Capitol to Capital asks via Twitter:
New (to us) car doesn't have satellite radio like the other. What should our presets be??
Or, to ask Cap2Cap's question a little differently: What are the preset stations on your car radio?
Please share!
photo: Flickr user nedrichards
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Comments
FM:
97.7 WEXT
102.7 WEQX
91.5 WRPI
90.3 WAMC
100.1 WDST (Spotty signal, out of town)
91.1 WSPN (Spotty signal, out of town)
AM:
560 WCKL
590 WROW
1160 WABY
1240 WVKZ
1460 WDDY
1610 NYS DOT
... said Spad on Dec 12, 2011 at 1:41 PM | link
ours are: 88.3, 99.5, 102.7, 106.5 and...uhh....I can't remember what the other one is. Probably something in the 103s or 104s (they change so often!).
... said Summer on Dec 12, 2011 at 1:42 PM | link
From left to right:
The Cat (Country)
The River (Easy listening? Christmas, this time of year)
WTRY (Oldies, Christmas this time of year)
ESPN Radio
Q103 (80s rock)
PYX106 (Classic rock)
Left side's the wife's, right side is mine.
... said Alex on Dec 12, 2011 at 2:07 PM | link
All depends on your tastes but mine include:
88.3 (the Saint - they allegedly "play everything")
91.5 (WRPI - anything from video game music to classical with RPI hockey during the season on Fri/Sat)
92.3 (WFLY - pop/modern)
95.5 ("smooth listening"/"Ok for kids")
98.3 (now it's all holiday music but it's normally oldies)
99.5 (The River - another "smooth listening" channel)
100.3 (The Point - kind of alternative/hippy)
102.3 (KISSFM - pop)
102.7 (WEQX - alternative/ they usually play bands who aren't famous - yet - one of my favs)
103.1 (alternative/hard)
103.9 (I think this is still The Edge - harder rock)
104.5 (sports)
104.9 (country - I think), as is 107.7)
105.7 ( Mainly 90s and hiphop)
106.5 (classic rock)
talk radio:
900 - YNN
810 - WGY
1300 - local talk
... said Danielle Sanzone on Dec 12, 2011 at 2:17 PM | link
Aside from WEXT at 97.7, I never venture much above 91.5 WRPI. Most of my time is spent on either 90.3 WAMC or 89.1 WMHT.
All that commercial crap further along the dial is useless and owned by one or two broadcasting mega conglomerates, so it's essentially all the same (thank you mostly useless FCC commissioners...you have denied all of us variety and choice).
... said -R. on Dec 12, 2011 at 2:24 PM | link
My "FM1" buttons are:
102.7 WEQX - 97.7 WEXT - 88.3 WVCR
103.9 WQBJ - 91.5 WRPI - 90.9 WCDB
The radio usually stays on EQX, the independent alternative rock station from Vermont whose signal comes in great in most parts of the Capital Region. I flip around to the others too. WEXT is a must-have. WVCR, WRPI, and WCDB are college radio stations, so they'll air different things at different times. And then the only non-local commercial station on this list is Q103, which is good for some hard rock from time to time.
FM2 is a bunch of the other rock and pop stations. We've got a lot of 'em in the area, but I don't flip to them as much, so I won't try to list them here.
... said Ed L. on Dec 12, 2011 at 2:35 PM | link
102.7 is the only station I listen to when I'm back @ home.
... said AJP on Dec 12, 2011 at 2:46 PM | link
This is the best question on AOA ever!!
For me:
#1: 97.7 WEXT!!!
#2: 90.9 WCDB
#3: 90.3 WAMC
#4: 91.5 WRPI
#5: 96.3 JAMZ
... said Laura on Dec 12, 2011 at 2:47 PM | link
I drive back and forth to Syracuse twice per month, so my radio is preset to all the NPR stations between here and there:
WAMC Albany 90.3, WAMC Canojoharie 93.3, WRVO Utica 91.9, WRVO Syracuse 89.9, WAER Syracuse 83.3. I time my travels so I can hear the whole Morning Edition going and All Things Considered coming back.
