Southern Michigan FM DX

[Lawppy]

From Coldwater, MI

This afternoon I decided to point my antenna straight north and write down everything that came in. I heard all of the usual West Michigan and Lansing stations. To my surprise, I even caught a few pretty impressive stations including two new ones! I've omitted the usual stations and included only the more distant ones.

88.7- WIAA- Interlochen, MI- IPR- 100kw 165 mi.
91.1- WOLW- Cadillac, MI- Northern Christian Radio- 50kw 165 mi.
93.3- WKQZ- Midland, MI- Z93- 38kw 140 mi.
93.9- WAVC- Mio, MI- Big Country- 50kw 195 mi.
93.9- WNBY- Newberry, MI- Oldies 93- 50kw 310 mi. (NEW CATCH!)
93.9- WDOR- Sturgeon Bay, WI- 50kw 235 mi.
94.3- WFCX- Leland, MI- The Fox- 28kw 200 mi. (NEW CATCH!)
101.9- WLDR- Traverse City, MI- Sunny Country- 100kw 200 mi.
103.5- WTCM- Traverse City, MI- 100kw 175 mi.
104.3- WCZY- Mount Pleasant, MI- 3kw 115 mi.
105.9- WKHQ- Charlevoix, MI- 106KHQ- 100kw 225 mi.

These were all caught early this afternoon. The weather conditions are absolutely lousy, so there's probably no tropospheric enhancement with these catches. I'll turn the antenna other directions and report what I get.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

When I lived in Jackson, MI in the late 1980's, FM was amazing. With a dipole I had at least 75 stations, up to 100 miles away. I only used a Yagi once - in the townhome I was not allowed to put up an antenna - but I used it the one time to get CKLW 93.9, which was next to a local 94.1. had I known the narrow ceramic filter trick, it would have been a cinch with a dipole.

Canadian FM is equalized differently and sounded really good!

 

[radioman148]

From Coldwater, MI

This afternoon I decided to point my antenna straight north and write down everything that came in. I heard all of the usual West Michigan and Lansing stations. To my surprise, I even caught a few pretty impressive stations including two new ones! I've omitted the usual stations and included only the more distant ones.

88.7- WIAA- Interlochen, MI- IPR- 100kw 165 mi.
91.1- WOLW- Cadillac, MI- Northern Christian Radio- 50kw 165 mi.
93.3- WKQZ- Midland, MI- Z93- 38kw 140 mi.
93.9- WAVC- Mio, MI- Big Country- 50kw 195 mi.
93.9- WNBY- Newberry, MI- Oldies 93- 50kw 310 mi. (NEW CATCH!)
93.9- WDOR- Sturgeon Bay, WI- 50kw 235 mi.
94.3- WFCX- Leland, MI- The Fox- 28kw 200 mi. (NEW CATCH!)
101.9- WLDR- Traverse City, MI- Sunny Country- 100kw 200 mi.
103.5- WTCM- Traverse City, MI- 100kw 175 mi.
104.3- WCZY- Mount Pleasant, MI- 3kw 115 mi.
105.9- WKHQ- Charlevoix, MI- 106KHQ- 100kw 225 mi.

These were all caught early this afternoon. The weather conditions are absolutely lousy, so there's probably no tropospheric enhancement with these catches. I'll turn the antenna other directions and report what I get.

Do you ever point your antenna west & get any Chicago FMs?

 

[cyberdad]

For whatever its worth....all 3700 watts of WXCT from Hartford, MI were pumping a fine signal into the northwest suburbs of Chicago late last week on 98.3. Sounded almost like a local near the Arlington Park racetrack.

 

[radioman148]

Hmmm maybe there was some skip.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Newberry is in the UP, making it a really nice catch!

I used to live in that area. Lots of good signals due to level terrain, plus lack of strong
local stations in the immediate area. I had caught Texas and Pittsburgh stations on the skip
at various times.

