Nearest (non-xltr/bstr) faint/no-signal FM?

[pianoplayer88key]

I was in the "Farthest FM Regular" thread when I thought of this...

Leaving translators and boosters out of the discussion, as well as (where applicable) frequencies for which an adjacent local's HD is stepping on them...

What's the nearest FM you have that's extremely tough to receive, or is undetectable at all?

Under normal conditions even with its best signal, it should be pretty much right at the noise level, and extremely tough to make out words or recognize songs. (On some music, you may be able to hear the beat, but nothing else.) It shouldn't stop a seek/scan, and shouldn't register on a signal meter if your radio has one (for example a Tecsun DSP-based radio should say "00/00".)


My nearest tough FM would be 100.1 KLVJ Julian, CA, at 33.5 miles. It doesn't even register on my Tecsun PL-606's signal meter in the house, although if I hold the antenna just right I can *barely(!)* make out a hint of what sounds like it could be Christian contemporary music, which is their format.

Another possibility might be 96.1 KSIQ Campo, CA, at 25.6 miles, but I would need to catch them with their booster (4.4 miles south) off the air to verify.


Also I'd be interested to hear of your nearest AMs that are tough/unreceivable (with similarly poor signals to what I describe above for FM, and for nighttime could add for consideration ones that are obliterated by severe co-channel interference (except, for example, graveyarders that are receivable in the daytime, for example for me 1340 KCLU Santa Barbara at 195 miles would be disqualified even though I need a larger antenna to get a halfway usable if still noisy signal)), but that's probably better saved for another topic.

 

[crainbebo]

If we are counting high-power FM only, I cannot get CHBE 107.3 in Victoria [70 mi] at ALL. My Bellevue location is not good with any groundwave, due to Clyde Hill and others blocking it. I'm almost close to the bottom of a closer hill as well, which also affects reception. If we were talking HD adjacent, there's a few others that are closer, but that does not count.

-crainbebo

 

[audiomusiclover]

Love this post as well. This was over 25 years ago but recall WSEZ (93.1) from Winston Salem, NC. Their 93KW ERP transmitter was about 200 feet high and also sat in the Peters Creek flood plain. Between the low tower and sitting in a hole, the transmitter had no height. Anyway, when traveling to Greeensoro, approx 20 miles, WSEZ would go from being a blow torch in Winston Salem to completly fading away in eastern Greensboro in about 20 minutes. They have since moved their xmitter to a much higher/centralized location, but it really bugged me in the early 1980s as it could not make it out 30 miles being a 100 kw ERP station.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

From Houston, there are a couple that could be viable rim shots, but they are just too weak:

KNDE 95.1 College Station
KHSN 99.9 Liberty

 

[ddsparxx]

There's WXBN 105.5 Berryville, VA located 30 miles NW of my location (Manassas, VA) on a far side of a mountain and blocked by a local 105.5 translator.

 

[RadioDaze]

500-watt Elon University station WSOE 89.3, Elon, North Carolina is maybe 40 miles from my location in Durham, and I've never logged them. Of course, the 89.3 signal is pretty crowded around these parts with UNC-Chapel Hill's 1,000-watt student station, WXYC 89.3, just 10 miles away from Durham and Down East Public Radio's flagship WTEB broadcasting at near 100kW on the channel from New Bern, 125 miles to the southeast, just to name a few.

Another station that's always posed problems is the current WVRD 90.5 in Zebulon, NC..just 30 miles distant in neighboring Wake County. When this station first signed on in 1990 as WAHD with ~3,000 watts, it didn't even provide a city grade signal to its city of license, then Wilson, NC, and was (and still is,) spotty in Raleigh. The relicense to Zebulon and slightly higher antenna has slightly improved their signal. Again, though, 90.5 is a packed frequency in the region, maybe even moreso than 89.3.

 

[Lawppy]

There aren't many full-powered stations in my area that I haven't heard.. The only one I can think of right now is WDPW (Power 91.9) from Greenville, MI (near Grand Rapids). 80 miles away and never a peep of them here.

 

[tomservo]

For me it would be a pair in Escambia County, Alabama. WBZR-FM 105.9 (5.5 kW) and WKNU 106.3 (3 kW). They're both about 40 miles away but there isn't a trace of either except during skip. Oddly, I get similar-powered stations from further away on a fairly regular basis, just not these two.

