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Best FM translator signal

C

charlestondxman

I have been DXing for many years, and over the last few years, I have found many translators that have populated the dials locally. Many open frequencies in areas around us have been filled by them.

There are some good examples. In Charleston in 2009, a translator signed on at 99.3 with 250 watts. Their signal is on a AM radio tower in West Ashley. They can be heard easily for at least 15 to 20 miles from their transmitter. I've heard them almost to Moncks Corner.

Savannah has a simulcast of WTKS at 97.7 that signed on a few months ago and it is listenable on Hilton Head. I've heard it in Charleston several times.

What's the best FM translator signal you've found?
 
Pittsburgh has its share of translators, too.

Jeannette-licensed WKFB-770 and Irwin-licensed WKHB-620 have different sorts of oldies overnight, respectively, on FM 97.5 out of Monroeville and FM 94.1 out of Clairton. FM 97.5 gives daytimer WKFB a night signal, FM 94.1 extends a reduced night-signal AM 620 into Pittsburgh.

WAMO-660 has FM 100.1, which is moving from the KDKA-2 tower north of Pittsburgh to the WDDZ-1250 tower south of Pittsburgh, to reach more minority audiences in such places as McKeesport, Duquesne and Clairton.

He's Alive Radio has FM 97.9 in Jeannette, extending an only-slightly-higher-power WRWJ-88.1 out of Murrysville.

For what it's worth, I keep FM 97.5 as a pre-set. I like the oldies mix there.
 
Back in the days before many translators utilized the 250 watt maximum (with no limits on tower heights) we had several which only used like 13, 27, 38 watts. These would make it up to 10 miles with a usable signal and can be heard up to 40 miles if you're in JUUUUUST the right spot.

These new 250 watt deals are pretty potent. My breadwinner has to be W267BE 101.3 from Angola, IN. They are atop a tall tower on some of the highest terrain in Northern Indiana. They have an amazing height above the average ground level (AGL) to boot. As such, i've carried them to Fort Wayne, IN (40 miles south) without a problem. Copied them (not a usable signal, but there) in my dad's hometown of Monroeville, IN (50 miles south). They had their last gasp on I-69 near Van Buren, IN. A good 70 mile reception! Not bad for 250 watts!

And in a very interesting twist, W267BE actually outlasted their 4,000 watt parent station WLKI 100.3 on this particular evening. I checked them at the same location in Van Buren, IN and was getting WYGB from Edinburgh, IN instead, becoming one of THEIR best reception reports yet.
 
They've popped up like tumbleweeds in SC. Almost every market has at least one or two of them. In Myrtle Beach they made a sports translator of an AM at 101.9, and there's many spots on the South Strand where the FM is better than the 5kw AM at 1050.

Before WKZQ moved on 96.1, there was a translator at 96.3 there that sometimes could be heard in the Charleston area.

Florence has one at 98.9 which is potent in that area, blocking out McClellanville's 98.9.
 
Since W256BT 99.1 signed on in Cleveland I would have to say that's the best one I have heard as far as signal reach goes. Even though WFRO 99.1 blocks their signal where I am in Vermilion, OH I have heard them punch through at times and if WFRO were to be off air, I'm sure W256BT would be there with a solid signal here.

IDing translator FM's might be easier than IDing other FMs since the 3 digits in the callsign indicate the FM channel the station broadcasts on - in the above case, channel 256 or 99.1 MHz.
 
The 100.3 in Broward County, FL, which relays 610 WIOD, does a fantastic cover age job---R-L sez 198 watts. High tower, I would assume.

At least one of our full power Clear Channel FM's, when giving out traffic or weather, reminds us to tune to 100.3 for more news, but I don't hear about 610! Ah, the future of AM radio....

cd
 
I could get a 1 watt translator, W265AA, in Petoskey, MI about 10 miles in the car. It was a translator for WKPK Gaylord, to fill in the signal in the low lying areas along Lake Michigan. The tower was on the Perry Hotel, and had one Horizontal and one Vertical 5 element Yagi antenna, most likely made by Scala. The translator went off the air when a full power FM signed on in East Jordan on 100.9. Translators were limited to 1 watt east of the Mississippi River, which considerably slowed development. Even at 50 watts limited by the Agreement with Canada, there were few interested applicants.

