Does anyone listen to any of these stations from Lexington...?

[KYradioJake]

Hey, I live in the northern part of Lexington and I usually listen to these stations if none of the ones here have anything good on them at the time...: WRVG-LP 93.7 Georgetown, KY
WSWD-FM 94.9 Cincinnati
WQMF-FM 95.7 Louisville
WAMZ-FM 97.5 Louisville
WZKF-FM 98.9 Louisville
WAOL-FM 99.5 Ripley-Cincinnati
WDJX-FM 99.7 Louisville
WCYO-FM 100.7 Irvine-Richmond, KY
WEBN-FM 102.7 Cincinnati
WKED-FM 103.7 Frankfort
WPAY-FM 104.1 Portsmouth, OH
WRNZ-FM 105.1 Lancaster-Danville-Harrodsburg, KY
WQXX-FM 106.1 Morehead, KY
WLFX-FM 106.7 Berea, KY
WKFS-FM 107.1 Cincinnati (if it isn't interfering with Air 1 in Danville)

Does anyone else listen to any of these from lex. or any other distant ones that you can't get with just any old radio?
Some of these stations can have some great stuff on them at times.

...and I'm sure a considerable amount of people in Louisville, Cincinnati, etc. listen to Lexington's stations as well.

 

[William_Yeager]

When I lived in Lexington, I could get WDJX most nights in my car (BTW, it was the first secular station I heard play "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe). I can get WJIE most nights and even during the day in Lexington as well-which is more than I can say for the signal's northbound reach.

I've been able to listen to WAMZ south of Somerset. WZKF would be faint in Somerset, but I'm sure that's gone now with Air1 on at 98.9 FM.

I have only once been able to listen to WQXX in Fayette County, but I did listen to it quite a bit when traveling though Eastern Kentucky. It's not a bad small market Hot AC, although I think every third station in Eastern Kentucky is Hot AC.

 

[radioville]

I can get Lexington's 107.9 The Beat almost to Blakenbaker on I64 when I travel to Louisville.

 

[KYradioJake]

I like 104.5 The Cat here in town, and on car trips, etc I can usually receive it in Cincinnati, well past Morehead, Ky (actually it comes in great in morehead...the transmitter is on the east side of lexington anyway, so it reaches eastern ky. better), down in Corbin, and I used to be able to get it in Elizabethtown until they unnecessarily put a translator of WULF there...but I can pick it back up again as I travel south on I-65 towards Bowling Green (I lose the translator station on 104.5 about 10-15+ miles)...but a station like WLXX 92.9 The Bear or 98.1 The Bull can go much further.

 

[icycool7227]

WQXX? I've never even seen the logo! What does it sound like??? Where is the logo online? I want to see it!

When I lived in Lexington, I could get WDJX most nights in my car (BTW, it was the first secular station I heard play "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe). I can get WJIE most nights and even during the day in Lexington as well-which is more than I can say for the signal's northbound reach.

I've been able to listen to WAMZ south of Somerset. WZKF would be faint in Somerset, but I'm sure that's gone now with Air1 on at 98.9 FM.

I have only once been able to listen to WQXX in Fayette County, but I did listen to it quite a bit when traveling though Eastern Kentucky. It's not a bad small market Hot AC, although I think every third station in Eastern Kentucky is Hot AC.

 

[radiorob2.0]

Here is what I remember circa 1982 receiving in Lexington, here are the highlights:
(Oh WVLK-FM 92.9 and WLAP-FM 94.5 signed off each Sunday at midnight for weekly maintenance)

92.5 WWEZ Cincinnati (Beautiful Music)
92.9 WGTZ Eaton, OH (CHR)
93.3 WAKW Cincinnati (Religious)
93.7 WAMX Ashland (CHR)
94.1 WKXF Cincinnati (Country)
94.9 WYYS Fairfield (AC)
95.7 WQMF Jeffersonville (AOR)
96.5 WSKS Hamilton (AOR)
97.5 WAMZ Louisville (Country)
98.5 WRRM Cincinnati (AC)
99.1 WHIO Dayton (Beautiful Music)
99.7 WKJJ Louisville (AC)
100.3 WOKI Oak Ridge, TN (CHR)
100.5 WKEE Huntington (CHR)
101.1 WSGS Hazard (Country)
101.9 WKRQ Cincinnati (CHR)
102.7 WEBN Cincinnati (AOR)
103.5 WBLZ Hamilton (CHR/Urban)
104.1 WPAY Portsmouth (Country)
104.7 WTUE Dayton (AOR)
105.3 WUBE Cincinnati (Country)
105.9 WPFB Middletown (Country)
106.9 WVEZ Louisville (Beautiful Music)
107.7 WDAO Dayton (Urban)

The dial was a little different back then and the additional stations over the years made some of the above no longer an easy catch in Lexington.

