probably be 1210 WJNL. 50,000 watts with a coverage area equivalent to 250 watts... or so it seems. It's a chore to get them to stop the Scan/Seek on a car radio in Traverse City, which is in their county of license!
103.3 WKFR I have pick up in all of northern Indiana from Ohio to South Bend.
94.1 The Edge come's in northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio sometime's even Toledo.
102.9 W4 country is listenable in Napoleon,Oh
WSGW can be heard in the daytime in Milwaukee and the surrounding area. It used to be better before WBBM had IBOC, and you could hear them east of buildings on the Lake Michigan shoreline in hot spots from steel building reradiation in Chicago.
You could get a lot of FMs from Southeast Michigan all the way to the Straits of Mackinac before all the Docket 80-90 drop ins, with a good directional FM outdoor antenna.
You could get a lot of FMs from Southeast Michigan all the way to the Straits of Mackinac before all the Docket 80-90 drop ins, with a good directional FM outdoor antenna.
Back "in the day" WKNX on 1210 had a decent signal down to the south and way up north.
The old WTAC used t walk north pretty well too.
Regarding 80-90. Yes, those were great days for FM DX. In northern Michigan, you had 92.9 Cadillac, Houghton Lake on 98.5, WWRM on 106.7. TC had several FM signals, Alpena had a couple. But that was pretty much it. It was always pretty easy to pick up a few Detroit signals---WOMC. Grand Rapids was easy all the time thanks to WJFM at 93.7.
AM was equally open, WHGR 1290, WGRY 1590, WWAM 1370, WBMB 1060 were the only stations that were easy in Roscommon COunty into the 70's. Back in those days, WTCM was on 1400, WCCW 1310, and I think that was it for TC. (1270 came on in the mid 70s) I recall listening to WKRC-550 (cincy) and WLW-700 in the middle of the day at Higgins Lake. Chicago was audible in the day, and several Milwaukee stations were easy during the day-620 and 920 come to mind.
The old WTAC used t walk north pretty well too.
Regarding 80-90. Yes, those were great days for FM DX. In northern Michigan, you had 92.9 Cadillac, Houghton Lake on 98.5, WWRM on 106.7. TC had several FM signals, Alpena had a couple. But that was pretty much it. It was always pretty easy to pick up a few Detroit signals---WOMC. Grand Rapids was easy all the time thanks to WJFM at 93.7.
AM was equally open, WHGR 1290, WGRY 1590, WWAM 1370, WBMB 1060 were the only stations that were easy in Roscommon COunty into the 70's. Back in those days, WTCM was on 1400, WCCW 1310, and I think that was it for TC. (1270 came on in the mid 70s) I recall listening to WKRC-550 (cincy) and WLW-700 in the middle of the day at Higgins Lake. Chicago was audible in the day, and several Milwaukee stations were easy during the day-620 and 920 come to mind.
The old WTAC used t walk north pretty well too.
Wonder what ever happened to the four WTAC towers? Dropped, or dismantled and taken elsewhere?
Sadly, I think they dropped or dismantled those WTAC towers 7-8 years ago. (Maybe more years, time flies and all that...)The station on 600 is transmitting from another site now, similar DA Pattern (I think) and slightly reduced power too (I think)
Somebody mentioned 730 in East Lansing, yes for 500W that antenna system produced a nice signal to the north. Probably not so good in other directions.
Somebody mentioned 730 in East Lansing, yes for 500W that antenna system produced a nice signal to the north. Probably not so good in other directions.
No one's mentioned U.P. stations yet.
AM-wise, the coverage champ is easily 680 WDBC (or possibly 590 WJMS Ironwood). WDBC can be heard in Gaylord in daytime even with the poor soil conductivity.
The central U.P. has a number of FMs with big signals... 97.1 WGLQ, 104.7 WYKX, 102.5 WCMM, 103.3 WFXD, 92.3 WJPD, 100.3 WUPT, 95.7 WHWL all come to mind. WGLQ, WYKX and WCMM were strong as local stations when I was in Traverse City a couple of weeks ago, even got RDS from WYKX. I also picked up WVCN 104.3 from Baraga briefly.
Speaking of 104.3, CJQM in Sault, Ontario, is a blowtorch as well.
AM-wise, the coverage champ is easily 680 WDBC (or possibly 590 WJMS Ironwood). WDBC can be heard in Gaylord in daytime even with the poor soil conductivity.
The central U.P. has a number of FMs with big signals... 97.1 WGLQ, 104.7 WYKX, 102.5 WCMM, 103.3 WFXD, 92.3 WJPD, 100.3 WUPT, 95.7 WHWL all come to mind. WGLQ, WYKX and WCMM were strong as local stations when I was in Traverse City a couple of weeks ago, even got RDS from WYKX. I also picked up WVCN 104.3 from Baraga briefly.