Some people think there are all kinds of translator opportunities left, but in major cities, there would be about 20 usable frequencies at the most, and if they are duplicated, they will have very little service area. They certainly won't come close to serving the whole market, and the situation with WIOT and other Class Bs that seek to fully protect their 54 dBu service areas will further limit it. In the Detroit area, many frequencies on second adjacents are already duplicated in nearby markets and in Canada.

While these serve as a temporary solution, the only long term solution that will solve many problems will be to expand the FM band, and promote rapid migration to the new band by offering substantial power increases and station status on agreement to vacate the AM frequency, for example. But better AM facilities should also be preserved, and only the worst facilities totally vacated. There is no sense getting rid of higher power and other better facilities when lesser facilities remain.
 
I've gotten W241AG Sheboygan, WI multiple times in Manistee, MI at nearly 80 miles. Same with W263BQ Sheboygan

W235BN Grand Rapids, MI can be heard in Holland (22 miles) and Allegan (27 miles)

I've heard W224CA Ludington, MI in Wellston (32 miles) and W285DY Ludington sometimes makes the trip to Manistee (23 miles)

W272CR Petoskey, MI is listenable in Traverse City (39 miles)

I heard a weak W273AR Paw Paw, MI at the Grand Rapids airport (40 miles) last week
 
It is not difficult to find translators with coverage essentially identical to that of a Class A station. I've seen some applications out West that probably significantly *exceed* a Class A signal.

If you're counting the furthest you've heard a translator... KUNC in Fort Collins has one on 93.5 somewhere in eastern Colorado that's made the 1,000-mile trip to my antenna in Tennessee. Twice. But that's obviously not regular daily coverage!
 
w9wi said:
It is not difficult to find translators with coverage essentially identical to that of a Class A station. I've seen some applications out West that probably significantly *exceed* a Class A signal.
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Here in Texas several Austin translators have that kind of coverage. One example is K276EL on 103.1, a recent move-in from San Marcos. They run 250 watts with HAAT of about 1,200 feet: http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=K276EL&service=FX&status=L&hours=U
 
w9wi said:
It is not difficult to find translators with coverage essentially identical to that of a Class A station. I've seen some applications out West that probably significantly *exceed* a Class A signal.

If you're counting the furthest you've heard a translator... KUNC in Fort Collins has one on 93.5 somewhere in eastern Colorado that's made the 1,000-mile trip to my antenna in Tennessee. Twice. But that's obviously not regular daily coverage!
Click to expand...

Good work; I have yet to catch a translator via Es. However I was able to ID for a DXer in Massachusetts the 100.5 which was //AM 590 Clewiston FL "Radio Fiesta" 2-3 years ago; today that station is Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel.

cd
 
I DID have K205CW Follett, TX during Es three years ago on 88.9 FM (repeats KJIL). At the time of the signal I had doubts it was KNGM Guymon because that area (including Dodge City) did not show up for another hour into the opening. The first station I logged was KUNM 89.9-NM, a relog, and after the Follett, TX log, it was KTRA-102.1 NM as well. So I don't think I had Guymon because paths were to New Mexico, NOT Oklahoma, at the time. I would have noticed the Western KS stuff if it was to that area at the time. Power was 226 watts.

-crainbebo
 
I DID have K205CW Follett, TX during Es three years ago on 88.9 FM (repeats KJIL). At the time of the signal I had doubts it was KNGM Guymon because that area (including Dodge City) did not show up for another hour into the opening. The first station I logged was KUNM 89.9-NM, a relog, and after the Follett, TX log, it was KTRA-102.1 NM as well. So I don't think I had Guymon because paths were to New Mexico, NOT Oklahoma, at the time. I would have noticed the Western KS stuff if it was to that area at the time. Power was 226 watts.
Click to expand...

I never log translators that share frequencies with their full-power parent station. You just never know which one you're hearing. Either way, translators are indeed possible via Es. I logged a 93.3 xltr (K227BU Douglas, WY) during an intense opening last summer. They called themselves 'KKTY'. Upon further research, I discovered KKTY 1470 with the translator.

Also, I have to comment on the original poster on 99.1 in Cleveland, OH. I heard a very suspicious hiss underneath WFRO while on the Cedar Point Causeway last summer. I suspect that was a het from the xltr, which at that point had absolutely no land path. I never did get the signal to rise above WFRO, but I do think that was them festering underneath.
 
W235AV 94.9 at about 40 miles @ 230 watts
W212AF 90.3 at about 30 miles @ 15 watts
W275BH 102.9 at about 20 miles @ 97 watts

all three have CP's for xmtr increases and/or location moves so who knows if these figures are correct
 
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