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FM Frequency of the Week 2018-19: 92.5

G

gr8oldies

What do you or did you get on 92.5?

Retro-rocking through the traditional Class B/C frequencies, we'll explore.

East Tennessee: (Knoxville/Sevierville): 92.5 is probably my blankest frequency. There are no full powered, translators or LPFMs until you get over 70 miles out. The closest, WESC, Greenville SC will drift in occasionally. I've also received WBKR, Owensboro KY. Best Es catch was an LPFM...KSJC-LP, Silverton, CO.

Retro/other: In the Dayton, Ohio, area, I was somewhat surprised by how often I could get WVKS, Toledo in the northern suburbs vs. Cincinnati's WOFX, which is just fine but not overwhelming in the south suburbs. Over in Lafayette, Indiana, in the 90s, 92.5 belonged to what was WKIO often. WZWZ Kokomo eventually moved there, (3rd move for them...they moved from 93.5 to 92.7 in the Great Indiana Frequency Switch of 1985).

Retro-DX clip from Bob Hawkins' website: WMHE, Toledo being received in Cincinnati as the announcer promotes an "FM dial card" to help you know what station you're listening to. http://46124.info/FM/Ohio/OH Toledo 92.5 1968 WMHE.mp3
 
A weak WFDX Atlanta, MI. Fairly consistent and steady despite the 111 mile path. Their being nearly a full C1 at relatively high elevation helps.

I have also heard the following:
KCOL Groves, TX
KRPT Devine, TX
KVPI Ville Platte, LA
KZPS Dallas, TX
WCKN Moncks Corner, SC
WCPT DeKalb, IL
WJJQ Tomahawk, WI
WLAW Newaygo, MI (the closest 92.5 at 68 miles, but almost never heard here)
WMBZ West Bend, WI (my second most common 92.5)
WXTU Philadelphia, PA (second shortest Es ever heard at Manistee)
 
Far Northwest suburban Chicago. It's WCPT (Ex WDEK) from DeKalb IL. Fair signal from 33 miles to my south-southwest. 20kw ERP.
 
Here in the valley of the Jolly Green Giant its KQRS KQ92...playing pretty much the same music for 40 years. First when it was new and now when its "classic" rock

Class C (100kw 315m)
 
In west Houston, it's translator K223CW La Calle, with tropical (salsa, meringue, etc) in Spanish. Before they signed on, KCOL, the classic hits station in Beaumont, TX was usually heard. Back then, in tropo conditions, I could hear classic rock KAFM in Dallas often in the mornings.

I'm not sure this is still the case, but at one time, KAFM had a huge signal to the south. Driving south from DFW, you could get a listenable signal from them almost all the way to Houston, almost 200 miles. Heading north, not quite the same as you started getting the old KKNG in Oklahoma City about the time you hit the Oklahoma state line.
 
Out in Northern VA (about as far south as one can go and still be considered DC suburbs)

92.5 is normally a super-strong grandfathered Class B signal from WINC-FM over 50 miles away. On occasion I have received WYFL out of Henderson, NC and about twice a year I get the longtime NPR news/talk translator on 92.5 from Richmond.

Best on that channel was when WINC-FM was off air, I picked up WXTU out of Philly...which is highly unusual. Baltimore, Norfolk, and even Roanoke stations are regular tropo catches...90 miles up the road from Ball’mer, almost never hear any Philly stations (However, Harrisburg and coastal NJ stations are fairly common).
 
gr8oldies said:
East Tennessee: (Knoxville/Sevierville): 92.5 is probably my blankest frequency. There are no full powered, translators or LPFMs until you get over 70 miles out. The closest, WESC, Greenville SC will drift in occasionally. I've also received WBKR, Owensboro KY. Best Es catch was an LPFM...KSJC-LP, Silverton, CO.
Click to expand...

WBKR is a monster. I have listened to it in the car across vast swathes of Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and northern portions of Tennessee between Clarksville and Joelton. But I never thought to tune 92.5 when I traveled to Sevierville!
 
