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Live In San Antonio But Listen To Austin Stations?

W

willdav713

Someone should have started this topic. Guess it would be me.

Tell me if you are one of the many people out there in San Antonio that love to pull in Austin Stations in their car, home, or portable radio to listen to Austin radio, and what makes listening to that station better than their San Antonio counterpart if any.
 
On Sunday March 20th I was pulling in KKMJ Majic 95.5 down Nacodogches and MacArthur View going to a Tea Party meet the Candidates forum for the City Of San Antonio and I was able to pick up on a car stereo Majic 95.5 Super Songs of the 70s bleeding in with Corpus Christi's KZFM Z-95 everytime going over power lines. Reason being: because I like 70s music, and San Antonio plays a lot of 80s music.

I also recall pulling in 101x in 1999 from Austin listening to Retro Rage at Paradox, KFGI 94.7, KEYI 103.5 and KFHI 96.7 during the early 90s via Stereo hookup to the CATV mains of Paragon Cable using a CATV transformer you know that little gadget that let you hook up a non cable ready tv to a converter box.
 
103.5 is the most likely to be picked up in San Antonio because its tower is the furthest south.
It is 100,000 watts licensed to San Marcos and the tower is in Hays County. Most of the Austin FMs have their towers in West Lake Hills just west of downtown Austin.
 
When I travel to San Antonio, I am able to pull in 94.7, 96.7, 98.1 and 100.7 without interference, in the north part of town. The signals fade going into downtown.

93.7 I figured would pull in, but I guess SA has a Spanish translator station on that frequency.


I used to be able to pull in 103.5 as far south as Military Dr, but after they got their new and improved antenna, I barely pick up 103.5 past North Loop 410. I used to pick it up on my "Seek" button in my car as far south as Downtown, but not anymore... Is their new antenna "directional" now or what? Does it point in the Austin (north) direction? hmm...

The best area to listen to Austin Stations in SA is near Stone Oak, the Forum, Live Oak, and Even as far as the North Star Mall area. Try it.

Strongest signals in order....
96.7
94.7
100.7
98.1
103.5 (used to be strongest)
 
Keep in mind that several Austin stations used to show up in the San Antonio ratings above a 1.0 share. I believe both KROX-FM 101.5 and KAMX 94.7 did so frequently in addition to 103.5. I remember you could easily pull 103.5 in on a Walkman in San Antonio 20 years ago. By '94, you could still get the station on most car radios, but the 103.7 translator made it pretty tough on a Walkman.

KROX-FM changed its COL, moved to Westlake and cut its power. It dropped from the San Antonio Arbs immediately.
 
Kent said:
Keep in mind that several Austin stations used to show up in the San Antonio ratings above a 1.0 share. I believe both KROX-FM 101.5 and KAMX 94.7 did so frequently in addition to 103.5. I remember you could easily pull 103.5 in on a Walkman in San Antonio 20 years ago. By '94, you could still get the station on most car radios, but the 103.7 translator made it pretty tough on a Walkman.

KROX-FM changed its COL, moved to Westlake and cut its power. It dropped from the San Antonio Arbs immediately.
Click to expand...

KROX was in Giddings then moved to Buda in 2000. KAMX moved further from San Antonio but closer to Luling back in 1998 that's what prompted Urban/Urban AC KSJL to flip to Top 40 KXXM.
 
I thought KAMX and KEYI/KBPA shared the same tower, right? And what would be a good idea would be for KROX to move it's antenna from West Lake Hills to Buda where KBPA is now. Therefore it's right by it's COL.

And btw, 94.7 is hard to pick up on my walkman in Luling, which coincidentally is it's COL. hmmm...
 
103.5 Bob-FM gets a preset on my car's FM radio. I can't pick it up south of 410 either.

I once assigned a preset to KLBJ-AM but figured out after a while that it either mirrored WOAI during the dayparts that I wanted to listen or had that insufferable Sergeant Sam on as part of its morning show. The great preset experiment ended a few weeks after it began. :-\

AFAIK, those are the only two Austin market stations I can consistently receive on the north side of SA.
 
You're not going to get any Austin FMs to move their tower south of town because they would be surrendering the north side of Austin which is a high growth area.
 
fredcantu said:
You're not going to get any Austin FMs to move their tower south of town because they would be surrendering the north side of Austin which is a high growth area.
Click to expand...
I imagine the demographics of Round Rack and Georgetown are more appealing to advertisers than the inner ring of San Antonio would be. That... and most folks who live inside Loop 410 aren't spending significant time or money in Austin, and thus would be unable to patronize an Austin-area advertiser.
 
i believe Comal and Guadalupe counties are in the San Antonio ADI. That may be where the Austin stations were showing up.
I grew up near Fort Sam and used to listen to 103.7 (now 103.5) and 93.7. In later years my brothers reported listening to KVET 98.1 in 78209.
 
grantchester said:
In later years my brothers reported listening to KVET 98.1 in 78209.
Click to expand...

I spun country music on KVET in the late 1980s. It was a blast. But we were AM only. KVET picked up the FM in the early 1990s when KHFI "K-98" upgraded from a class A on 98.3 to a class C1 on 98.1.

The then-owners of KHFI LMAed their signal to KVET. Meawhile KHFI's calls and format went to then-oldies KQFX which IIRC had upgraded from the old class A KGTN-FM in Georgetown to a C2 on 96.5 and then upgraded again to a C1 back to 96.7.
 
Yes, and the 102.3/98.1 transmitters are on that tower on Brodie, south of town... about 15 to 20 miles closer than the antenna farm at the lake. I believe both are 50k, while 103.5 and 100.7 have been 100k erp all along.
I also recall picking up KUT in NE S.A. before it upgraded, when the atmosphere was right. I also heard KCEN-6, KLOL 101.1 and KPFT 90.1 in the early 70's, likewise, when the inversions brought the tropo/ducting.
 
grantchester said:
Yes, and the 102.3/98.1 transmitters are on that tower on Brodie, south of town... about 15 to 20 miles closer than the antenna farm at the lake.
Click to expand...

98.1 has been in Westlake since about 2002.
Its a C1 into the American Tower master antenna.
The old Brodie Ln. site is used as a back-up.
 
wild949austin said:
I thought KAMX and KEYI/KBPA shared the same tower, right?
Click to expand...

They may have at one time, but they don't right now. KAMX is at the antenna farm at Westlake.

And what would be a good idea would be for KROX to move it's antenna from West Lake Hills to Buda where KBPA is now. Therefore it's right by it's COL.
Click to expand...

Terrible idea! Such a move would prevent KROX from covering all of Austin while not putting anything resembling a city grade signal over San Antonio. Remember, it had to downgrade its power to move to Buda, and it wouldn't be able to upgrade beyond the C2 signal it presently has. You'd be moving its current footprint south.
 
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