Tuning radio stations

isolated

Hi

I am looking to tune in the Bbc world service radio station on lw/mw but can't seem to tune it in, I live in Dublin and can get bbc radio 4 on 198 kHz with world service on late at night which is absolutely no use to me whatsoever. I have a Roberts r9993. Is there any way to tune in the Beeb world service on this during the day? And can I also tune in any of the other Beeb channels and their frequencies on this radio. In particular 5 live.
Thanks

dxhound2005

5 Live on 693, 909 and 990 kHz. 990 is low power from Wales. Radio Ulster 1341, Radio Wales 882, Radio Scotland 810, Radio Merseyside 1485. Non BBC Manx Radio 1368. Plenty of frequency guides on Google. Just tune around to see what you can pick up.

You might just get a lot of noise but that is not the fault of the radio if you are in an urban area. If you take it out to a rural spot away from power lines, you will see what is capable of.

No World Service on medium wave any more. The BBC stations above carry 5 Live or World Service after midnight or 1 am.

isolated

Cheers. What is the clearest mw tuning for bbc radio 4?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

isolated

Yes but what is the clearest frequency for, say, Malahide?
Also how can I tune in, even the faintest signal, BBC radio 1, 2, 3 and rte radio 1 extra because I heard that's on the radio as well.

isolated

Radio one extra is terrestrial, I heard, should I say.

isolated

Sometime today would be nice...

You might get 720 in Malahide at night. I got it in Fairview but it was weak.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

isolated

And what about radio 1 extra? I heard it's terrestrial, what's the tuning?

isolated

isolated wrote: »

And what about radio 1 extra? I heard it's terrestrial, what's the tuning?

Digital only, satellite or online where you are. Probably DAB too.

isolated

And what about BBC radio 1,2,3? May seem like I'm very persistent, apologies!

isolated

isolated wrote: »

And what about BBC radio 1,2,3? May seem like I'm very persistent, apologies!

FM or digital only. I got BBC Radio 2 on FM in Balbriggan a few years ago but I don't think it's possible now.

isolated

Go on then, what are the fm tunings?

thelordgod

You could try turning the dial yourself - its not all that hard.

Hear are the BBC frequencies: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/info/frequencies.shtml

You wont have much luck getting the world service on the wireless though - its not broadcast in europe any more http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2x9tqt6mc05vB2S37j8MWMJ/global-short-wave-frequencies

its surprising what google turns up

dxhound2005

This is the most comprehensive listing of BBC frequencies. You needn't expect to get anything from GB or NI on FM. 198 on long wave is by far your best bet for Radio 4.

http://frequencyfinder.org.uk/BBC_Radio.pdf

This will give you all the transmitters in Europe and Africa on long and medium wave. Click on the frequency.

http://www.mwlist.org/mwlist_quick_and_easy.php

As has been said you just have to tune along the bands to see what the radio will pick up.

isolated

Hi

I got a Roberts r260 revival radio today with only mw and fm on it. I'm having trouble tuning in Beeb radio four. What's the clearest radio four frequency on mw again? And also, can I tune in bbc radio 1,2,3 on mw as well here in malahide?

isolated

Hi

I got a Roberts r260 revival radio today with only mw and fm on it. I'm having trouble tuning in Beeb radio four. What's the clearest radio four frequency on mw again? And also, can I tune in bbc radio 1,2,3 on mw as well here in malahide?

thelordgod

Read the attachments in dxhounds post - all the info is clearly there. Only you can find out what you can receive in your house on your radio.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

isolated

Hi

I can get radio four on very bad quality on 720. Surely there must be a better mw tuning? And where can I get bbc radio one two and three on mw?

thelordgod

The main mw services were discontinued 15-20 years ago. Radio 5 is on 909. Radio 4 is on 198 lw. If the BBC is so important then get an internet radio and you will hear all of them clearly (requires internet).

BBC Radio 1 left MW in 1994 (was on 1053/1089) and Radio 2 in 1990 (was on 909/693 and closed to accommodate Radio 5).

isolated

So basically, I CANNOT get bbc radio one, two or three on any mw, fm, lw, or even a dab radio? Are you sure there is not a way around this that doesn't involve the net or money?
Dab advice wouldn't go amiss.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

thelordgod

You cant receive what is not there. The BBC were not going to wait 20 years for you to buy your radio. Their priority is to cover the UK not Ireland ie the license fee payers. You can also receive it on your tv if you have satellite. Its free as well.

The BBC world service is beamed towards Africa these days, you can get a good clear digital signal (DRM) Digital Radio Mondiale, at certain times of the day, obviously there are no DRM capable receivers yet, but should change in the not so distant, Digital on shortwave is amazing.

Those Roberts radios today are not nearly as good on LW/Mw as the old transistor radios, I have a Roberts R600 Transistor and it runs rings around most modern receivers. Also a Hacker Rp25, amazing radios for their age.

