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FM station with largest coverage map?

wildthangjim said:
When I lived in Bakersfield in 1997, I remember KRUZ usually put in a solid signal, despite being on the other side of the coastal mountain range.

I used to drive between Houston and Dallas fairly often in the 80's and can remember several of the big Dallas stations (KZPS 92.5 for one) usually being listenable almost to Conroe. Coming back, KRBE 104.1 and KKBQ 92.9 hung in there til Corsicana most days.
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I used to drive I45 years ago...KRBE would rarely make Corsicana on a good day..same with KKBQ...normal listening coverage was between Madisonville and Buffalo, where Cedar Hill stations would start coming in..
1998 to 2001 I was CE of KDMX and KEGL. I had just moved the Eagle to its new, now current, location on the Cowboy tower with the Harris CBR omni antenna in late 98. It had better coverage down I45 than KDMX with its side mounted POS Shively, both at 1500ft. In fact, I could turn on the Aux over on the Hill tower which was only 1000ft and had a side mounted ERI and it would cover the 102.9 main in Buffalo...I hated that Shively..
 
crainbebo said:
KPQ-FM 102.1 Wenatchee by a long shot. That 6800' Mission Peak transmitter location works the most incredible wonders. Can be heard in just about all of eastern Washington, and in Tri-Cities and Spokane, heard on radios that have good selectivity against 101.9 locals. I bet it could be heard all the way to western MT on high mountain peaks. We have a DXer who heard KPQ reliably at Mt. Spokane.
I've heard them in the Seattle area in many spots, including my old place in Bothell. Knife-edge off the Cascades probably helped. Heard them in Hoodsport several years ago, 130 miles W, next to Hood Canal.

KFFM 107.3 Yakima, too. They are reliable in areas that get little reception. They are variable but audible in Cle Elum, which is literally a big BOWL for FM. Locals and not much else, with hills blocking everything else. In town, forget listening to even 104.1 KXDD. I've heard them out to Moses Lake and I'm sure they can be heard into the Okanogan and Selkirk mountains. Yet in Tri-Cities, entirely blocked by a translator.

Over in western Washington, KXXO 96.1 used to have an even bigger range when they were at Rooster Rock, near the little town of Cinebar, WA. RELIABLY heard in every city and suburb in the Seattle area. Only when you hit Marysville did CHKG Vancouver take over with their Chinese programming. RELIABLY heard in Portland (of course, a 96.3 is now on), as well as the Washington coast. In South King County, they were just as strong as Seattle locals. They later moved to Capitol Peak near Olympia, which is not a bad spot either. I think it might be a little more noisier in the Seattle rimshot area, as 102.9 is on that same spot and where I lived was often multi pathed.
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On the topic of KXXO, their new site does provide god coverage in their COL, but there is a marked difference in the more northern communities. 102.9 is the strongest signal on Capital Peak, and I would make the argument that they are a bit like KPQ in Eastern Washington. I've heard them all around the west side of the mountains, from the Olympic Peninsula all of the way up to Bellingham. 96.1 doesn't quite pack the same punch, as they run half the power as 102.9 and have co-channels and first-adjacent channels to deal with.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Remember, though, that the station is protected only to about the area of the red contour. And 95% of the home and work listening will be inside that red contour.
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That is a good point, David. I think a good question to raise is if we are considering the largest red contour, or largest total listening area in general.
 
Let's nominate WZHT "Hot 105.7" Troy/Montgomery. That station has a monster coverage area for a 100,000 watt broadcast. They still broadcast from the tall WSFA TV tower, in the Grady area, just south of the Gump.

I also want to nominate WBAM "Bama Country 98.9" Montgomery too. They have a monster coverage area for a 100,000 watt broadcast and their transmitter is located near the WSFA TV tall tower.

Let's finish off this list, with WHHY "Y-102" and WMXS "Mix 103.3" Montgomery. Those two stations broadcast from behind the Eastdale Mall and put out a very powerful signal for two 100,000 watt radio stations.

Dan <><

Although Mr. Roscoe "Killer Diller" Miller may not have a 100,000 watt radio station, his seven broadcasts of "The Big KD" brand cover a big area of SouthWest, SouthEast, SouthCentral, The Black Belt and Gump area of Alabama. (94.1, 95.7, 96.7, 102.7, 106.3, 920 and 950)

In closing...I've been known to pick up many radio stations from Meridian, Tuscaloosa, Mobile, Birmingham and Dothan, when the winds are blowing right.​
 
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RadioPatrol said:
KQED-FM San Francisco is the big one for San Francisco its a flamethrower on the FM side at 110kw.

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That looks to be a 60 mile local/ red line contour.
Effective Radiated Power110,000 Watts
Height above Avg. Terrain387 meters (1270 feet)
Height above Ground Level59 meters (194 feet)
Height above Sea Level432 meters (1417 feet)

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I'm sure KQED will make it into the Yosemite and Sierra regions as the elevation increases. Some of those locations are wild for FM DX and Sacramento/S.F. can be strong.
 
A few weeks ago, I heard a caller on 103.5 WTCM saying that they were driving over the Mackinac Bridge. The southern end of the Bridge is over 100 miles from WTCM's tower on a plateau between Buckley and Mesick. To the south, WTCM is rock solid in Hart and only starts to fade there due to terrain
 
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