... said Amy on Dec 12, 2011 at 2:57 PM | link
104.9
107.7
104.9
107.7
104.9
107.7
Yep- All I listen to is country.
... said Asa on Dec 12, 2011 at 2:58 PM | link
I'm lame and I only use 3 of the 5 presets:
105.7 (Crush)
92.3 (FLY)
104.5 (ESPN--so I can listen to Yankees games only)
... said colleen on Dec 12, 2011 at 3:10 PM | link
Holy crap, Danielle, how many presets does your car HAVE?
*boggled*
... said Slacker on Dec 12, 2011 at 3:31 PM | link
Albany's radio stations, or lack thereof, is what prompted me to finally invest in satellite radio.
Well, that and having to listen to the "DWI Guy" commercials 6 times per hour.
... said Jonathan on Dec 12, 2011 at 3:32 PM | link
The only station I even know is 90.3, because I'm...incredibly lame.
(And that's a lie. I can recite all of the Northeast Public Radio stations. And I don't even *like* Northeast Public Radio.)
... said Abby Spice on Dec 12, 2011 at 4:06 PM | link
104.9 (country)
106.5 (classic rock)
105.7 (90s music)
107.7 (more country)
98.3 (when its NOT christmas...good classic rock/some funky stuff)
... said Julianne on Dec 12, 2011 at 4:07 PM | link
90.3 WAMC
97.7 WEXT
100.1 WDST (Radio Woodstock, comes in south or east of the City of Albany)
100.3 WKBE (The Point, Queensbury)
102.7 WEQX
105.7 Crush (rarely make it here)
I spend 90% of my radio time at WAMC or WEXT.
... said ETB on Dec 12, 2011 at 4:08 PM | link
90.3 WAMC
91.5 WRPI
105.7 Crush FM
89.1 - Static. My favorite. This is my station for listening to my iPod through my iRiver.
... said Ryan on Dec 12, 2011 at 5:04 PM | link
I don't understand the question? Why not just get satellite again? Once I had it, I could never stand to listen to the inane prattle, the obnoxious commercials (though satellite isn't immune to those), the utter lack of originality again. Not to mention that I don't miss having to hunt around for something to listen to as I move in and out of broadcast areas.In fact, I'd pretty much stopped with the radio once I had a CD player.
... said Carl on Dec 12, 2011 at 5:20 PM | link
WEQX, WEXT, PYX 106, and 1400 AM.
And those are pre-set on my radio/cassette player :) How many people still rock one of those?
... said shannon on Dec 12, 2011 at 9:27 PM | link
I only listen to 102.7 WEQX or NPR (I don't know the frequency).
... said Olivia on Dec 12, 2011 at 10:17 PM | link
The only station I've had programmed in my car since... I've owned a car was 89.1. It's either iPod, or WMHT.
Occasionally if I am driving on a Sunday, I will scan through the AM band looking for a football game, get frustrated because AM sucks so hard, and then switch back to one of the above.
... said Paul on Dec 12, 2011 at 10:56 PM | link
88.3 WVCR "The Saint" (Siena College)
89.1 WMHT (classical)
90.9 WCDB (U. Albany)
91.5 WRPI (Rensselaer)
93.1 WAMC (actually W226AC-FM repeater we get this better than 90.3)
97.7 WEXT "Exit 97"
Apropos of Amy's comment about road-tripping NPR from here to Syracuse, they have a neat web page (http://www.npr.org/stations/) that can program your road trip, and/or show the coverage areas of affiliates.
http://www.npr.org/stations/
Something that I have always wanted to see is a map of all the NPR "principalities" using the radio-locator.com coverage maps data (used on the NPR page above) - WAMC and its endless list of vassal stations and repeaters might be the largest in the Northeast, from Mt. Kisco to Plattsburgh, Great Barrington to Utica. Others around here would be Vermont Public Radio, New England Public Radio (western MA), Connecticut Public Broadcasting, etc.