 

[gar hi]

From Coldwater, MI

This afternoon I decided to point my antenna straight north and write down everything that came in. I heard all of the usual West Michigan and Lansing stations. To my surprise, I even caught a few pretty impressive stations including two new ones! I've omitted the usual stations and included only the more distant ones.

88.7- WIAA- Interlochen, MI- IPR- 100kw 165 mi.
91.1- WOLW- Cadillac, MI- Northern Christian Radio- 50kw 165 mi.
93.3- WKQZ- Midland, MI- Z93- 38kw 140 mi.
93.9- WAVC- Mio, MI- Big Country- 50kw 195 mi.
93.9- WNBY- Newberry, MI- Oldies 93- 50kw 310 mi. (NEW CATCH!)
93.9- WDOR- Sturgeon Bay, WI- 50kw 235 mi.
94.3- WFCX- Leland, MI- The Fox- 28kw 200 mi. (NEW CATCH!)
101.9- WLDR- Traverse City, MI- Sunny Country- 100kw 200 mi.
103.5- WTCM- Traverse City, MI- 100kw 175 mi.
104.3- WCZY- Mount Pleasant, MI- 3kw 115 mi.
105.9- WKHQ- Charlevoix, MI- 106KHQ- 100kw 225 mi.

These were all caught early this afternoon. The weather conditions are absolutely lousy, so there's probably no tropospheric enhancement with these catches. I'll turn the antenna other directions and report what I get.

Those are some great catches there!

Distances like that sound more like tropo or something atmospheric rather than the usual "line of sight" (as they call it anyway) reception.

 

[radioman148]

Yeah that's more than line of sight.

 

[Lawppy]

radioman148:

I can get at least one Chicago FM on any given day and I have logged all but one suburban FM station in my location. But I always get WXRT (93.1) even with dead-band conditions. More Chicago stations pop up as conditions become more favorable, usually WBEZ (91.5) WNUA (95.5) and WJMK (104.3).

Lake enhancement and tropo is a totally different story. On those days, I can hear just about every Chicago station (even the class A suburban stations). There were a couple of days last summer where my local translators (97.1 and 101.1) were rendered useless by WDRV and WKQX.

I will turn the antenna west at some point tomorrow and jot down a more extensive listing of all stations heard, then post the more impressive catches here. I have to agree with the former Jackson resident with his recollection of the area radio dial. I think we have some of the best DX opportunities in the state.

 

[radioman148]

radioman148:

I can get at least one Chicago FM on any given day and I have logged all but one suburban FM station in my location. But I always get WXRT (93.1) even with dead-band conditions. More Chicago stations pop up as conditions become more favorable, usually WBEZ (91.5) WNUA (95.5) and WJMK (104.3).

Lake enhancement and tropo is a totally different story. On those days, I can hear just about every Chicago station (even the class A suburban stations). There were a couple of days last summer where my local translators (97.1 and 101.1) were rendered useless by WDRV and WKQX.

I will turn the antenna west at some point tomorrow and jot down a more extensive listing of all stations heard, then post the more impressive catches here. I have to agree with the former Jackson resident with his recollection of the area radio dial. I think we have some of the best DX opportunities in the state.

Thanks Lawppy. How many air miles from Chicago are you?

 

[Lawppy]

I am 135 air miles from Chicago.

 

[radioman148]

Thanks.

 

[Lawppy]

I turned my antenna west this morning and got nothing spectacular. There were a few Chicago stations, but no new logs and nothing beyond 160 miles.

It was 19 degrees with scattered flurries when I did my scan at 9:00 this morning.

