i guess i should try somewhere besides tin-top hill with a small dipole cut to resonance at ~96 mhz
cannot is quite a broad statement. how hard have you tried to hear hrb, 99.5, or 107.5 from the cape?
also i'd suggest shortwave - theres usually someone playing classical on 49m or 31m
Tin-top hill? I wonder where that is.

I live five miles west of Providence. My factory car radio gets all Boston stations with a good signal except those on frequencies that are first adjacent to local stations here. 95.3 WHRB is nonexistant, 99.5 WCRB is poor, and 107.5 WFCC from the Cape is poor unless there is tropo. I do get 99.9 WQRC and 106.1 WCOD from the Cape in my area with a fair signal. On my home digital radios, definitely no 95.3 WHRB because of 95.5 WBRU, no 99.5 and 99.9 because of 99.7 WEAN, and no 107.5 unless there is tropo. Also in my area on the car radio, Classical 95.9 WCRI (transmits from Block Island) is poor. On 95.9 I mostly hear WATD with a fair signal. I can't get WCRI on my home radios. But 89.7 is clear like a local in the car and at home.