To be fair, WBZR was and may still be running just 500 watts due to a lightning strike. I was less than 10 miles from their city of license (Atmore) and didn't hear jack last time I was up there. It didn't start coming in until I was right on the TX site.

 

[fybush]

Pretty sure my nearest unheard full-power signal now is WLNF 90.5 Rapids (near Lockport), 60 miles away and co-channel to a local. There's not enough terrain here to completely block anything else within 90 miles or so; it's just a question of co- and adjacent-channel blockage and propagation.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Just to clarify something, I meant FM frequencies with the nearest full-power station (be it class A, B, or C) on which the signal is weak or unreceivable. I did mention that stations blocked by local adjacent HD sidebands don't count, but apparently I neglected to mention that stations blocked by local co-channel signals of any type are also disqualified. On the frequencies I'm talking about, you should hear either nothing but static, or a faint trace of something at best. (Let's save the ones with co-channel interference for a later AM thread, and primarily for nighttime.)

As an example of what I mean for what the frequency should sound like (if there's a signal there), I recorded my PL-606's reception of 92.1 KSOQ. They run 580 watts at 312 meters HAAT from 27 miles away. After half a minute, I tuned to their local simulcast 97.3 KSON to get a better signal on the same program. BTW for the purposes of this thread, that (92.1 KSOQ, not talking about later when I tune to 97.3 KSON's blowtorch local) is almost TOO strong of a signal.

I would have recorded 100.1 KLVJ (110 watts, 679 meters HAAT, 33.5 miles), but for some reason when I plug in the audio patch cable from my PL-606 to the Zoom H2n recorder, the radio's S/N drops by several dB. Also the rhythmic pumping noise in the first part of the recording was caused by the recorder (it wasn't there before I hit the record button).

Anyone know of a patch cable (1/8th inch stereo plugs on both ends, preferably at least 2 meters long) that would be recommended to eliminate conducting noise into my radio? I don't want to have to modify the radio, as I also record off of other radios and don't want to have to open each one and see if I need to somehow decouple the antenna circuit from the audio output jack or something.

 

[charlestondxman]

For my 1000th post, I've heard most of the FMs within 50-70 miles of the Charleston area, and most of Columbia and Savannah's stations.

It would probably for me by 105.3 WGFG Branchville. They are about 70 miles away, and even with a co-channel 105.5, should at least come in sometimes. They don't. I've never heard them (tried to get them though) here. Savannah usually comes in whenever I can get something there, or sometimes Fernandina Beach.

Back at 105.1, they used to come in a lot. They could be heard from Columbia almost to Charleston.

I've also never heard 95.5 from Sumter. I might have heard them once or twice but I couldn't tell.

On most other frequencies, I've logged the stations within 100 miles. When Savannah skips in, I even hear some of their translators.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Anyone know of a patch cable (1/8th inch stereo plugs on both ends, preferably at least 2 meters long) that would be recommended to eliminate conducting noise into my radio? I don't want to have to modify the radio, as I also record off of other radios and don't want to have to open each one and see if I need to somehow decouple the antenna circuit from the audio output jack or something.

I think I actually found one at Radio Shack. I had to do some fancy cabling to get satellite audio into the DVD inputs in my car, a long patch cable was part of it.

 

[Buckeyes2001]

For me in Vermilion, OH that would be WHOF/N. Canton, OH. Even though it's only about 60 miles away as the crow flies, there's virtually no sign of it at all here. That frequency (101.7) is blank around here without any tropo or e-skip going on.

 

[audioguy]

I'd have to go with WNIU 90.5 as my toughest station to get on a regular basis. It's 50 kW, but has a directional antenna at a HAAT of 112 meters. I am 98 km from the transmitter and in my direction, I estimate that I'm getting about 70% of the maximum signal. To pick up this station I use a 10 element Winegard LPY on a roof tower about 35 feet AGL. Then I retransmit it over a Part 15 AM transmitter that covers my neighborhood and a few blocks beyond with a spotty signal. WNIU is the only station I know of that broadcasts the NPR Classical 24 feed nearly full time. The music is fantastic!

 

[YtownGuy]

From Youngstown, Ohio, it would have to be WNIR 100.1 in Kent.