Spacing standards in the U.K.?

[N1WVQ]

Here in the U.S., our stations are typically held to at least 4 frequencies away from each other on both A.M. & F.M. bands. So, an A.M. station on 600kc. in a city will typically see its closest rivals on 560 &/or 640. Same with commercial F.M.: a station on 94.9 will have stations no closer than 94.1 &/or 95.7 (.2Mc. spacing). Does the same apply in the U.K.?

 

[KTN Corp]

I noticed that some FM stations were on odd decimals while the rest were on even decimals. In North America (at least but maybe in Central and South America as well), all FM stations are on odd decimals only, so some North American equipment (mainly digital tuning radios programmed to odd frequencies) can't receive some even decimal stations clearly nor in stereo.

Also is the stereo system the same? I think I read that it is the same scheme all over the world.

 

[cd637299]

As to odd/even FM freqs., in the Americas, the exceptions to the rule currently are Martinique & Guadeloupe in the Caribbean (French territories), and in South America, Colombia. From my home in south FL I have caught "Los 40 Principales" 88.6 in Barranquilla twice in the last 6 years.

I myself cannot answer the spacing question, except that in Sydney, Australia, there are stations on both 102.5 and 103.2 MHz, a .7 MHz spacing. Aside from low power FMs in Australia under 88 MHz, this 103.2 is the only even-freq. station in the country. New Zealand has a few as well, but I dunno the spacing.

As to Europe, I'll hand that off to someone who knows more. You can always look at www.radiostationworld.com to view FM lists for major cities of the world.

Edit: Y'know, I just realized that this is the UK board. :-X My info above is still good though!

cd

 

[azumanga]

I myself cannot answer the spacing question, except that in Sydney, Australia, there are stations on both 102.5 and 103.2 MHz, a .7 MHz spacing. Aside from low power FMs in Australia under 88 MHz, this 103.2 is the only even-freq. station in the country.

In Australia, the spacing for FM stations is the same as in North America -- don't know the rationale, other than the fact that Australia adopted FM rather late, in the 1980s (due to some of their TV channels using the FM band at the time). Newer, community radio stations are sometimes given even frequencies, though I don't know the rationale behind that.

 

[radiosgalore]

THe U.K uses all decimal points. we have BRMB on 96.4 Heart FM on 100.7 the newly rebranded Capital FM on 102.2 etc. I've been known to DX stations .1 MHz apart during lifts using my Eton E5. I think its badged as a Grundig over there i'm not sure. They usually have 600 KHz between local stations though in London i think they push it to 400 KHz. In which case the two stations come from the same mast and have the same coverage area so as not to cause problems

 

[Charlie]

Anybody who is *really* interested in the various technical data/parameters of our wonderfully varied(!) UK radio can grab the OFCOM Technical Parameters spreadsheet which lists all AM, FM and DAB stations including frequency, location, transmitter reference, H/V ERP, RDS and other stuff. Sort by locator square and you'll get a feel for the frequency gaps.

As a rule of thumb, most local (eg: county-wide) radio stations had 2 frequencies, a low and a high. For instance, Heart Essex is 96.3 and 102.6, whilst BBC Essex is 95.3 and 103.5. Most small-scale local stations are at the top end: Chelmsford Radio is 107.7. The temporary 28-day "RSL" broadcasts are typically on 87.7 with the new community radio licences scattered in the gaps.

As for AM, our local "Gold" station is on 1359 (with the BBC's 765 at the same site) and 1431 about 10 miles away. We obviously have 9KHz spacing.

 

[smorris]

Here in the U.S., our stations are typically held to at least 4 frequencies away from each other on both A.M. & F.M. bands. So, an A.M. station on 600kc. in a city will typically see its closest rivals on 560 &/or 640. Same with commercial F.M.: a station on 94.9 will have stations no closer than 94.1 &/or 95.7 (.2Mc. spacing). Does the same apply in the U.K.?

Generally coverage in Europe is planned using computer coverage predictions instead of the fixed rules used in the USA.

In the UK and Ireland FM stations covering the same area are not allowed closer than 400kHz (unless the overlap is very small), extending to 500kHz if the transmitter sites are more than a couple of miles apart. This is relatively conservative compared with most of Europe. In France, Germany and the Netherlands, the minimum spacing is 300kHz so long as the transmitters are on the same tower.

However, a number of countries (Italy, Greece, Turkey, to some extent Spain and Belgium) have unplanned FM bands where the main limit to spacing is how much interference the broadcaster is willing to put up with... in Istanbul there are stations every 200kHz from end to end of the band, and in Italy frequencies like 106.55 or even 88.73 are not unusual.

I'm not sure about AM - it's very little used nowadays in most of Europe.

 

[Ai4i]

lifts...badged

This American loves Britslang, has no idea what it means, but still loves it ;D

 

[jazzjock]

AI4I !