I don't know if I want to talk too loud, or someone will park a translator there.

PTBoardOp94 said:
WBKR is a monster. I have listened to it in the car across vast swathes of Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and northern portions of Tennessee between Clarksville and Joelton. But I never thought to tune 92.5 when I traveled to Sevierville!
Click to expand...
 
Yakima, WA

Local K223BC Naches, WA (KAWZ), which I think is a waste of a channel. They already have a strong 91.5 translator based in Yakima, just miles away. KZHR Dayton WA (Regional Mexican) is heard in the null of Naches. I have KQMV Bellevue logged, but it's very rarely heard here with the two other stations, unlike several other Seattle stations in and out all day at 90 miles over mountains.

Es Logs (all through the null of K223BC)
KOMA Oklahoma City OK (Classic Hits, 7/4/2015)
KRWN Farmington NM (Classic Rock, 7/4/2015)
KTHQ Eagar AZ (Country, 6/25/2017)
XHRM Tijuana BCN (Rhythmic AC, 6/30/2017)

There's several on my wanted list, but I think the biggest one is KCRT Trinidad CO. I think it's the one with a weather report mentioning a 'fire weather watch' that got away from me back in June of this year. KQMA in KS is another one, with their locally-based full service programming (and the fact that they still sign off every night).
 
92.5 here is local WCKN, a country station which has a powerful 100kw signal that can be ears through most of eastern SC. It easily comes in 75 miles out, as far as Orangeburg before WESC starts mixing in.

Until about 15 years ago, 92.5 was WHLZ, a rural country station from Manning, SC (about 60 miles N of Charleston) which served Florence and Charleston equally as well. It could be heard in Columbia, Charleston, Florence and Myrtle Beach.

Apex moved it in around winter ‘03, flipped it to hot AC, lasted maybe 2 years before it went top 40 to compete with heritage 95SX. It was that until 2011 when they moved the country format on 95.9 to 92.5.

If our 92.5 was ever off air, we’d probably get WESC or the Jacksonville sports station simulcast. WCKN skips into FL pretty frequently in the summer interfering with the Jacksonville station.
 
My lifelong, very casual approach to FM DX resumed its fitful way in from the move to NYC to PA.

I get the same as Ryan Howard gets -- WXTU from Philly. In the car I get WXTU going up hills and down hills here. They've been a Country station for decades now -- and a successful one. My father-in-law would have them on in the car all the time. He called it '$#!+kickin music'. He said it with respect. Little did he know that his son-in-law, who he was always trying to rile, had liked C&W since age 11!

Anyone here remember when WXTU was the terrific Top 40 'WIFI Ninety-two' ?

* * * * * * *

92.5 also came in real handy one afternoon when I was DXing the *AM* band. The usual WFAN NYC 660 was not coming in at ALL. Instead, there was this station playing cowboy records. They were there, steady but real weak, for the :20 minutes or so I listened. December 3 1996 -- and I have a taped ID from it. Upon hearing them say 'Country 93', I checked the log books. The only thing that made sense was WESC Greenville SC.
Odd that WIFI 92.5 IDed as 'WIFI 92' and that WESC-FM 92.5 IDed as 'Country 93' .....
 
Nothing on 92.5 here in Columbus, Ohio since it's right next door to local country monster WCOL on 92.3.
gr8 mentioned both WOFX from Cincinnati and WVKS from Toledo. Having attended college in the latter city, I've heard WVKS as far as south as Marion and Wapakoneta, both roughly 80 miles from Toledo as the crow flies. Not a powerhouse signal in either place but it's enough to be the only station heard in those locations.
WOFX lasts to up around Washington Court House and Springfield and I have no trouble listening to it when I'm in either of those areas or down into Xenia, east suburbs of Dayton, etc.
 
Here in Wood Dale, Illinois, WCPT DeKalb dominates with fair signal. With some tropo enhancement WMBZ West bend, WI and WLAW Newaygo, MI are possible. Those are the only 3 stations I have ever heard on this frequency.
 
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