London radio dial

[adamgre]

hi..planning on going to London soon and would like to know what to expect on AM and FM.....what is the reception like? What is AM DXing like at night? I plan on staying on the SW part of the city.

 

[smorris]

hi..planning on going to London soon and would like to know what to expect on AM and FM.....

There are relatively few stations on FM in London compared to most major international cities, but the UK does still make a lot of use of the AM bands unlike most European countries. There's also a separate digital band called DAB which is increasing in popularity slowly - it's not subscription but radios to receive it cost £40+. There are around 60 stations on this band in London, although most of those not also on FM or AM - other than the extra BBC stations - are automated, since they're not commercially viable otherwise.

You may need to buy a European radio even for the analogue, unless your radio has a switch in the battery compartment (or somewhere similar) for Euro settings: our FM tunes in 0.1 steps (not 0.2 as in USA) and AM in 9kHz steps (not 10kHz as in USA).

On FM there are 14 citywide (licenced) stations, including the national stations, and a dozen or so smaller stations within the city, the bulk of which are newly licenced non-commercial operations (equivalent to LPFM in the US), although among them is a small commercial station for SW London (Jackie 107.8). On AM there are 10 citywide stations, and 2 or 3 smaller ones.

what is the reception like?

It should be fine in the SW of the city for most bigger stations, which on FM mainly come from the huge Crystal Palace or Croydon masts in the southern suburbs. In many central parts of the city some FM licenced stations are difficult to receive due to the vast number of illegal pirates, which in total outnumber the legal stations by about 3 to 1.

What is AM DXing like at night?

You should get the high power stations from most European countries (where they still exist). Despite the fact that most European countries have shut down the bulk of their AM stations since the 1980s, the band is still hugely congested since there is no Europe-wide limit on power (most remaining continental stations use 100kW+) and of course there's no Europe-wide regulator so frequency co-ordination is a problem. The UK is very unusual in Europe in having commercial radio on AM - most DXing will be of state broadcasters outside the UK.

There's also an extra AM band in Europe, LW, which runs from 153-279kHz. There's only one UK station on this band, BBC Radio 4, on 198 at 500kW.

 

[adamgre]

I have heard of DAB as it is being heavily promoted on Gold...I can get most DAB's on the net. I have Sony walkman that can record off the radio as it analogue. My mp3 player can only get FM, but it has stations positioned as 95.7, 95.8.....will this radio work in London? If I don't have the right kind of analogue radio for AM, will I hear silence from one of the dial to the other?

one more question.....cell phones in the UK only work on GSM? what about CDMA?

 

[adamgre]

what is radio reception like around the Gatwick airport area?

 

[smorris]

My mp3 player can only get FM, but it has stations positioned as 95.7, 95.8.....will this radio work in London? If I don't have the right kind of analogue radio for AM, will I hear silence from one of the dial to the other?

It should work fine, although stereo may sound a little odd because the Euro standard is very slightly different. Also you won't get the RDS (station name display) which 99% of FM stations, even pirates, now use here. On AM you will just get bad reception on the stations that happen to be halfway between US channels for example 1215, 1035. Not having LW is no big deal, unless you want to hear French stations.

one more question.....cell phones in the UK only work on GSM? what about CDMA?

Not sure on that one. Never heard of CDMA though, so we probably don't have it.

Gatwick Airport is outside the London area for radio, since it's the wrong side of the North Downs (a range of hills) in a rural area - you'll not get many stations around there on analogue, just the nationals plus a couple of locals.

 

[adamgre]

thanks...appreciate the info....

 

[cartman1964]

I have another question about UK/Europe radio and reception.

Would I be able to pick up BBC Radio 1 from Belgium and Holland? I know that the station has transmitters throughout the UK and there is one close to the North Sea/English Channel. I wonder if the signal would carry across the water and into my car stereo in Amsterdam or in Brugge.

 

[e-dawg]

As for cell phones, CDMA doesn't work in Europe, only GSM networks, if you have AT&T or T-Mobile. If you have GSM phones, It should work fine, but I suggest you buy pay as you go phone cards and install on your phone instead of paying outrageous minutes. I heard that Orange is the best rate for cell phones. As for DX-ing radio in Europe, I heared station far as Spain to Russia. Depending on the condition, but mostly France, Germany or the NEderlands especially AM 647 which is a Dutch station that can be easily recived in London.

