I'd suggest that at least the unmanned bases could be placed in conjunction with operating AM/FM station antennas. This would cut down on the "Why is that antenna up there on the hill?" issues.
An asset for planning how this could work for coverage can be found at
https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/page?p=maps
You have to drill down to a state and then an individual station to view the actual coverage map.