WRUF-FM used to be operated by students at the University of Florida. This wasn’t your typical 10 watt campus station, however. Rock 104 was a full 100,000 watt commercial signal which covered most of North Florida.
In 1992, Gainesville and Ocala were combined by Arbitron into one radio market. This was done at the request of those who controlled the three most powerful FM signals in the market: WMMZ 93.7, WKTK 98.5, and WRUF 103.7. Prior to this, Gainesville was an independent market and Ocala was “supplemental” to the Orlando market. After the markets were combined, Rock 104 began ID’ing as “WRUF-FM, Gainesville-Ocala.” Since this broadcast was recorded just prior to the market merge, Rock 104’s Legal ID consists of Gainesville only.
This was received from my place, 6 miles south of Ocala. I used a Realistic AM/FM/CD/cassette portable stereo with Sony LN90 tape. The built-in telescoping rod was used, although a case could be made here for an outdoor antenna. Unlike the other 2 commercial 100kW FMs in the market which have their transmitters located between Gainesville and Ocala, WRUF-FM is located on the north side of Gainesville. They also broadcast from a shorter tower. Consequently, their signal is not as strong in the Ocala portion of the market. At the time this was recorded, they could have moved closer to Ocala. However, this would not be possible today, due to spacing issues with Tampa’s 103.5 WFUS.
WRUF_FM_Two_Legal_IDs_December_1991