To radioman148 ...
From Capitol Hill's west side, my signal is heard on the East side of Queen Anne Hill, Wallingford, parts of the U district, Ballard- and down south covering the north end of Beacon hill, Montlake, SODO with a good car radio. Of course rooftop FM antennas are best for home listening at these fringes mentioned above. It may go out to parts of West Seattle Alki area as well with a good receiving antenna. As for coverage in the city center area; The top West side of Capitol Hill all the way to just before the drop off below the Seattle Center is very clear. Downtown is touch and go but fairly good as one gets closer to I-5. The signal is very clear on good car radios all along I-5 from the Tully's Coffee plant down south all the way to the U District up north. Parts of the Mountlake Cut report good reception on the East side of Capitol Hill though most of Madison Valley probably misses out. The signal also reaches into the CD as it travels down south to cover Montlake (above the I-90 bridge tunnel).
So... With a decent car radio: up to around 6 miles is possible (would probably be GREAT reception with a good rooftop antenna pointed correctly)... but the best reception is on the west side of cap hill, along I-5, Cascade neighborhood, lower and South East Queen Anne Hill.
And ya... I run what I somewhat jokingly call a 'Part 14. something... almost Part 15 station'. I have 1.5 watts at the transmitter going into a 5/4 wave dipole, amounting to around 6 watts ERP. Consider though that it is just a single dipole element (due to having to be stealthy into a tree outside of my apartment building), and I do have a few tall buildings nearby that are taller than the building I broadcast from. It is not the best place on the hill to be transmitting from- due to the tall buildings it is probably one of the worst actually, so my what power I do have is limited in what it can accomplish... Though I must say that I do cover an area that is a lot larger than I thought I would with what I got. I could have chose to get a 6 watt power amp for roughly the same price I paid for my 1.5 watt, but I chose not to be greedy- and a total a-hole, etc... heck I know I haven't got a license and really only planned to cover the hill. More power would be good for better building penetration... AND WHAT WHORE COULDN'T USE A LITTLE MORE PE---- never mind. Back to the subject
I think it would be in my and the stations best interests to wait to boost power when I am given proper authority to use the space in the first place.
.....hmmmm, 6 wouldn't hurt to bad now, would it?
DJ Alan
;D