On the contrary, most of the HD2's carry into Dupage county or farther when mobile in a car. The rough cut off for reliable signals is Rt 59 along 88. V103 is the worst and is not reliable West of 355. To the North most stations have HD up to Gurnee or into Kenosha County. Not throwing shade on you, but your antenna or the sensitivity on your radio might not be optimal! Car radios are not the best quality these days either compared to past.

Reason the HDx signals never rate?

Programming sucks (network feeds or run a HD out of closet).
Niche formats (religious, ethnic... which most translators are or HD2 were in Chicago & surrounding areas).
People have NO clue what HD is or these exist. Recent research I seen, < than 40% knew what HD was.
Not everyone has new cars with HD capability and portable radios are nil with HD built in.

Z