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FM Frequency of the Week (11/5/21-11/12/21): 98.7

Z

ZantennaG1

Thank you for the vote of confidence, @MarioMania and @cyberdad, and you do a great job with that AM Frequency of the week. Originally ran by Buckeyes2001, who apparently moved on in 2014, this thread idea was picked up by @gr8oldies and Mario Mania. I will try to keep it close to the original, but with a twist. Please name a local station (optional), but also denote your farthest catch (either by Sporadic E, Tropo, Aroura, Meteor Scatter, etc.) I will also switch back and forth between commercial and non-commercial frequencies, i.e. 95.1 then 88.1 then 95.3 then 88.3. Let me know if you have any suggestions, and have fun!

From Cheyenne Wyoming,
Semi-Local: KRQU Laramie (34 miles)
Tropo/Other: Occasional visits by KSID Sidney (84 miles).
On the road, I visited Rapid City and got local KOUT (Kat 98.7)
 
Thanks for the kind words, @ZantennaG1, I'm not much of an FM DXer, but I'll jump in from time to time when I think i may have something relevant. Anyway, 98.7 for me is a local. WFMT in Chicago. Classical music from 43 miles to my southeast, which would reepresent both my closest and most distant catch from my home location. There's not much difference among the downtown Chicago full signal FM's, but for whatever reason, WFMT trends to be one of the stronger signals.
 
In Canyon Lake, Texas regular reception reveals no stations. KTXN from Victoria and KLUV from Dallas/Ft. Worth have made appearances during tropospheric conditions.

All time best E-skip on 98.7 was summer 1982 South Padre Island, Texas; the original WLLZ from Detroit was playing “Breakdown” by Tom Petty.
 
Thanks for picking this up again @ZantennaG1! I wasn't looking to commit another 3 years for this.
East Tennessee: (Knoxville/Sevierville). 98.7 is the home of rimshot WOKI, which serves as the market's News-Talk station. It covers Knox County more or less, parts of Sevier County with better reception in the northern counties up to the Kentucky line. Sometimes WKDO, Liberty City KY will make it in under WOKI. I've also caught 100,000 watt WSMV, Simon 98.7, Greensboro NC in Sevier Co, and a News-Talker. I have notes about several brief Es receptions over the years but all remain unidentified. So we'll call Greensboro my most distant.

Retro/other: Lafayette, Indiana, before it got its own 98.7, WFMT would occasionally sneak in, but with Lafayette's own station on, it would take going north of Lake Schaefer to get a hint of WFMT.
 
98.7 is a mix of a very weak KMNA Mabton (Regional Mexican) and KFXP-LP Wenatchee (Religion) here in Ellensburg. Occasionally, KUPL Portland (Country) fades in via Tr.
I heard the 'Big Boy' KSID Sidney NE this year during the enormous 2021 Es season. Many, many more also logged on this channel - including KMVP Phoenix (ESPN) which was first heard in 2015, OVER the local KMNA while I was living in Yakima! KISD Pipestone MN was logged 6/10/20 with vintage oldies music, a treat. I also heard KSNM Truth or Consequences NM and KPRF Amarillo via Es when KMNA was off one day in 2017...it turned out to be the event where I heard 97.5 Waco TX on double-hop.
Lots more in the logs, no time to check...
 
crainbebo said:
98.7 is a mix of a very weak KMNA Mabton (Regional Mexican) and KFXP-LP Wenatchee (Religion) here in Ellensburg. Occasionally, KUPL Portland (Country) fades in via Tr.
I heard the 'Big Boy' KSID Sidney NE this year during the enormous 2021 Es season. Many, many more also logged on this channel - including KMVP Phoenix (ESPN) which was first heard in 2015, OVER the local KMNA while I was living in Yakima! KISD Pipestone MN was logged 6/10/20 with vintage oldies music, a treat. I also heard KSNM Truth or Consequences NM and KPRF Amarillo via Es when KMNA was off one day in 2017...it turned out to be the event where I heard 97.5 Waco TX on double-hop.
Lots more in the logs, no time to check...
Click to expand...
That branding for KSID is still funny to me. Nice work!
 
