Market with the strongest FM signals overall

[BRNout]

As Albuquerque is prominently mentioned here, then Salt Lake City should be as well. It has a very similar setup, with most of the FMs in the market broadcasting from the Oquirrh Mountains and having transmitters at between 3,500 and 4,000 feet AAT (or around 9,800' above MSL). While terrain does cause shadowing here and there (as is the case with Denver), these signals get out as far south as parts of I-70 in the San Rafael Swell, the Delta area, nearly to Wells, NV, beyond Evanston, WY and as far as southern Idaho along I-84 and I-15. And this is not counting the networks of boosters and translators that some Salt Lake FMs have which pipe their signals all over the state of UT as well as parts of ID, NV and WY. In fact, the last time I was around Kanab, KSFI (FM-100( could be heard into Arizona. That's a pretty awesome range.

Don't sleep on Colorado Springs or Denver either; I've picked up Denver FMs as far south as Raton Pass and as far north as past Cheyenne and Laramie, WY. Both markets have signals that are skewed significantly to the east by having transmitters on Front Range peaks that cannot penetrate the continental divide. But they sure do get out to the north, east and south.

Los Angeles gets an honorable mention, as some of it's FMs (KRTH, KBIG) have incredible ranges although most are merely good to excellent.

 

[Kent]

Don't sleep on Colorado Springs or Denver either; I've picked up Denver FM as far south as Raton Pass and as far north as past Cheyenne and Laramie, WY. Both markets have signals that are skewed significantly to the east by having transmitters on Front Range peaks that cannot penetrate the continental divide. But they sure do get out to the north, east and south.

I spent a summer in Denver 22 years ago, and, on the I-70 run, I got the bulk of Denver stations around Goodland, KS. Same for some of the stronger Colorado Springs facilities. On the way out of town, they didn’t do nearly as well. Most were gone just past Limon. Going down I-25, the Denver stations were consistent to about the Air Force Academy exit. They were listenable past that point, at least on a good car radio, but they didn’t sound local. Going the other way, Colorado Springs stations were listenable on good car radios/home stereos around the Tech Center, but, again, they definitely sounded distant.

 

[Mark Roberts]

I spent a summer in Denver 22 years ago, and, on the I-70 run, I got the bulk of Denver stations around Goodland, KS. Same for some of the stronger Colorado Springs facilities. On the way out of town, they didn’t do nearly as well. Most were gone just past Limon. Going down I-25, the Denver stations were consistent to about the Air Force Academy exit. They were listenable past that point, at least on a good car radio, but they didn’t sound local. Going the other way, Colorado Springs stations were listenable on good car radios/home stereos around the Tech Center, but, again, they definitely sounded distant.

After we closed on our house in Denver, I brought a Tecsun PL-320 over to see what reception was like. At least in the morning, KILO from Colorado Springs came in with enough strength to trigger stereo decoding. There may have been a couple of others, but KILO was very recognizable.

 

[JeeperOne]

Well stations here in Colorado have the advantage of using Mountains that are AT KEAST a mile in elevation as transmitter sites

So if THAT doesn't tell you anything, I dunno WHAT will

 

[JeeperOne]

Let's also look at the stations in Colorado. While FM stations in Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo have their towers on nearby peaks with reasonable "Height Above Average Terrain," the average terrain in Colorado is often more than a mile above sea level. (Denver is known as "The Mile High City.")

Take Audacy's classic rock KQMT 99.5 Denver for example. 74,000 watts at 1,183 feet HAAT. But how high is that above sea level? 7,480 feet!

Travel down to Colorado Springs. Cumulus' AC station 92.9 KKPK is 60,000 watts at 2,198 feet HAAT. But height above sea level? 9,587 feet. Try climbing that!

iHeart's Top 40 station in Pueblo, 98.9 KKMG is 57,000 watts at 2,280 feet HAAT. Above sea level? 9,665 feet.

It's not uncommon to hear these stations 150 miles or more from their towers.

