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Southern Michigan FM DX

Yes, I can get Detroit from my location, but not as many stations as I used to be able to receive. In the last five years LPFM's and translators have signed on nearby at 93.1, 95.5, 96.3, 97.1 and 99.5. I-BLOC interference from WMUK and WOOD (102.1 and 105.7) have made 101.9 and 105.9 no-go's. Before the LPFM and translator invasion, several Detroit stations were audible here.

The only Detroit I can get on a regular basis is CIMX (88.7) WKQI (95.5) and WOMC (104.3). During tropo, other stations can be heard and strong tropo sometimes wipes out my local 97.1 and 101.1 translators.
 
I took a short 20 mile drive east on US-12 this afternoon and listened only to open stations to hear what kinds of low power stations could be sniffed out of the static. Not much was heard, but I did confirm a couple of good ones.

89.7- WHWE- Howe, IN- 100w 17m- Came up long enough to hear a mention of Howe Military School and station website. Near Branch-Hillsdale Co. line- 33 miles.

89.7- WHWE- Howe, IN- 100w 17m- Heard the same station with the same station website spot about 6 more miles down the road- 39 miles.

102.7- W274AQ- Battle Creek, MI- 38w 39m- Heard with Christian talk. Fighting with WLEG-Ligonier, IN. Matched parent station WQKO's programming. Two miles west of Jonesville. 35 miles.

102.7- W274AQ- Battle Creek, MI- 38w 39m- This station was actually stronger another mile down the road to the point where (albeit weakly) it owned the frequency. Amazing stuff for being 35 miles out.

Southern Michigan, especially in my area, has got to be one of the best areas to DX. The stereo in my new car does a phenomenal job with eliminating co-channel interference, making 102.7 possible deep inside the local listening area of Hillsdale's WBZV 102.5.
 
I was not so surprised about WHWE. 89.7 is easily the best open frequency in my area, so the low-powered stations on 89.7 in my area really get out MUCH farther than intended. It's not uncommon to hear a 10 watt translator from Kendallville, IN, 40 miles away. This may come to an end very soon, as 89.9 WAYG in Grand Rapids has a CP to move to 89.7 and bump up to 6,000 watts. They won't put a strong signal into my area, but 6kw from 75 miles away will be enough to make daily 40 mile reception of 10w translators a lot more difficult.

102.7 was the bigger surprise. Like I mentioned before, I was deep within the local listening area of Hillsdale's WBZV (Buzz 102.5), so 102.7 would be rendered useless by 102.5 on most car stereos. Also, W274AQ is not exactly strong for translator standards. They only operate with 38 watts from 128 feet HAAT, so to hear them owning the frequency from 35 miles out is pretty impressive. My local 97.1 translator operates with 170 watts from 102 feet and can only get out around the same distance.
 
My antenna project is almost complete and we are still shooting for a Memorial Day weekend completion date. The telescoping antenna mass has been moved out of it's old location so we can start digging the three foot hole needed for support of the now completely refurbished 28 foot antenna tower.

The telescoping antenna mass measured 20 feet tall, but two feet of this were in the ground for a total of 18 feet. My brother was able to score a tripod mass from his radio station, enabling me to use all 20 feet of the tower. The two additional feet have proven to make a huge difference, especially with LPFM's and translators. W242BH in Marshall (96.3), located 22 miles away from my location had always been listenable with my old set-up. But the extra two feet provided me with an almost local quality signal from that station.

I'm trying to make it out even farther now, possibly beyond the 35-40 miles that seemed to be the max from 18 feet. Theoretically, if a weak translator becomes strong, wouldn't a non-existant translator become weak?
 
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