Like Cyberdad I'm not much of an FM DXer, but about 20 miles to the south is local WFMT Chicago's Classical music station transmitting from the Sears, I mean Willis Tower. (still can't get used to that name)
 
radioman148 said:
......at 20 miles to the south is local WFMT Chicago's Classical music station transmitting from the Sears, I mean Willis Tower. (still can't get used to that name)
Click to expand...
No worries, a few days ago in another post, I referred t0 KOKC as KOMA. Blow up a legacy name/brand and that's gonna sometimes happen,
 
cyberdad said:
No worries, a few days ago in another post, I referred t0 KOKC as KOMA. Blow up a legacy name/brand and that's gonna sometimes happen,
Click to expand...
KTSB Tulsa is still KFAQ to me, and I miss having Sears at my mall.
 
ZantennaG1 said:
KTSB Tulsa is still KFAQ to me, and I miss having Sears at my mall.
Click to expand...
...and KFAQ is still KVOO to me! I grew up 4 miles from their towers.

I'm not much of an FM DXer but will contribute to these when I have something.

In west Houston 98.7 is south Asian formatted translator Radio Masala. Before this frequency (and most others tbh) got covered by local LPFM/translators, I could often get KTXN in Victoria and sometimes KLUV in DFW via tropo.
 
cyberdad said:
Thanks for the kind words, @ZantennaG1, I'm not much of an FM DXer, but I'll jump in from time to time when I think i may have something relevant. Anyway, 98.7 for me is a local. WFMT in Chicago. Classical music from 43 miles to my southeast, which would reepresent both my closest and most distant catch from my home location. There's not much difference among the downtown Chicago full signal FM's, but for whatever reason, WFMT trends to be one of the stronger signals.
Click to expand...
WFMT has always run higher power than the rest of the Chicago FMs. They somehow got that way back in the early 50s and it stuck. Even now, they're at 6,000 watts on Sears Tower. WBBM, on the same roof, is at 3,300 watts.

That extra oomph gave WFMT a devoted exurban listenership. When the 98.7 in Springfield, Ill., was licensed, there were complaints to the FCC from people who listened to WFMT off-air more than halfway to Springfield. (The WFMT signal was also piggybacked for cable systems on the WGN-TV transponders for years and received national coverage.)
 
radioman148 said:
You're right they are using the calls on FM and I believe they are co-owned.
Click to expand...
KVOO FM and KFSB (formerly KVOO AM) are indeed co-owned.

Back on the 98.7 topic, I remember getting WFMT over the local cable system in the early 80's when I lived in Ardmore OK. It was the only source of classical music in the area. Both Dallas and OKC were just out of range for decent radio reception.
 
ZantennaG1 said:
Thank you for the vote of confidence, @MarioMania and @cyberdad, and you do a great job with that AM Frequency of the week. Originally ran by Buckeyes2001, who apparently moved on in 2014, this thread idea was picked up by @gr8oldies and Mario Mania. I will try to keep it close to the original, but with a twist. Please name a local station (optional), but also denote your farthest catch (either by Sporadic E, Tropo, Aroura, Meteor Scatter, etc.) I will also switch back and forth between commercial and non-commercial frequencies, i.e. 95.1 then 88.1 then 95.3 then 88.3. Let me know if you have any suggestions, and have fun!

From Cheyenne Wyoming,
Semi-Local: KRQU Laramie (34 miles)
Tropo/Other: Occasional visits by KSID Sidney (84 miles).
On the road, I visited Rapid City and got local KOUT (Kat 98.7)
Click to expand...


Here's the KRQU 98.7 transmitter and STL sitting right next to KTDX 89.3 (out of view in this shot)
https://imgur.com/a/d2rotY7

KRQU is fed by an STL from the studio in downtown Laramie. KTDX is fed by an IP Stream.
This is the KRQU and fake bird on the roof of their building at Grand & South 2nd in Laramie:
https://imgur.com/a/AbdPRPm

KLWV is in the same building as are two wireless ISPs. On the same very small hill is KCGY 95.1 and KUWR 91.9 Drive around laramie, KUWR and KCGY 95.1 mix, among other places on 98.3. No one has filters for any of them.

KOWB 1290 is just off the highway, studios at the base of the 3 towers. about 1/2 mile fiurther down the side road past KOWBN is KHAT 1210.. no fitlers in either, and they have splatters/harmonics/mixing all over the dial.

KLMI-FM1 is on the same hill as one of the larmaie pl;ains tv association translators.

KIMX 104.9, a 100.3 translator for CSN and the 96.7 translator are on the same hill as the weather service radio transmitter
 
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