 

[CHRles]

Cartman, you won't be able to pick up BBC Radio 1 in Holland or Belgium. It used to be extremely easy to pick up BBC Radio 1 on AM in the Netherlands, but Radio 1 stopped using the AM band in the early 90s. Doesn't really matter though as Amsterdam has a great radio dial which includes the following stations:
3 FM (96.8 FM in Amsterdam) - national CHR/Pop station that is Rock friendly
Radio 538 (102 FM in Amsterdam). national CHR/Pop station that usually sits at the top of the radio ratings in Holland. They used to very active on new music, but now resemble what a lot of the local little Dutch stations used to sound like in the 80s and 90s - currents with a good number of Recurrents. There's also a good amount of interactive talk (probably too much) between the DJs and the audience. Kinda like Radio Deejay in Italy, and just as well known. BTW, the 538 name is an ode to the old pirate station of Radio Veronica, which was on 538 AM (ironically in the late 90s Radio 538's main rival was known as Veronica FM). This is also the flagship station for DJ Tiesto's weekly show.
Wild FM - the most American sounding CHR in Holland, and its Rhythmic friendly. It's a regional CHR with 4 signals covering the metro Amsterdam area.
Slam FM (91.1 in Amsterdam) - national CHR that is very heavy on Dance music. Lots of good music, and along with di.fm, this is the flagship station for Armin Van Buuren's weekly show A State of Trance.
Fresh FM (95.6 FM in Amsterdam) - regional Dance station that's fun to listen with 4 signals that covers the most populated area in Holland known as the Randstadt. This area extends from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, and includes cities like Utrecht, the Hague, and Haarlem.
Fun X (96.1 FM in Amsterdam) - Hip Hop station that can be heard on 4 signals throughout the Randstadt region.
Q-Music (100.4 FM in Amsterdam) - national Adult leaning CHR station modeled after its sister station in Belgium.
Radio Decibel 94.9 FM - Adult leaning Dance station. Plays Adult friendly current Dance mixed in with some 80s and 90s Dance/Pop.
There's also 2 Classic Rock stations in Amsterdam (City FM and Arrow Classic Rock), but no current based Rocker.

In the Dutch part of Belgium, the big networks are Donna FM (101.5 in Brugge), Radio Contact (107.3 in Brugge), Top Radio (91.3 in Brugge), Q-Music (103 FM in Brugge), and Studio Brussels (102.1 in Brugge). You should also be able to pick up Crazy FM (107.7 in Brugge), a regional CHR that plays a lot of Dance. You might also be able to pick up Holland's Radio 538 on 102.4 FM in Burgge

 

[cartman1964]

Thanks for all that info CHRLes! I'm going to print it out and bring it with me when I fly over there tomorrow night. I am going to be staying in Apeldoorn, which is about an hour east of AMS.

I do remember last time I was there in the Netherlands,in Feb 2006, taking the train from AMS there was a station around 100 or 102, middle of the dial somewhere that sounded great. They played Mylo-"Doctor Pressure", Coldplay-"Talk"...those were the only two I remember. It almost sounds like that was the Radio 538 station you mentioned.

On Friday night or Saturday my girlfriend and I are going to take a road trip, either to Belgium or France if I feel up to driving that far. I do know about 'Voltage' in France. They sound great too.
Thanks again..

 

[CHRles]

Keep in mind the radio dial in Apeldoorn will likely look very different. Nut sure if you'll be able to pick up Wild FM and Fresh FM there, but most of the other Dutch stations have a national reach with multiple frequencies spread throughout the country. With Radio 538 you're always going to pick it up between 102.1-102.6 FM. Q-Music is usually found either at 100.4 or 100.7 in Holland. Slam FM on the other hand is 97.4 in Alperdoorn, while it's at 91.1 in Amsterdam. You might also be able to pick up Arnhem's Hot Radio, a Dance station located at 89.6 FM.

Voltage is a Dance friendly station that can be heard in Paris (on 96.9 FM), and it has 3 other signals that reach some of the distant suburbs/exurbs of Paris (2 of them are also at 96.9 FM, and one at 102.9). So it really depends on where you are in France. In most cities you can pick up NRJ/Radio Energy (CHR), Fun Radio (Rhythmic/Dance), and Skyrock (Rhythmic/Hip Hop), as well as local/regional CHR and Dance stations. Again, taking Paris as the most obvious example where you can also pick up Voltage, Radio FG (Dance), Ado FM (Hip Hop), and Generations FM (Hip Hop).
I'm sure you'll be able to find great stations no matter where you are in Holland, Belgium, or France. There's so much to do over there anytime of the year, so I'm sure you'll be doing a lot more then just listening to some good radio

 

[cartman1964]

I just got back home.

When I picked up the rental car at Schiphol Airport, I had 91.1 Slam FM and listened to it until a little ways past Amersfoort, where it began to fade out. From then on Radio 538 which I really enjoyed. They even had a feed of Radio 538 on the plane.

The next day we drove down to Belgium and heard Donna FM, and one that showed up on RDS as "STU BRU" at 100.6. I believe it was an abbreviation for 'Studio Brussels'. Another one we heard in lots of the stores was 'Ciel'

The hotel had MTV France. I need to search that playlist to find some of the songs that I heard.