 

[William_Yeager]

Rob, did Lexington have a 99.3 (now 99.1 WJMM) back then? If so, that would have made the DX of 99.1 WHIO more impressive.

 

[radiorob2.0]

I didn't include locals but WHBN Harrodsburg was at 99.3 at the time. Their antenna was on the AM tower in Harrodsburg and only transmitted 3kw. The station simulcast its AM and in the evening hours prior to sign off the FM would air beautiful music. So even when they were on the air, WHIO was possible since WHBN was 25 miles away.

It was in the nineties when Mortenson purchased 99.3, upgraded it to a C3 and moved WJMM there. IIRC they placed the antenna to WDKY's tower. Then they moved to 99.1 and COL to Keene. WJMM has been up and down the dial since they signed on. I believe they started on 100.9 then moved to 106.3 and then to 99.3 and 99.1.

Another daily catch was WOKI. Even though they were over 100 miles away a transmitter location atop a mountain made it possible. Originally, 100.1 had their antenna east of their COL Winchester but moved to halfway between Lexington and Winchester when it became WFMI. WOKI was still possible on a very selective radio as WFMI couldn't make it over a few ridges into Lexington. When 100.1 moved to WLAP's tower and added a bunch of watts, WOKI was a thing of the past.

 

[radiorob2.0]

Whoops.....WUBE was 105.1

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Whoops.....WUBE was 105.1

Back in the early 1960's, WCPO Radio in Cincinnati was on 105.1 on FM with a fairly high power and simulcasted its low-power 1230-AM rock music station. I'm told they had listeners in the Lexington area because they could hear music on it that wouldn't be played on the local stations there for some weeks. That was prior to the Danville-area station starting on that 105.1 FM frequency. Beginning in early 1966, the call-letters were changed to WUBE and the format change to country music came a couple of years later.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

Whoops.....WUBE was 105.1

Beginning in early 1966, the call-letters were changed to WUBE and the format change to country music came a couple of years later.

Must beg to differ. In the mid to late 60's (and possibly into the early 70's), 105.1 was beautiful music WCXL. WWEZ 92.5 (formerly country WZIP FM) joined the beautiful music format in the early 70's...not sure if that was as a result of WCXL having dropped the format for country or if WWEZ eventually drove WCXL out of the market. WUBE 1230 country was born in 1968 . Not having been a country fan in my high school years, I don't recall at what point in time that WUBE-FM extended the country format to FM on 105.1.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Thank you for the correction. It was the AM 1230 outlet that changed from WCPO to WUBE in 1966. WCXL at 105.1 was run by a company owned by entertainer Danny Kaye. Back when WCPO was on 105.1 on FM, it had a power of 32,000 watts. The change to WUBE on 105.1 came in 1969 with the country format forthcoming.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

Thank you for the correction. It was the AM 1230 outlet that changed from WCPO to WUBE in 1966. WCXL at 105.1 was run by a company owned by entertainer Danny Kaye. Back when WCPO was on 105.1 on FM, it had a power of 32,000 watts. The change to WUBE on 105.1 came in 1969 with the country format forthcoming.

I remember that 32,000 watts...especially when the temperature would suddenly change in the fall. The signal would then occupy 105.1 and everything within almost +/-1 mhz (well, back then 1 mc). A call to their engineer resulted in a quick fix...but whatever kind of transmitter they used in the day, it was temperature sensitive. Do you remember Al & Ed Fishman's station WAEF 98.5? Another contender in the beautiful music format, but it seems WAEF was a little more uptempo while still being all instrumental. I still recall a neighbor (who had a stroke & could not speak clearly) go on a swearing spree when WAEF went away...you just don't see listener passion like that today.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

I certainly do remember WAEF-FM. It's studios, transmitter and tower were only one block from the Cincinnati Gardens in the suburb of Golf Manor. Before moving to the 98.5 frequency, the station was at 104.3. For a time, the building had a large picture window that permitted passers-by to look in at the announcer on duty. After the window was broken, that area was bricked in. Al Fishman was basically the administrator and his brother, Ed, was the engineer. On the air, Al used the name of "Tony Ambus". His wife, Shirley, was heard on some commercials. Other announcers were: Bill Lohrman, Gary Lee, Chuck Moore, Irv Diehl, Mike Sherman, Scrib Mantle, Lee Williams and Jim Dale. There were others, of course. I got to know some of them over the years. Al & Shirley moved to Florida after WAEF-FM was sold in the early 1970's. Ed continued to live in nearby Reading, Ohio. All three are now deceased. The tower remained on the site long after the station had left the air, it's red light on top still blinking. Eventually, that building at 6004 Wiehe Road, housed a tax service. Some years ago, it was destroyed by a natural gas explosion. Nothing was ever re-built on that site.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

