I still listen to some Buffalo FM in my car. 96.9, 104.1, 103.3, 98.5 which have spotty signals in Toronto, are extremely listenable to the west in south Mississauga and Oakville. To the east, their signals improve significantly once you reach Scarborough. Crystal clear in Pickering, Ajax and Whitby. I know that doesn't help you if you live and travel predominately in the city. I did, for some time listen to 96.9 and 104.1 at home, through Tunein. Not any more. Apparently, Cumulus, which owns both stations, signed an exclusive agreement with IHeart earlier in 2018. Tunein had to drop the stations from their lineup.

You could always use a VPN (virtual private network) to spoof your IP to an American address and listen to the stations on-line.

I used to listen to WBUF at 92.9 in the '80s when they had Stan Roberts and Fred Klestine. Is that signal still receivable in the GTA?

Regarding the VPN. I use an extension that's available on Google Chrome. Have not used it in a while but I would turn it off aftering using it.

Re WBUF. Loved their free form format. Was one of the best until about 1977 and by 1978 they were AOR. The current Jack format is not my cup of tea but I can still tune the station but it's not as clear as it used to be and some of the interference may the caused by the Grand which is also at the same frequency.

RadioActive wrote:

I can't get it at all anymore where I am. I seem to recall reading a while ago that they moved their transmitter farther south, and the signal into T.O. went with it.

As you know, it used to come in great here. Barely even needed a dipole antenna to get it. Now, nothing but static (and bleed over from CKIS 92.5, which also never existed when you listened.)

 
Sometime in the 90’s a few stations actually moved from the high hills 30 miles south of Buffalo closer to downtown and north Buffalo.
96.1 WMSX co-located to Rand Bldg in downtown with 106.5 WYRK and 93.7 WBLK.
96.9 WGRF and 92.9 WBUF co-located to the same tower in north Buffalo that is at the CH 4 studios. 92.9 has directional FM antennas that point away from Canada.
All the superpower stations 94.5, 99.5, and 102.5 have not changed and still are in the hills south of Buffalo.

I tried Hola for a while - another freebie. But it kept driving my security software crazy with more than occasional warnings about trojan attacks, After a while, it really didn't unblock anything so I deleted it. Too bad. It was good at the beginning. 

PC Mag: The Best Free VPNs of 2018

I spent my high school years riding a bus 30 miles every day in the Trenton area, , 1970-74. The driver would have always have WKBW AM on the radio . I believe it was Dan Nevereth as morning man. Must have been 1520 but I never really paid attention to that aspect. A bus full of teens made hearing anything clearly impossible. I usually had WCMF FM from Rochester on my own radios.

Tim Brown 2016 wrote:

I'm dating myself here but I even remember when 92.5 Rochester was an all-news station. I think its calls were WNWZ.

That's correct. It was part of an ill-fated NBC service that went across the U.S. called News and Information Service or NIS. It lasted about two years but lost money and was dumped soon after. I used to listen to it out of Rochester, back when those stations still came in here.

(Courtesy: Faded Signals website)



 

Jody Thornton wrote:

Wasn't WMJQ the calls that Rock 102 adopted once they switched to Majic 102?  I know they're WTSS now. 

And in the Rock 102 days, it was WBEN-FM. Despite the fact the AM side still has those calls, the WBEN-FM letters are now assigned to a station in Philadelphia. 

Depends where you are in the city.  Im in Etobicoke and indoors 102.5 and the high power ones comes in OK levels and in the car they are good.   WKSE 98.5 is being interfered since 98.7 opened up here and WBLK is still decent in the car.

If you are living mid town and are comparing to what the reception was in the 70s can you imagine the landscape of condos thats also interfering? 

Last edited by markow202 (December 27, 2018 6:10 pm)

Here is a list that I made in perhaps late 1975 or 1976. The list consists of the DJ line-ups at some of the stations covered in this thread. Was based on my memory ( and spelling) at the time and included
( mostly) weekday line-ups from maybe 1970 thru 1976.

The first group is from WYSL/WPHD, the second WCMF, then WBUF ( which was a relative newcomer then) and finally CHUM FM beginning with the line-up when I began listening to them around 1970 and ending with the line-up as of 1976.

There's definite omissions as I know Unkle Roger McCall Began at WPHD, Jim Sotay ( former WABX DJ)  also worked there in addition to WCMF. I remember a lady named Dinah Vapron who later went to WBCN working at WPHD.

These were my most listened to stations around this time but I caught many more. WGRQ had an interesting format at one time kind of a hybrid top 40 & FM and I wish I had made some tapes of that. 

BTW I believe there is a new WPHD somewhere in the northeast.




 

Last edited by Fitz (December 27, 2018 9:57 pm)

I also recall a station out of Rochester , it may have even been AM, that played hard rock album tracks all day until 6 pm, then became all religious for the rest of the evening. This would have been 1972ish ? Anyone  remember that one ? 

Great thread!
Growing up in Toronto in the late 70's and early 80's listening to Rock 102 with Roger Christian.  
It was great when they were automated because it didn't take you long to figure out what song was coming next so that you could tape it.
Good times.

Jody Thornton wrote:

Davester wrote:

Great thread!
Growing up in Toronto in the late 70's and early 80's listening to Rock 102 with Roger Christian.  
It was great when they were automated because it didn't take you long to figure out what song was coming next so that you could tape it.
Good times.

I would stick BASF 90 minute Chrome tapes in my deck and hit record.  The sound quality was stellar for the time.

I noticed that in the morning Roger Christian would cut in between the automation reels.  Sounded almost out of place ...lol
 

LOL... me too Jody.  I know I have a C-90 somewhere from a July 1982 broadcast.

Davester.
 

Fitz wrote:

mic'em wrote:

I also recall a station out of Rochester , it may have even been AM, that played hard rock album tracks all day until 6 pm, then became all religious for the rest of the evening. This would have been 1972ish ? Anyone  remember that one ? 

I remember listening to at station only once when i was driving on the 401 maybe east of Coburg around 1975/76 and one of the tracks they played was by Gabor Szabo. I tried to tune it in Toronto and was never successful. I just googled the call letters and they were WSAY AM 1370 and apparently were progressive until 1979. I think they may have gone full time progressive at some point. Not sure if that's the station you are thinking of. Thet were not hard album rock but progressive.
 

I do remember the summer of 1973 I had a 1968 Torino convertible that only had a AM radio. That station came in as clearly as CJBQ did from next door Belleville. If I didn't have an 8 track playing, I had that station on in the car. They played album sides as well as individual tracks . I remember hearing The James Gang for the first time on that station and bought the album. Joey Edwards came on CJBQ at 7pm and played top 40 so I would tune in to him at night.