I spent a summer in Denver 22 years ago, and, on the I-70 run, I got the bulk of Denver stations around Goodland, KS. Same for some of the stronger Colorado Springs facilities. On the way out of town, they didn’t do nearly as well. Most were gone just past Limon. Going down I-25, the Denver stations were consistent to about the Air Force Academy exit. They were listenable past that point, at least on a good car radio, but they didn’t sound local. Going the other way, Colorado Springs stations were listenable on good car radios/home stereos around the Tech Center, but, again, they definitely sounded distant.

Two reasons for this - Monument Hill & Pikes Peak

 

[JeeperOne]

I spent a summer in Denver 22 years ago, and, on the I-70 run, I got the bulk of Denver stations around Goodland, KS. Same for some of the stronger Colorado Springs facilities. On the way out of town, they didn’t do nearly as well. Most were gone just past Limon. Going down I-25, the Denver stations were consistent to about the Air Force Academy exit. They were listenable past that point, at least on a good car radio, but they didn’t sound local. Going the other way, Colorado Springs stations were listenable on good car radios/home stereos around the Tech Center, but, again, they definitely sounded distant.

On the TV side - Back in the Summer 1999 of 1998, I went on a trip ro Waxahachie, TX to attend the wedding of one of my brothers (That's a different story for a forum )

Among the things I carried with me on the trip my was Ham Radio HT to work some of the repeaters down there, my Walkman to do a little Broadcast Radio DXing (Never had ANY luck with that) & my 2 inch TV to do a little Broadcast TV DXing (Wjere I had THE MOST fun). I was with Mom & Dad & we went Greyhound (Plane Tickets to DFW were too expen$ive) so we knew it was going to be A LONG trip

The Trip Down To Waxahachie

Everything was pretty boring until we left Colorado Springs. As it was around 4:00 PM, I started my Broadcast TV Dxing by watching Star Trek: TOS on KRDO 13 (ABC). This lasted till we neared the town of Lamar, CO (I think I lost it on Channel 13 shortly before then. Little did I know at the time they had a translator on Channel 68 which used to belong to KBDI 12 (PBS in Broomfield) but as you'll see later, I discovered this on the trip back

After we left Lamar, I fell asleep till we reached one of those Blink & you miss it towns somewhere in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Not long after that, we crossed over into Texas North of Amarillo where I started to pull in a CBS station I thought was on Channel 9 (Turns out it was KFDA on Channel 10 in Amarillo) which was broadcasting 48 Hours at the time.

That gave me some idea what time it was - 9:30 PM CT / 8l39 OM MT

After a layover in Amarillo, we hit the road again. On the way out, I spun around the dial to see wjat was on. I think I landed on KAMR Channel 4 which by then was broadcasting The Tpnight Show but for a station that was supposed to be IN Amarillo, it didn't seem to be very local. I believe I also landed on KVII Channel 7 which I'm sure was carrying Nightline at the time, but I can't say for sure. I then landed on Channel 14 (Sorry I forget the calls now) which was carrying an episode of Murphy Brown at the time & for a UHF station, it was VERY local. Finally before losing the Amarillo stations (And ANY TV station for the remainder of the night), I stumbled across a station on Channel 65 (Or 84 ir 66??) (Sorry I didn't catch the calls for this station) which was carrying a Talk show (If I remember right. it was Montel Williams) & I have to say that for a high end UHF station, I was VERY impressed with its signal

In the morning, I again turned on the TV when the bus arrived in Wichita Falls. I got NOTHING but a CBS (??) station on Channel 12 (Which was UNWATCHABLE for a local station (FAR WORSE than KAMR was the previous night as I could AT LEAST get picture AND sound there). Not long after we left Wichita Falls, I spotted this TALL tower which I KNEW was an antenna tower of some kind. This told me we were nearing Fort. Worth

ALMOST IMMEDIATELY after we got on the East side of the tower, I started spinning the dial for the DFW stations, sticking to the VHF band for some strange reason. Gpt ALL of them (Except Channels 2 & 13) as we were approaching Fprt Worth - KDFW 4 (Fox), KXAS 5 (NBC), WFAA 8 (ABC) & KTVT 11 (CBS)

Between Fort Worth & Dallas, I just parked the TV on KTVT 11 & watched it till the external battery I had finally went dead

