Hearing Red Sox Broadcasts

[BRNout]

The only Red Sox affiliate that can be heard on the radio to the west of New England is WTIC 1080 - which is where I now hear the games in PA. That station should be available at night (at varying signal quality) from roughly Atlanta to Chicago and eastward. Farther west, you'd probably get KRLD Dallas on 1080 instead.

Well.... There's a local ethnic operation on 1080 here in suburban Chicago. The signal's not great, but its enough to dominate the channel. Even before that came on the air, WTIC was pretty much inaudible in this area. KRLD was(is) pretty faint, but still stronger than WTIC. (As for WRKO, I've never heard it here. If you can ever pull anything out from under our local 670 blowtorch, its usually either CFTR, WPTF, or KFEQ. 'BZ is the only New England regular in these parts.)

I used Chicago as a rough outer limit because I was listening to WTIC just fine on a recent trip to Lafayette and Valparaiso, Indiana. While its true that there is a Polnet station on 1080, I think that station signs off after critical hours. Even if it doesn't, you can pick up WTIC (weakly) in the rural lands outside of Chicago. I've heard it in SE Wisconsin too. Not like WBZ (which booms in), but audible.

You'll never, ever, get WRKO in a place like Chicago. In fact, I have barely picked up traces of it here in Pennsylvania - even on my very best radio. And, then it was almost inaudible under WCBM Baltimore. The only place where I have picked WRKO up via skywave to the west of Boston was in Albany. And, it around midnight and was very weak. Almost all of WRKO's power is directed northeast, east and southeast of its transmitter site in Burlington, MA. It even comes in poorly in Boston's western suburbs at night.

 

[cyberdad]

Re: WRKO

It even comes in poorly in Boston's western suburbs at night.

I've noticed that from personal experience.

I've never heard it outside of New England other than occasionally briefly under CFTR in parts of Quebec. Lots of big signals on 680 protecting each other at night...and then there's the blowtorch in San Francisco (which booms nightly everywhere on the west coast from Mexico to Canada). Expatriate Sox fans need to get XM.

 

[webcastboy]

Expatriate Sox fans need to get XM.

The problem with this is that XM always carries the home-field announcers...so if the Sox are playing at Yankee Stadium, it means XM has the Yankees' announcers. UGH! I'd rather deal with weak-ass WTIC skywave than listen to that!

BTW, I have successfully listened to WEEI (which has a similar pattern to WRKO) all the way up I-95 to Bangor, Maine via nighttime skywave...maybe groundwave, too, 95 isn't too far from the coast most of the time. It was pretty weak for the last hour or so of the trip, but it was listenable. I've also gotten WRKO out towards the Berkshires around sunset when they were still on day pattern but skywave was starting up...OTOH, WRKO pretty much disappears by Natick later at night when they're on night pattern and skywave from other stations roars in.