Road trip to Florida

[DeadElvis]

> "62/JDX" had to be the BEST radio station that nobody knew about....

They were known. 'JDX was quite the farm club for talent.

You may recall in the mid-70s, the station basically got cleared out as almost everyone went to Miami, staffing the new Y-100.

When I moved to Jackson in 1988 to helm a new AC FM, 620 was still limping along as an AC station with Dave Perkins doing mornings. Being AM eventually did them in; the short-lived LMA with 96.3 essentially made them redundant.

In the mid-to-late 70s, Jackson was a good market. WRBC/1300 (one of the rare regionals with a Non-D at night) was fabulous. 1590 was also pretty good when they tried Top-40. Signal issues and the heritage of 620 was a tough headwind, though.

1590 has now gone dark. A waste, I guess. But who wants a DA at the top of the dial?

I'll be driving through Jackson in a few hours. There isn't much to bother listening to now. Fortunately, I have Sirius. I might even try some 10m mobile stuff -- SFI has crept back up.

DE

 

[ftballfan]

92.7's northern reach is amazing. I've copied them with a good signal well into Calhoun County on I-69. WYVN from Saugatuck does eventually put the breaks on W224BY especially north of I-94. Another factor is a 250 watt translator in Ionia, MI. Even with Saugatuck, Flint and to a lesser extent, Ionia, I've carried W224BY (and by carry, I mean all the way up to it's last gasp) up to about Olivet on I-69. Not bad for 250 watts.

Another pretty good translator is W238CD (95.5) from Coldwater. You have to contend with another translator in Portage to the west and then 100kw WKQI Detroit to the east, but I've carried that one regularly (once again up to it's last gasp) up to Potterville before distance (and WKQI interference) finally wins.

Very impressive! Olivet is about 50 miles north of 92.7's stick and Potterville is also about 50 miles north of 95.5's stick. 92.7 in Ludington also gets out a ways for a translator. I picked it up once in Wellston, over 30 miles from its stick. At least a few times each summer, I can pick up translators from Wisconsin, especially 96.1 from Sheboygan, which is 80 miles from Manistee. And this is with just a stock car radio!!

 

[Lawppy]

The lake certainly helps! Plus having an open channel.

My record for translator reception on car stereo is approximately 70 miles. I heard the aforementioned W267BE (101.3) Angola near the Van Buren, IN exit on I-69. I suspect there might have been some sort of enhancement this night.

I've heard a 250 watt translator from Davenport, IA during tropo on my 32' antenna tower. That was 289 miles away!

 

[ftballfan]

96.1 is one of the most open channels in Manistee. It might not be the case for much longer as WMOM in Pentwater has a CP to move to 96.3. Speaking of the 96.1 translator, its parent station (WXER) is more common than co-channel WSNX despite running much less power (WXER is Class A while WSNX is Class B).
When the lake tropo is very strong, the only stations I typically won't lose are the Manistee/Ludington/Pentwater stations, WIAA, WOLW, and WTCM (most other TC's are gone, despite being within 50 miles and most of them running 50-100kW or equivalent)

 

[crainbebo]

I've heard a 250 watt translator from Davenport, IA during tropo on my 32' antenna tower. That was 289 miles away!

My record for ANY translator catch probably has to be 120 miles, from K295AV 106.9 Walla Walla (K-Hits 106.9, 80s music), to Ellensburg, WA at the Love's (formerly Pilot) truck stop. Website is a listen live link only at www.khits1069fm.com. It is NOT related to the K Hits in Tulsa.
I also logged 40 miles with 4w on 88.3 (Mt. Vernon, WA to Edmonds, WA). It's "The Effect". It's on a hill near Mt. Vernon so it sounds like 150w, but STILL...

-crainbebo