Badged..

First in England, a badge, in the US is a button you would place on your lapel etc..

In the sense used here, badge means the trade name which is attached to the product..

When he says he uses an Eton E5, but it's badged a Grundig over there means, the unit is an Eton E5 (Eton E5 being the badge in the USA), but in England, it's a Grundig.. Grundig being the name that appears on the unit!

Another example - The Ford Contour is badged Ford Modeo in England!

Probably not the best explanation - but I hope it helps!!

Regards

Jazzy

 

[e-dawg]

Speaking of European radio I'm very disapointed at the regulation in United Kingdom and Ireland.

1. BBC and RTE holds most of the frequencies on the FM band without allocating community or commercial stations between the BBC radio frequencies.

2. London only has about 8 commerical radio stations. While Paris, has at least 20 commerical radio stations.
- Capital 95.8, 96.9 CHOICE-FM, KISS 100.0, Classical 100.6, Smooth 102.2, Xfm 104.9, Magic 105.4, and Heart 106.2.

3. - BBC and RTE uses PAL-I instead of PAL B/G like the rest of Europe. Worst of all BBC is UHF frequency only instead of VHF/UHF like the rest of Europe.

4. - Ofcom forces people to buy Digital and leave the analogue radio. However, digital radio in UK maynot be compatiable with rest of Europe or the americas.

 

[Ai4i]

Speaking of Europe...

3. - ...BBC is UHF frequency only instead of VHF/UHF like the rest of Europe.

4. - ...digital radio in UK may not be compatiable with rest of Europe or the americas.

UHF works significantly better than VHF for analogue and digital TV with a lower noise floor and less ghosting with more directional receive antennæ.
Eureka 147 (DAB) should work wherever it is used but the US and its sphere of influence use an INFERIOR system called iBOC which was created for totally non-technical reasons.

 

[cd637299]

Speaking of Europe...

3. - ...BBC is UHF frequency only instead of VHF/UHF like the rest of Europe.

4. - ...digital radio in UK may not be compatiable with rest of Europe or the americas.

UHF works significantly better than VHF for analogue and digital TV with a lower noise floor and less ghosting with more directional receive antennæ.
Eureka 147 (DAB) should work wherever it is used but the US and its sphere of influence use an INFERIOR system called iBOC which was created for totally non-technical reasons.

.....you mean, like killing the FM DXing hobby?

cd

 

[Ai4i]

.....you mean, like killing the FM DXing hobby?

AND...we would all love to DX digital stuff with 30+dB gain 1.4GHz antennæ. The tropo on that band is phenominal.

 

[Ai4i]

What cd*9 means is that iboc, marketed under the name HD Radio, more than doubles and nearly tripples a station's bandwidth, covering distant and weak signals with hashshsh.

 

[BMR]

Speaking of European radio I'm very disapointed at the regulation in United Kingdom and Ireland.

1. BBC and RTE holds most of the frequencies on the FM band without allocating community or commercial stations between the BBC radio frequencies.

Community stations are licenced in the BBC sub bands. EG New style radio 98.7 in Birmingham. That's isn't to say there couldn't be more of them, mind...

2. London only has about 8 commerical radio stations. While Paris, has at least 20 commerical radio stations.
- Capital 95.8, 96.9 CHOICE-FM, KISS 100.0, Classical 100.6, Smooth 102.2, Xfm 104.9, Magic 105.4, and Heart 106.2.

You forgot LBC 97.3, Absolute 105.8, and several smaller stations covering only part of London such as Radio Jackie and London Greek Radio and also a few AM services.


London has quite good choice compared with other cities in the UK. Where I live has 4 commercial stations on FM, 3 of which are relays of London services (Capital, Classic, Smooth). Only 1 is local. Even so, add that to 5 BBC stations on FM, plus 4 services (1 BBC, 3 commercial) on AM and it still gives 13 stations- a fair bit of choice. DAB gives more choice still.

3. - BBC and RTE uses PAL-I instead of PAL B/G like the rest of Europe. Worst of all BBC is UHF frequency only instead of VHF/UHF like the rest of Europe.

Multi standard sets were quite common. Now it's largely irrelevant as analogue TV is going to be switched off in a few months

4. - Ofcom forces people to buy Digital and leave the analogue radio. However, digital radio in UK maynot be compatiable with rest of Europe or the americas.

No. There are *NO* plans to switch off analogue radio, beyond some vague aspiration to do it someday. Most people agree 2020 is the earliest analogue could be switched off. Most new car radios are analogue only.

I can't comment on Ireland, but I think they will be using FM for a while too.

 

[e-dawg]

Speaking of Digital TV. Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Portugal DTV uses MPEG-4 which is not compatiable to Freeview in UK, or TNT in Spain, France, Germany, or the rest of Europe.