You can get one of these loops they should greatly improve your signal but modern Chinese made electronic equipment today has very little filtering and emits an astonishing amount of radio interference. External magnetic loop s are ideal for urban environments but as with TV, antennas are best mounted outside.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tunable-Mediumwave-Antenna-Portable-DESKTOP-x/dp/B00BI9WMQM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1486921091&sr=8-2&keywords=am+loop



You can check out youtube for a demonstration on how they work, again, if your signal is effected by radio interference it probably will not improve the reception.

dxhound2005

There are two problems with using vintage receivers like the R600 which I also have. VHF coverage only goes up to 106 MHz on the 600 and on other receivers it often stop at 100 MHz or 104 MHz. This is because the BBC only operated below 100 MHz when FM was introduced.

And they are mostly only battery powered like the R600 and often it is a PP9 battery which is expensive and not easily obtainable.

https://www.lenehans.ie/eveready-9v-pp9-battery.html

I haven't found any of my older receivers to be better than modern ones for reception purposes. Because they are mostly bulkier they have a bigger speaker, and with a wooden cabinet this produces a nice tone. But if you want hi-fi then they are not any sort of match for a purpose designed system.

The R600 is a very good AM/LW receiver, but it does have to be aligned properly.

The Hacker radio is also fantastic , but as you say the limitations are FM but most homes have a FM receiver anyway so if the objective is LW/MW then the old radios can be quiet fantastic. The R600 goes all the way to 108 Mhz on FM so no limitation there.

The real limitations are the built in antennas so the Loop should improve reception notably, it won't however eliminate noise.

You can get a PSU with the PP9 connectors, should be able to find them on ebay, or you can hard wire one but you have to do it in such a way that it won't attempt to charge the batteries if they are connected, any electronics tech or competent hobbyist should be able to do it. Stay away from dirty switch mode power supplies if possible.

Occasionally you can find battery holders with the PP9 connectors on Ebay which will allow you to install regular AA NiMh rechargeable batteries.

Anyway , I bet the Loop in the Pic above will give good results, rotate the radio and loop for best results.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Adapter-Converter-for-battery-PP9-and-PP7-to-6-AA-batteries-and-PP1-to-4AA-bats-/282355907156?var=&hash=item41bdb93a54:m:m2PScBHnIdS5nJqnXbXALZA

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/ROBERTS-R600-TRANSISTOR-RADIO-BLACK-VTG-GWO-/332092960989?hash=item4d524870dd:g:XkEAAOSwOtdYUwCF

dxhound2005

If someone is going for an older Roberts I would definitely recommend the R900 which was the last "proper" Roberts from the 1980's. It is larger than most of the other models giving it a great sound and it works off the mains. Big variation in prices on eBay, but I got a good one at a good price. As with all the older gear there can be problems with noisy switches.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xroberts+r900.TRS0&_nkw=roberts+r900&_sacat=0

PauloMN

isolated wrote: »

Sometime today would be nice...

isolated wrote: »

Go on then, what are the fm tunings?

isolated wrote: »

So basically, I CANNOT get bbc radio one, two or three on any mw, fm, lw, or even a dab radio? Are you sure there is not a way around this that doesn't involve the net or money?
Dab advice wouldn't go amiss.

It might have escaped your notice, but you are not a customer here, you are a forum user like everyone else here. People have gone out of their way to help you, so please show a bit more courtesy towards people.

Capt'n Midnight

BBC don't broadcast here so YMMV.

If you have cable TV then you may find that they are broadcasting down the cable.

Internet radio , like tune-in is worth looking at too

Unfortunately tune in radio app for the phone and bluetooth speaker are probably the cheapest option if the OP already has a smart phone, that is of course if he's looking for the cheaper/cheapest option.

Or the small Loop I linked to previously, should pull the signals in stronger. Beyond this it's external magnetic loop antenna and radio that can take an external antenna input.

I listened to BBC R Wales on the Roberts R600 and compared to my Tecsun PL-660, no Comparison, the PL-660 was hardly audiable but clear as a bell on the old roberts R600 !

So modern radios can fail miserable in lw/mw reception. The PL-660 is great on Shortwave though.

Booms

As Capt'n Midnight says above - If you have cable (TV/digital TV or Internet) you should probably have the BBC radio stations available on it in glorious fm.

Alternatively if you have satellite TV, the UK radio stations you mentioned are all available. Depending on what you are using to receive it, they may need to be tuned in.

TV isn't very portable though.

Internet is probably the best option for that and at least the BBC stream in decent quality although their highest bitrate streams are geoblocked to the U.K !!!

Nothing like having a dedicated radio for the job though.

I have a Roberts R100 and I love it but sometimes I have black spots around the house and if I take the radio outside it's a pain with no signal, I could tether to my mobile though that would be a pain and suck the battery out of the phone.

Now that I think about it the BBC World Service do transmit in DRM which you can pick up with an SDR Reciever and Dream decoder software, it's a bit tricky to set up though but digital shortwave is amazing and hopefully we'll see a few DRM capable radios appear this year.

The world service schedule on Digital Shortwave is

3955 kHz 7-8 am

17790 kHz 8-9am