The Trip Back Home

I didn;t do any Broadcast DXing (Of Radio OR TV) as I was talking to some local Hams on one of tghe Wichita Falls repeaters. After my conversation with them ended (By then we were West of Wichita Falls), I knew that Broadcast TV DXing wasn't going to be an option till we got to Amarillo so I instead got out my Walkman to see what I could get on that thing

There were still HOURS of Daylight & since the metal of the bus would attenuate AM signals, AM Broadcast DXing was out of the question. But there was still a question as to what was on FM that I could get. I scanned & scanned & scanned & ALL I got was some station FOR MILES was some Country station which NEVER seemed to ID itself at the top of the hour like Radio stations are SUPPOSED tro do on 93.5 as we went along U,S, 287. This station lasted MORE than HALFWAY to Amarillo

After another layover in Amarillo, I didn't pick anything up until we reached Blink & you miss it town in the Oklahoma Panhandle when I stumbled across KAKE 10 (ABC) out of Wichita, KS (Which was VERY weak but considering the distance (A bee line North of Dallas on I-35), it was most impressive to see) which was about to going to ABC News Now for the night. This lasted until it had to give way to KKTV 11 (CBS) near Lamar (KKTV 11 had begun a repeat of Wheel Of Fortune (A rarity for Sunday Night & Late Night in general) which I watched)

After a quick peek at what KRDO 13 (Via its Channel 68 translator) had on (Which I don't recall what it was now), I then stumbled across KOAA 5 (NBC via the Channel 30 side) which was airing the 1977 version of King Kong which I wsatched all the way into Colorado Springs

From there, I decided to do a little REVERSE Broadcast TV DXing between Colorado Springs & Denver. I had been DXing Colorado Springs Radio & TV stations from Denver since I was a Teenager but I had NEVER done ANY Broadcast DXing pf Denver stations from Colorado Springs

With the TV still on, I started with it & spun the the dial looking for the Denver stations. THE ONLY one that came up with ANY amount of consistency was KUSA 9 (NBC). Tired & just wanting to get home ASAP, I parked on KUSA 9 & watched the news all the way into Denver

To this day, I have yet to DX any of the Denver Radio stations from Colorado Springs. Maybe one of these days, I will

 

[MVB13]

I would say a signal I think has great range is WSPK-FM on 104.7 in Poughkeepsie, New York. They can be heard from Danbury, CT to Matamoras, PA and Milford, PA. As for NYC stations, WXBK-FM has a good range, it can be heard from Manhattan to Sussex County, NJ.

 

[Kent]

As for NYC stations, WXBK-FM has a good range, it can be heard from Manhattan to Sussex County, NJ.

Yet it does a relatively poor job of covering its own market.

I had a similar experience as a teenager. Earlier in this thread, I mentioned that my parents were adamantly opposed to paying for cable because “you can watch TV for free.” My dad put an outdoor VHF antenna on our roof, and I found out it could be wired into the stereo in my bedroom. What a revelation! I could regularly get KZRK/KDGE 94.5 out of Dallas at my house more than 200 miles away from the city itself. 94.5, however, did a poor job of covering the entire market because its tower was 50+ miles to the north. Today, the area where I mostly grew up has too many stations on 94.5 around it for that to be possible, but, much like WXBK, it got out quite far in one direction while failing to cover its own market.

 

[CentralFL]

I would say a signal I think has great range is WSPK-FM on 104.7 in Poughkeepsie, New York. They can be heard from Danbury, CT to Matamoras, PA and Milford, PA. As for NYC stations, WXBK-FM has a good range, it can be heard from Manhattan to Sussex County, NJ.

Before they started adding more stations in the 1990s, WSPK had a good signal on Long Island. Their top of the hour used to say, "Serving New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and little tiny bit of Vermont". They have been and still are a great CHR.

 

[MVB13]

Before they started adding more stations in the 1990s, WSPK had a good signal on Long Island. Their top of the hour used to say, "Serving New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and little tiny bit of Vermont". They have been and still are a great CHR.

They do cover part of Northern Sussex County in NJ.

 

[Signal Geek]

Just look at KSKS in Fresno; the [potential] reach of the signal is insane, at 68,000 watts!

Back in the 1970s, I used to pick up KSKS 93.7 Fresno regularly (albeit faintly) in Southern Marin County-- about 150 miles from their transmitter.