http://www.wamc.org/coveragemap.html
http://www.vpr.net/listen/radio/
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/page?p=maps
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WAMC&service=FM&status=L&hours=U
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WVPS&service=FM&status=L&hours=U
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/locate?select=city&city=Albany&state=NY
... said Alex Dupuy on Dec 13, 2011 at 6:46 AM | link
am : 560 WCKL; 710 WOR; 770 WABC; 880 WCBS; 900 YNN (no cable at home); 1400 WAMC
fm: 90.3 WAMC; 91.5 WRPI; 92.3 WFLY/WKTU; 95.5 WYJB/WPLJ; 97.1 Hot97; 97.7 WEXT - plus another batch on FM2 - I'm too lazy to look right now...
sat: Top20; 50s on 50; 60s on 60; 70s on 70; 80s on 80; 90s on 90 and a couple of the trance/dance stations
... said Dave Lucas on Dec 13, 2011 at 7:24 AM | link
Apropos of Alex Dupuy's comments above, there's an app for that! The one for android smartphones is called NPR Road Trip. You just click on it and it gives you the strongest station from wherever you are and tells you its location. It also gives you the farther stations which can be handy for when you're traveling in a certain direction.I've found it to be very useful.
... said Amy on Dec 13, 2011 at 9:04 AM | link
1. WCDB
2. WRPI
3. WEXT
4. WEQX
5. 105.7 Crush FM!!!
6. WPYX....but I'm thinking about breaking up with PYX.
... said Kizzi on Dec 13, 2011 at 10:44 AM | link
88.3
95.5
99.5
All the others I had changed their formats recently... Grr...
... said Lilly on Dec 13, 2011 at 11:37 AM | link
I'm pretty much Equal Opportunity when it comes to my audio:
89.1 -- classical
97.3 -- WHAZ (for Michael Youssef in the morning)
98.3 -- christmas music 24/7 (this one's temporary)
102.7 -- EQX/alternative of course!!!
103.1 -- WGY/talk radio
103.9 -- Q103/rock
107.7 -- WGNA/for my redneck moments :-)
... said donna s on Dec 13, 2011 at 12:15 PM | link
102.7 and WEXT sure do have a lot of listeners, if this survey is any reflection of the general populace (which I know it's not).
... said Bob on Dec 13, 2011 at 12:41 PM | link
As a radio nerd/programmer I think this is the greatest AOA post ever, love for local radio!
... said ashallann on Dec 13, 2011 at 2:20 PM | link
This is a great topic!
In the order they appear on my car stereo buttons, but not necessarily an indicator of how much I listen to each:
WAMC 90.1
WVCR 88.3
WRPI 91.5
WCDB 90.9
WEXT 97.7
WEQX 102.7
... said John on Dec 13, 2011 at 3:12 PM | link
i mentioned that i loved this post and my friend laura told me to comment:
1. 90.3 even though i find alan shartock annoying (i miss buffalo's npr station)
2. 90.9 WCDB
3. 91.5 WRPI (this is the highest ranking spot of the preset stations because it has a small bump on the button - making it the easiest to find without looking)
4. 89.1 WMHT
5. 102.7 WEQX
6. 97.7 WEXT
The only preset that has changed in the past 5 years is #6. Once Hello Pretty City moved to WEXT, WEXT was given a preset spot. That said the college stations still are the most important in my radio world.
I'm glad my car doesn't have a connection for an ipod or else I would never get a chance to listen a random cassette left over from the 90's like the mt goats or unrest.
... said no_satellite_radio on Dec 15, 2011 at 12:08 AM | link
88.6 (or is it 88.7?), Vermont Public Radio, Rutland
90.3 WAMC
and another WAMC outlier that I put in there when I figured out how to program the radio and was sick of WAMC's poor reception, but I don't remember its numbers
95.5 because it works everywhere, and has an okay mix for a road trip
... said kate on Dec 18, 2011 at 10:59 AM | link
WABY 1160 A M, David Allen,Chris Martin,Jerry Crouth
1400 A M Prarie Home Companion & car Talk
1300 A M Kelly Stevens Trivia Show
900 A M cooking ,news
XM Radio Classics,Laugh,Martha Stewart,Book
... said mg on Dec 18, 2011 at 1:35 PM | link
Haha Amy. Thanks everyone, I now have all local presets.
... said Cap2cap on Dec 19, 2011 at 8:26 AM | link