I certainly do remember WAEF-FM. It's studios, transmitter and tower were only one block from the Cincinnati Gardens in the suburb of Golf Manor. Before moving to the 98.5 frequency, the station was at 104.3. For a time, the building had a large picture window that permitted passers-by to look in at the announcer on duty. After the window was broken, that area was bricked in. Al Fishman was basically the administrator and his brother, Ed, was the engineer. On the air, Al used the name of "Tony Ambus". His wife, Shirley, was heard on some commercials. Other announcers were: Bill Lohrman, Gary Lee, Chuck Moore, Irv Diehl, Mike Sherman, Scrib Mantle, Lee Williams and Jim Dale. There were others, of course. I got to know some of them over the years. Al & Shirley moved to Florida after WAEF-FM was sold in the early 1970's. Ed continued to live in nearby Reading, Ohio. All three are now deceased. The tower remained on the site long after the station had left the air, it's red light on top still blinking. Eventually, that building at 6004 Wiehe Road, housed a tax service. Some years ago, it was destroyed by a natural gas explosion. Nothing was ever re-built on that site.

When I was very young, my older brother had a heathkit FM tuner that had a 104.3 mark on the dial, but there wasn't a station there. That explains that! The guy who got me started in radio (the late George Waslo) was friends with Al & Ed. I believe that WAEF used a CCA transmitter (perhaps a pair of them). George was a CCA salesman as well as an engineer at WKRC (where I went to work 2 days after George dropped dead at a Coney Island hamfest in 1975). Thanks for adding some pieces to my Cincinnati history recollections.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

I met George Waslo in 1969 when the Reading High School Radio Station - WRCJ-89.3 FM - was purchasing equipment. WAEF-FM was 104.3 from when they signed on in 1959 until they switched to 98.5 in 1964. With that frequency change, there was a power increase as well. For a time in the early 1960's, the station sold radio receivers that were set for 104.3 only. I don't know how many they sold, but pity the poor people who had them when the frequency change came about a couple of years later.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

I grew up in College Hill & listened to WRCJ 89.3 when I was in high school. A girl DJ invited me over to see the station...they had a tube type 10 watt transmitter. I wouldn't know her name if I heard it now. In 1969, George let me help him wire 107.1 in Milford's transmitter and in 1969 or 1970, we went over to WSCH 99.3 & saw that one before it was fully built--fun stuff for a 16 year old. I now take care of that station (WSCH) and often think of George when I'm there. George has a son named Billy who I haven't been it touch with for at least 10 years now...

In that these stations were audible in northern KY, I don't feel totally on the wrong board...but close.

 

[NoWayNoCC]

In the late '80s, instead of people in Lexington listening to Cincinnati stations, it was the other way around.

WLAP-FM had a surprisingly large following in parts of the Cincinnati market. I'm guessing that in the 3 major counties of northern Kentucky it had maybe a 1 share. (This was back before they ruined WLAP with that "no rap and no metal" nonsense, which became common among CHR's in the early '90s.)

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

I grew up in College Hill & listened to WRCJ 89.3 when I was in high school. A girl DJ invited me over to see the station...they had a tube type 10 watt transmitter. I wouldn't know her name if I heard it now. In 1969, George let me help him wire 107.1 in Milford's transmitter and in 1969 or 1970, we went over to WSCH 99.3 & saw that one before it was fully built--fun stuff for a 16 year old. I now take care of that station (WSCH) and often think of George when I'm there. George has a son named Billy who I haven't been it touch with for at least 10 years now...

In that these stations were audible in northern KY, I don't feel totally on the wrong board...but close.

The first day that WRCJ went on the air in September, 1969, the station broadcast the Reading-North College Hill football game from NCH. The transmitter was located in the station's main studio. The girl DJ who invited you over may have been Kim Miller who had the 3 P.M. - 5 P.M. weekday shift. I know WRCJ could be heard in Highland Heights, Ky. One of the adult advisors from the station dated a girl who lived there and she could pick it up. It did pretty good for ten watts.

 

[kyscott]

you just don't see listener passion like that today.

There's nothing for them worth getting excited over on the radio today.