91.5- WBEZ- Chicago, IL- Chicago Public Radio- 135 mi.
92.3- WPWX- Hammond, IN- Power 92- 135 mi.
93.1- WXRT- Chicago, IL- 93XRT- 135 mi.
93.5- WVIX- Joliet, IL- Spanish- 160 mi.
93.9- WLIT- Chicago, IL- Lite- 135 mi.
95.1- W236AV- Kalamazoo, MI- Family Life Radio- 40 mi.
96.3- WBBM- Chicago, IL- B96- 135 mi.
99.5- WUSN- Chicago, IL- US99.5- 135 mi.
103.5- WKSC- Chicago, IL- Kiss- 135 mi.
105.9- WCFS- Elmwood Park, IL- Fresh 105.9- 135 mi.
106.7- WPPN- Des Plaines, IL- La Kalle- 155 mi.

Except for 6kw 93.5, there is nothing to run home about on this list. All of these stations were very difficult catches and it my Chicago reception was actually worse than it usually is. With just a little enhancement, I can get all of the major Chicago stations, a few Milwaukee stations and even Rockford from time to time.

 

[schmave]

Do you ever TV DX from your location? Seems like you'd be in prime position to pick up Detroit, Chicago, Indiana stations and maybe even Ohio.

 

[radioman148]

I turned my antenna west this morning and got nothing spectacular. There were a few Chicago stations, but no new logs and nothing beyond 160 miles.

It was 19 degrees with scattered flurries when I did my scan at 9:00 this morning.

91.5- WBEZ- Chicago, IL- Chicago Public Radio- 135 mi.
92.3- WPWX- Hammond, IN- Power 92- 135 mi.
93.1- WXRT- Chicago, IL- 93XRT- 135 mi.
93.5- WVIX- Joliet, IL- Spanish- 160 mi.
93.9- WLIT- Chicago, IL- Lite- 135 mi.
95.1- W236AV- Kalamazoo, MI- Family Life Radio- 40 mi.
96.3- WBBM- Chicago, IL- B96- 135 mi.
99.5- WUSN- Chicago, IL- US99.5- 135 mi.
103.5- WKSC- Chicago, IL- Kiss- 135 mi.
105.9- WCFS- Elmwood Park, IL- Fresh 105.9- 135 mi.
106.7- WPPN- Des Plaines, IL- La Kalle- 155 mi.

Except for 6kw 93.5, there is nothing to run home about on this list. All of these stations were very difficult catches and it my Chicago reception was actually worse than it usually is. With just a little enhancement, I can get all of the major Chicago stations, a few Milwaukee stations and even Rockford from time to time.

The Joliet station is surprising. You must have very little adjacent channel interference.

 

[Lawppy]

Do you ever TV DX from your location? Seems like you'd be in prime position to pick up Detroit, Chicago, Indiana stations and maybe even Ohio.

I do not DX TV in my location. However, I did dabble with it a little bit in the early to mid 90's. I never wrote down my catches (something I regret to this day) but I do remember getting a lot of stations from Detroit, Chicago and beyond. I remember getting WHAS and Fox 41 from Louisville, PBS 48 and Fox 64 from Cincinnati and CITY 57 from Toronto. A couple of years ago, I helped my grandma set up her rotor. Being a Fort Wayne native, she wanted to get the best reception of their stations. After successfully setting her up, I ended up stumbling upon Marion, Kokomo and Indianapolis on top of the *very strong* Fort Wayne stations. E-skip was a totally different story. Growing up in the rural country, I called this 'country cable' before I knew what it really was. I REALLY regret not writing these stations down, but I remember getting Tampa's channel 3 over our local WWMT.

The Joliet station is surprising. You must have very little adjacent channel interference.

I get very little adjacent channel interference on my radio and WVIX was helped out by the fact that 93.5 is a very open frequency here. The only downfall I can think of with the Insignia is that the local stations produce overload 1.6 off of the main frequency, so my local 98.5 can be heard (and RDS detected) on 96.9 and 100.1. Besides that, the receiver is sensitive enough that something can be heard on virtually every frequency. 140 watt high school station WKDS in Kalamazoo can be heard loud and clear from 35 miles away right next to 250 watt local WCWB.

 

[radioman148]

Do you ever TV DX from your location? Seems like you'd be in prime position to pick up Detroit, Chicago, Indiana stations and maybe even Ohio.

