When you relocate from one part of the country to another, do you ever think about trying to hear your former local stations on AM and FM, or even on TV? That's exactly what I thought when I relocated from Hazelwood, MO (two blocks from my present location) to the Cobb-Cherokee County line in Georgia in August of 1988, and again when I relocated to my present location in July 1992.
When I was living in Georgia, I primarily DXed the AM and FM broadcast bands. I didn't have an antenna rotator for the TV antenna, since the neighborhoods I lived in were under covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&R); both homes were built in the 1980s. Of course, the easiest Saint Louis AM station I could hear was 50 kW blowtorch KMOX 1120. At sunset, I logged KUSA 550 (now KTRS), KXOK 630 (now KYFI), WEW 770, KFUO 850 and KGLD 1380 (now KXFN). At night, WIBV 1260 (now WSDZ) from Belleville, IL was fairly easy to hear. I also logged WIL 1430 (the calls are now on 92.3 FM) at night. One night also had local WKHX 590 (now WDWD) on open carrier, allowing me to log WKLL 590 (now KFNS), operating 250 watts non-directional from Wood River, IL. I also logged a 1990 DX Test from KSTL 690 while in Georgia. All of the Saint Louis FM stations were logged on a single tropospheric enhancement opening in November 1988. I would log KWMU 90.7, WIL 92.3, KSD 93.7, KFUO-FM 99.1 (now KLJY), KEZK 102.5, KSTZ 105.7 (now KPNT) and KMJM 107.7 (now KSLZ). On TV, I had locals on 2, 5, 11 and 30. I DXed from August 1988 to June 1991 from Woodstock, in Cherokee County, and from June 1991 to June 1992 from the far north of Marietta, in Cobb County. Both locations were 25 miles from downtown Atlanta. At Woodstock, the only Atlanta AM stations audible at night were 590, 640, 750 and 920. At Marietta, 590, 640, 750, 920 and 1380 were audible at night.
When I returned to Hazelwood, the easiest Metro Atlanta AM to hear is WSB 750. The 50,000-Watt Voice of the South could easily be heard at sunset, nighttime and sunrise. At sunset, I've logged the following former locals on AM: 640 (as both WGST and WBIN), 680, 790, 1190(as WGKA and WAFS) and 1550 (as WYNX and WAZX). At sunrise, I've logged 860, 1010, 1080 and 1570 (as WSSA and WIGO). At night, I've logged 610, 970, 1230, 1260, 1480 and 1600. With locals off, I've logged 920 (as WAFS and WGKA) and 1380. I've also logged these stations that came on or relocated from other Georgia communities after I returned to Saint Louis: 990, 1040, 1160 and 1690. I've also logged 1290 in Canton, the only AM in Cherokee County.
On the FM side, I've logged these former locals via tropospheric enhancement: WABE 90.1, WZGC 92.9, WKLS 96.1 (now WWPW), WSB-FM 98.5, WWWQ 99.7, WKHX 101.5 and WTSH 107.1. WSTR 94.1 has been logged via both tropo and meteor scatter. Only one move-in has been logged: 105.3 (I logged this in Woodstock when the frequency was assigned to Macon, and at Hazelwood as a Bowdon assignment). On analog TV, I logged WTBS 17 (now WPCH-TV), WATL 36, WATC 57 and WUPA 69, along with WHSG 63 in suburban Monroe. I've yet to log a digital TV from my old stomping grounds.
Hearing former locals depends on the distance between your DX locations. The two locations are roughly 460 miles apart, making former locals possible to log.
