Random Observations

This page will be used as a repository of random thoughts and observations on radio as I encounter them. These are thoughts or things that won't fit anywhere else. These are direct observations by me, and I ensure they are accurate. Consider this a sort of blog but not a blog, if you will. I don't know what to call it, other than I can attest that what I write is 100% accurate, and if I am speculating, I say that.

All of these "musings" are written by me, Justin Wolffing (KF0RGC). I have experience working in radio dating back to 2001 (if not earlier).
I have worked in small, medium, and large markets (SLC) with a variety of hats. I was a news director for about 4 years. All opinions are mine.

The state of Sheridan, Wyoming, radio as of 3/29/2026.

I traveled to Sheridan, Wyoming, on 3/28/2026 and stayed until 3/30/2026. Here is what I encountered. Everything hasn't changed since last year when I was here, except that this time, KHRW 92.7 is now playing a mix of adult contemporary, old-school urban AC, and classic hits. Songs ranged from "Glamorous Life" by Sheila E. to "Shiny Happy People" by R.E.M. to "Waiting For A Star To Fall" by Boy Meets Girl to a song by the Goo Goo Dolls. The format is great. Listenable. If anyone from Legend reads this, first of all, thank you for keeping KHRW (my baby) on air. I don't know what the hell Big Horn Mountain Radio is doing (obviously not a lot), but it disappoints me that my previous employer still hasn't gotten their shit together. This is what happens when you have nothing to sell, and you pay your staff shit wages (or checks bounce). That's radio, though. KHRW being back is an improvement over the nearly year-plus of dead air. That said, the station goes off air for a few minutes, comes back, goes off, comes back. The station has imaging and a legal ID. They just say "The Peak" and "Big Horn Mountain Radio - The Peak". The Peak used to be on 98.3, which is off the air, and has been for a year or more. 96.5 is also off the air. I suspect this is due to a dispute with the power company in Story, but given I've been disconnected from BHMR since 2015, I don't know for sure, other than what I've heard. 1450 KBBS in Buffalo is on air, but dead air. The 103.5 translator is off for KBBS. I also suspect KHRW is on air to keep the license active. There are no adverts on it. As of writing this, it dropped off the air again for about 30-60 seconds. Someone help these stations! Someone competent, come buy them please!!!

Sheridan's dial is mostly unchanged, other than 91.3 being in HD again. Most of the lower-powered FMs and translators don't have RDS, except the Pilgrim Xlator on 99.3 and 89.9 for K-LOVE. Plus, most of Sheridan Media's stations have RDS except 102.3, which I don't believe ever had it. I didn't have a chance to set up a good antenna in Sheridan, so I didn't do much DXing on FM. AM hasn't changed here either, other than I am shocked at how well some stations come in at night here. A lot of Mexican stations came in the first night I was here, and those are all new.

Gillette - 101.5 The Drive has RDS. The other Legend Stations don't.

4/1/2026 - Casper, WY's radio/TV observations

All Townsquare stations (95.5, 96.7, 104.7, 107.9) are no longer with RDS. Likewise, all Mt. Rushmore stations do not have RDS. 103.7 KQLT is off air. The 95.9 translator for KVOC 1230 is off air. KVOC, surprisingly, is on air. Shocker. It's not airing boring conservative talk. It is airing an odd instrumental/easy listening format, with no commercials and just an ID. All other stations are behaving as normal, except 91.3 Wyoming Public Radio. No RDS, but HD is running and it's super weak. Weaker than the other stations. There is a translator for KUYO now on 99.5 that IS running RDS. It carries the Bott Radio Network. So that means all Casper AMs have translators. For Douglas, 100.1 is no longer running RDS. I couldn't get a stable signal on 99.3. For TV, all stations are active, including RF 22 - K22MC-D. Glenrock's PBS affiliate pilot was visible here on RF 24. Casper's PBS translator on 36 is on the air. Rabbit ears' listings are accurate. I haven't gone over recordings for Casper yet, but I hope to post audio IDs here of 1230.

4/29/2026 - If you need KBBS, now would be the time to log it.

Before anyone notices, KBBS is an open carrier; however, there is a caveat to it. On either side of the channel, around 8 kHz out, there is a loud tone that was seriously loud enough to be heard here in Minneapolis. It was visible on my SDR and local SDRs. I put the word out, and people are hearing it. Consider it an ongoing DX test as a result of a lack of attention being paid. I hate to say it, because KBBS used to be my baby, but maybe Legend needs to cut its losses and turn in the license. It's not like anything has aired on 1450 for at least a year. Who knows what is happening with 96.5 and 98.3, but I saw a note that they're "trying" to get those two stations on air. I don't know. I'm not in Northeastern Wyoming right now, so I can't tell you beyond what I can see in the FCC's records. Still, if you need KBBS, tune just above the channel and just below it, and see if you hear an annoying squeal. That's KBBS. 100%, no doubt. I know this because I did IQ file recordings while out in the area in late March 2026. It was visible in Casper as well. As of this date, KBBS is still receivable in Minneapolis. Go get them! Lord knows, Legend is in no rush to fix it.

5/22/2026

Skip has been happening every day this month for the past six or seven days here in the Twin Cities. Yesterday (5/21), was the strongest opening yet this season, from FL, GA, and TN. It lasted nearly 2 hours, and snagged a handful of new logs plus a couple of hundred GB of IQ recordings that need to be reviewed. Today, there was also a bit of skip again to Texas. Today, we logged XHAJ, 88.9, from Mexico, which, at 1430 miles, is one of the farthest skip catches we've had in a while. Yesterday's logs included a translator in central FL, 250 watts, but over 1300 miles. A good start to the skip season, if I do say so. Hopefully it continues. It helps that I centered the Stellar Labs 4-element in the attic. The stellar labs antenna is probably on its final season with me. It has some loose connections and bent elements. It survived a huge hail storm in Blaine in 2017, so I do give it credit for still being with me. It's just a shame my attic is so damn cramped. I would love to get a larger antenna, but I fear that being 13 miles from Shoreview would make more gain bad news bears. I've been trying to move non-essential pages off of the UBSTUDIOS URL (since it's still http, not https) and link them here, so I would expect more DXing links to appear here from there. I wish I could move my whole site here and keep the UBSTUDIOS URL. It could happen.

Where's the beef?

6-20-2026

If it wasn't for June 10th/11th, June would've been meh. It still is meh. Yes, June 10th was a barnburner, but for 10+ days, it has been quiet. At least for the upper Midwest. Here we are close to peak season, and only a handful of openings have been worth salt. June 10th was huge, but not July 4th, 2025 levels. Meanwhile, everyone else and their brother has decent hour-long openings, and we're sitting here like early-mid May - table scraps. This is an ongoing, and fucking annoying, pattern that I've noticed this season. The map to the right is from 6-4, but it looks identical to that right now on 6-20. A huge swath of the East Coast heard us and everywhere in between, and then skip just died before it could get going here. If this doesn't get any better, this season will be worse than last year. There are some arrogant DXers out there again this year, who are bragging and thinking they know more than the pros. What else is new? Come on, skip machine. Get your ass into gear. Sometimes I wonder why I waste hours listening to static and spend money on antenna systems to be disappointed by a shitty crowded dial and no skip.

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