I do not DX TV in my location. However, I did dabble with it a little bit in the early to mid 90's. I never wrote down my catches (something I regret to this day) but I do remember getting a lot of stations from Detroit, Chicago and beyond. I remember getting WHAS and Fox 41 from Louisville, PBS 48 and Fox 64 from Cincinnati and CITY 57 from Toronto. A couple of years ago, I helped my grandma set up her rotor. Being a Fort Wayne native, she wanted to get the best reception of their stations. After successfully setting her up, I ended up stumbling upon Marion, Kokomo and Indianapolis on top of the *very strong* Fort Wayne stations. E-skip was a totally different story. Growing up in the rural country, I called this 'country cable' before I knew what it really was. I REALLY regret not writing these stations down, but I remember getting Tampa's channel 3 over our local WWMT.

The Joliet station is surprising. You must have very little adjacent channel interference.

I get very little adjacent channel interference on my radio and WVIX was helped out by the fact that 93.5 is a very open frequency here. The only downfall I can think of with the Insignia is that the local stations produce overload 1.6 off of the main frequency, so my local 98.5 can be heard (and RDS detected) on 96.9 and 100.1. Besides that, the receiver is sensitive enough that something can be heard on virtually every frequency. 140 watt high school station WKDS in Kalamazoo can be heard loud and clear from 35 miles away right next to 250 watt local WCWB.

Sounds like you have a very good receiver.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Lawppy - Getting WCET, Channel 48 and WSTR, Channel 64, both from Cincinnati is really something. I had no idea those two stations carried that far. If I was guessing, I would have said the UHF station you may possibly get from Cincinnati would be WXIX, Channel 19.

 

[Lawppy]

I took a short drive to Jonesville this morning and was able to receive a few stations out there. These were heard on the stereo in my '08 Mazda 6. These aren't as impressive as my home catches because these are at ground level in a moving vehicle as opposed to a stationary 20 foot tower with a six element antenna.

89.7- WONU- Kankakee, IL- Cont. Christian- Shine FM- 50kw 175 mi.
93.3- WKQZ- Midland, MI- Rock- Z93- 50kw 130 mi.
94.5- WTNR- Holland, MI- Country- Thunder 94-5- 50kw 90 mi.
98.7- WFMT- Chicago, IL- Classical- 6kw 155 mi.

And a couple from the road on my way back home. I don't have exact distances here because these were all heard in different spots between Jonesville and Coldwater.

93.1- WIBC- Indianapolis, IN- News/Talk- 20kw (approx. 165 mi.)
95.5- W238BH- Orland, IN- Religious- Family Radio- 10w (approx. 21-22 mi.)
97.9- WGNR- Anderson, IN- Religious- 50kw (approx. 140 mi.)

 

[radioman148]

I took a short drive to Jonesville this morning and was able to receive a few stations out there. These were heard on the stereo in my '08 Mazda 6. These aren't as impressive as my home catches because these are at ground level in a moving vehicle as opposed to a stationary 20 foot tower with a six element antenna.

89.7- WONU- Kankakee, IL- Cont. Christian- Shine FM- 50kw 175 mi.
93.3- WKQZ- Midland, MI- Rock- Z93- 50kw 130 mi.
94.5- WTNR- Holland, MI- Country- Thunder 94-5- 50kw 90 mi.
98.7- WFMT- Chicago, IL- Classical- 6kw 155 mi.

And a couple from the road on my way back home. I don't have exact distances here because these were all heard in different spots between Jonesville and Coldwater.

93.1- WIBC- Indianapolis, IN- News/Talk- 20kw (approx. 165 mi.)
95.5- W238BH- Orland, IN- Religious- Family Radio- 10w (approx. 21-22 mi.)
97.9- WGNR- Anderson, IN- Religious- 50kw (approx. 140 mi.)

You're in a good area for receiving stuff from every direction. Do you get Detroit?