Speaking of 104.3, CJQM in Sault, Ontario, is a blowtorch as well.
ChrisInMI said:Low tower height notwithstanding, WOMC still really gets out. That's why it's so hard for me to understand why I can almost never get them in HD in the Ann Arbor area. I have an easier time getting an HD signal from the much weaker Mix 92.3 than I do from WOMC.
That would probably go back to the tower height issue. If I remember correctly, HD signals are required to operate at 10% (previously 1%) or less of the maximum power for the analog station's class. WOMC, of course, is grandfathered above the 50,000 watts a class B FM is allowed to run. In other words, despite the higher analog power, WOMC is restricted to 5,000 watts and probably runs the 500 watts it ran when it first started doing HD! I don't think the original HD Radio transmitters could even go above 1,000 watts. They were designed to be reasonably priced and something broadcasters could just walk away from without worry since most stations operate unattended for extended periods of time.
Good point on WDBC, I was in St Ignace in July, and was surprised to hear WDBC well there. I did not get to the UP much as a kid, and now live way out of state. I do remember the old CFCY---I think that was it---not a MI station of course, But licensed to the Soo, on 920 seemed to do pretty well. (They are long gone now)
WDBC comes in strong enough to stop Scan/Seek on most car radios while crossing the Mackinac Bridge (so do some FMs from as far west as Iron Mountain on occasion). Speaking of Iron Mountain, I forgot to mention WIMK 93.1 as another blowtorch signal.
I think you mean CKCY? I have only very vague memories of that station and 1050 CFYN, as those stations went off the air around the time I started going up north on a regular basis. However, Radio-Locator still has coverage maps for both of them, and they seem like they had decent enough signals. I think CKCY may still be listed in the Sault (Michigan) Yellow Pages (whereas Q104 and EZ Rock 100.5 are not) - and they've been off the air for around 20 years.
The Michigan side's strongest FM signal would probably be Yes FM, but they don't get out nearly as well as Q104; I get 102.3 The Promise FM and 98.3 CMU Public Radio in Gaylord more often than I get Yes FM. However, 97.9 in Newberry has always gotten out pretty well; I remember listening to Soo Greyhounds hockey games on what was then Hot Country 97.9 clear as a bell from Gaylord in the late '90s. Since they returned to the air, WIHC broadcasts in mono, which makes them even easier to get.
I think you mean CKCY? I have only very vague memories of that station and 1050 CFYN, as those stations went off the air around the time I started going up north on a regular basis. However, Radio-Locator still has coverage maps for both of them, and they seem like they had decent enough signals. I think CKCY may still be listed in the Sault (Michigan) Yellow Pages (whereas Q104 and EZ Rock 100.5 are not) - and they've been off the air for around 20 years.
The Michigan side's strongest FM signal would probably be Yes FM, but they don't get out nearly as well as Q104; I get 102.3 The Promise FM and 98.3 CMU Public Radio in Gaylord more often than I get Yes FM. However, 97.9 in Newberry has always gotten out pretty well; I remember listening to Soo Greyhounds hockey games on what was then Hot Country 97.9 clear as a bell from Gaylord in the late '90s. Since they returned to the air, WIHC broadcasts in mono, which makes them even easier to get.
Kent said:ChrisInMI said:Low tower height notwithstanding, WOMC still really gets out. That's why it's so hard for me to understand why I can almost never get them in HD in the Ann Arbor area. I have an easier time getting an HD signal from the much weaker Mix 92.3 than I do from WOMC.
That would probably go back to the tower height issue. If I remember correctly, HD signals are required to operate at 10% (previously 1%) or less of the maximum power for the analog station's class. WOMC, of course, is grandfathered above the 50,000 watts a class B FM is allowed to run. In other words, despite the higher analog power, WOMC is restricted to 5,000 watts and probably runs the 500 watts it ran when it first started doing HD! I don't think the original HD Radio transmitters could even go above 1,000 watts. They were designed to be reasonably priced and something broadcasters could just walk away from without worry since most stations operate unattended for extended periods of time.
Kent, thanks for the explanation. WOMC's HD signal actually seems to have improved lately, at least for Oldies 104.3 HD2, but not for the HD3. I can now get Oldies 104.3 HD2 on my Insignia portable pretty reliably in Whitmore Lake, so I wonder if they upped the power on the HD2. The HD3's coverage is still pathetic; by the time you get to Sterling Heights/Utica, it already starts dropping out, so they must still be at 500 watts.
WTCM gets out a ways. It stops the scan from about Hart north to Charlevoix and can be heard as far east as Coleman on a regular basis. One time I was able to pick up WTCM on a car radio in Flushing with very little interference from WMUZ. I bet WTCM can be heard well into Wisconsin as there are zero full power stations on 103.5 in WI.
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