Franklin Avenue

Fun With Radio
It's that time of year where the atmosphere is just right to tune into radio stations from further away, such as San Diego or Ventura County.

When conditions are good, FM signals will skip off the ionosphere, expanding their reach. Such is the case with several powerful border stations, such as XTRA-FM 91.1 ("91X").

Licensed to Tijuana, the modern rock station (currently celebrating its 20th year) is a nice alternative to KROQ (even though it's programmed by Clear Channel!). The music mix is a little broader than KROQ's current narrow focus. And I can't get enough of the station ID, played once every commercial break: A woman announcing the station's call letters, XTRA, and city of license in Spanish ("equis tay errra ah ... Tijuana, Baja California, Meh-heee-co!")

And because it's based in Mexico, the station's power is able to far exceed what's generally acceptable in the U.S.

I used to be able to listen to 91X throughout most of the year, until a religious radio station plopped a transmitter on the 91.1 frequency in the valley. Now you can only pick up 91X occassionally -- which is why it's such a rare phenomenon to be able to pick it up so crystal clear right now.

Keep an ear out for several San Diego stations right now, including hip-hop 90.3 XHTZ ("Jammin' 90.3"), rock 101.5 KGB, AC 92.5 XHRM ("Magic 92.5").