This time around we feature several clips of stations in the Charlottesville Market which I recorded last fall. Not much has been recorded from this market in the past so these are mostly new to Toppy, including one for Scott, WCCA-LP 93.5 in Scottsville. More from this market next time.

Short and sweet this week.

Till next time, happy listening.

Bill

This week we present the final installment of Bill's Big Trip to Washington in 2011.

The two markets we will be looking at are Moses Lake and Wenatchee Markets. There are so close to each other and have overlapping coverage that they could almost be considered to be one market. However, for the purposes of Toppy we have chosen to split things.

Most of the clips are refreshes with one clip from a station new to Toppy - KDRM 99.3 in Moses Lake.

I am not sure what we will feature next week, but I am sure will find something in our archives.

Till next time
Bill

This week we feature the Yakima Washington Market. Like last week, the recordings were made at the Rye Grass Summit between Vantage and Ellensburg. There are three stations that are new to Toppy.

Hope you had Happy Easter and Happy Passover.

Till next time, good listening. Maybe I will do the write up on time.

Bill

This week we feature some clips from stations just outside of the Spokane core market.

From the Sandpoint-Bonners Ferry Idaho Market we present KPND 95.3. This progressive rock station attempts to serve Spokane, but it is a marginal rim shot and has problems with fading in some parts of the town.

From the Lewistown-Moscow Idaho market, we again present a couple of rim shot stations, one on AM and one on FM. (Can an AM station be a rim shot? I think so, because KMAX 840 Colfax in effect is one for the Spokane Market. It puts in a good signal in the southern part of Spokane but not-so-well in other parts of the town.) KZZL-FM is another station that can be heard in parts of Spokane with a fairly good signal, but only in areas where there is no topographical obstructions between Pullman and Spokane.

We also include a number of stations from the Tri-Cities WA market. Most of the Tri-Cities stations, except for ones like KWHT 103.5, don't regularly make it to Spokane except during trop openings. All but one of the clips are refreshes, and that one is a call change of the Walla Walla station on 95.7 from KNLT to KKSR. I recorded most of the stations from this market at the Ryegrass Rest Stop on I-90 between Vantage and Ellensburg.

Next week will we look at stations in Central Washington.

Till then, happy listening!

This week we finish with the Spokane market by going into the upper-end of the FM band above 100 MHz. The real only change in this part of the band since the last time we did a bandscan of Spokane is a call and format change on 104.5 to KGZG. This station calls itself "104.5 JAMZ AND HIP HOP."

Next time we will start with stations in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.

Till then, happy listening.

Bill

This week we venture up Spokane's FM band to the stations between 96 MHz and 100 MHz. No changes in call letters in this part of the band. However, there was a couple of format changes. KXLY-FM 99.9 is now Coyote Country and KEZE 96.9 is rhythmic contemporary with the branding of "Hot 96.9."

There are three new HD clips this time as well, KIXZ-HD2 96.1 (The Mother Trucker), KISC-HD2 98.1 and KKZX-HD2 98.9 (The Blues Channel).

Next time we will finish up with the Spokane Market.

Till then, happy listening.

Bill

This week we venture into the lower end of Spokane's FM dial. The biggest news in this part of the band is the power upgrade and frequency change for KYRS. It is a community station licensed from nearby Medical Lake and serves the greater Spokane area with a main transmitter west of Spokane and a translator closer to Spokane proper. Also new to the market is KYMS 89.9 Rathdrum. Idaho. Although its signal reaches Spokane on selective radios, it mainly serves the area just east of the Idaho border from Spokane.

Until next time, happy listening.

Bill

As promised, this week we cross the Cascades from Seattle and visit Spokane. Spokane is the default capital and commerce center of the "Inland Northwest," a vast region which takes in Eastern Washington, Northeastern Oregon, Northern Idaho, and Western Montana. Sometimes the adjacent portion of British Columbia is included.

Other than a couple of format tweaks, the AM band in the Spokane market is stable with no call changes since the last complete Toppy survey in 2006 and partial Toppy surveys since then. There are AM 12 stations which serve the general Spokane area. Most stations do a credible job of covering the city proper in the daytime. Only KTRW 630, KSBN 1230, and KPTQ 1280 have a hard time at night in the outer suburbs. KVNI 1080 starts to have problems in the western part of the town, especially at night, because it is located about 30 miles to the east in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Next week we will start with the Spokane's FM band.

Till then, happy listening.

Bill

As promised, this week we finish up with the Seattle Market. We also have a few stations which can be heard in Seattle from the Bellingham and Olympia Markets.

From Seattle, we have some refreshers and two new HD stations - KBKS-HD2 106.1 and KNDD-HD2 107.7. We also include a call change - KSGX 104.9 "The Brew.".

From Olympia, we have a two stations new to Toppy - KITI-FM 95.1 and KOOL 104.1. The latter is a case of the translator being pushed which is re-broadcasting an AM station. I understand that the station changed its format from Oldies to NewsTalk in early January. This seems to be a trend all over the country.

Next week we will go across state and visit Spokane. The station line-up in Spokane is pretty stable with just a handful of changes and additions.

Till Next Time, Good Listening

Bill

For the sixth installment of the Seattle leg of Bill's Big Trip 2011, we add some more HD stations and a new station with a change of city of license - KMCQ 104.5 Covington.

Next week we will finish up with the remaining clips from the Seattle Market as well as several from stations in markets just outside of the Seattle Market.

Till next time, enjoy!

Bill