What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Discuss your favourite tunes and radio stations here. :)
spotify95
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What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Postby spotify95 » July 2nd, 2015, 10:48 pm

I've seen this type of thread around on other forums so thought I'd revitalize the Radio section here by giving us our own version.

So, what radio stations are you able to pick up, in your area, on either FM, LW, MW, SW and DAB?

Also, what radio are you using to pick up the stations? Different radios can have different sensitivities and thus the radio stations that are received will be different.

When I get the chance I'll edit in my list of stations (FM and MW) - but until then post your lists of stations you can receive! :)


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Re: What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Postby spotify95 » July 4th, 2015, 9:52 pm

Okay, here's my list of stations; all picked up on a cheapo Lidl's radio. The radio in question doesn't pick up much and has had quite a few repairs so when I am able to get something better the Lidl radio is going out! :D

FM:

88.3 Radio 2 (Sutton coldfield)
88.6 Radio 2 (Bow brickhill)
88.9 Radio 2 (Kingsthorpe)
90.1 Radio 2 Peterborough
90.5 Radio 3 (all same transmitters as above) with slight interference from 90.1
90.8 Radio 3 (some hiss)
91.1 Radio 3 (slight hiss)
92.3 Radio 3
92.7 Radio 4 (same TXs as above) slight IF from radio 3
93.0 Radio 4 (some hiss)
93.3 Radio 4 (hissy)
94.5 Radio 4
96.6 Heart Kingsthorpe
97.2 Connect FM Irchester
97.9 Radio 1 (same TX's as Radio 2/3/4)
98.2 Radio 1
98.5 Radio 1
99.7 Radio 1
100.1 Classic FM Sutton Coldfield
100.4 Classic FM Bow Brickhill
101.9 Classic FM Peterborough
102.7 Heart Gunthorpe (very hissy)
103.3 Heart Bow Brickhill
103.6 BBC Radio Northampton Geddington (slight hiss)
104.2 BBC Radio Northampton Kingsthorpe
104.9 BBC Radio Leicester Copt Oak
105.4 Capital Billesdon (hissy)
106.0 Gem 106 Copt Oak (hissy)
107.4 Connect FM Geddington (slightly hissy)

For some strange reason, the FM is slightly out on that radio - I have to tune to -0.1MHz to pick up the station (i.e. Capital from Billesdon is best picked up on 105.3FM). However the strong stations, such as the ones from Peterborough, Irchester and Kingsthorpe are so strong it doesn't matter.

On AM: (please note that all frequencies are approximate, and could be out by up to 9kHz - the inaccuracy on FM is also present on AM)

693 Radio 5 Live
792 Unknown station, very weak
837 Unknown foreign station, weak
864 Unknown French station, weak
909 Radio 5 Live
1053 Talksport, weak
1089 talksport, weak
1233 Absolute Radio
1413 unknown foreign station with interference
1422 Unknown station
1557 Smooth (with a bit of interference from a foreign station - usually comes through ok)

That's my list of stations - I'm looking forward to seeing what you are able to receive and on what receiver :)


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Re: What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Postby spotify95 » July 8th, 2015, 9:21 pm

Also, if you're struggling on signal, don't forget to try different polarizations of the radio's aerial! Most stations will work with vertical aerials, but some prefer horizontal aerials. For example, Kiss 106.4 is usually nonexistent in our area, but turning the aerial to horizontal/diagonal polarity and I'm getting it!

However, it may be due to the sheer distance between me and the Kiss 106.4 transmitter in Suffolk.

Furthermore, this is on a much better radio than before. I'll update this thread with a new list when I can be bothered to, for my updated radio set!


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Re: What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Postby pinkteddyx64 » July 9th, 2015, 12:04 pm

I sometimes get Capital FM from Newcastle on 106.4! :eek:


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Re: What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Postby spotify95 » July 9th, 2015, 1:03 pm

pinkteddyx64 wrote:I sometimes get Capital FM from Newcastle on 106.4! :eek:


I certainly wouldn't be able to pick that up as it is co channel with Kiss on 106.4.


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Re: What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Postby Zak » July 10th, 2015, 4:18 pm

OK so here's my list of stations using a Sony ICF-M760L which is more than 16 years old. It has a PLL tuner (phase locked loop) Non RDS with an LCD digital display readout

88.5 Radio 2 Rowridge ( Isle of Wight)
90.7 Radio 3 Rowridge ( Isle of Wight )
92.9 Radio 4 Rowridge ( Isle of Wight )
96.1 BBC Radio Solent Rowridge (Isle of Wight )
96.7 Heart FM Crabwood Farm ( Winchester )
97.5 Heart FM Fort Widley ( Portsdown Hill Portsmouth )
98.2 Radio 1 Rowridge ( Isle of Wight )

99.9 A "Pirate" Station ? can be heard intermittently, fluctuates between strong or weak signal
100.3 Classic FM Chillerton Down ( Isle of Wight )
102.0 Spire FM Salisbury ( Camp Hill )
102.3 Heart FM Poole / Bournemouth Nine Barrow Down ( Purbeck Hills )
102.9 Heart FM Berkshire ( Hannington )
103.2 Capital FM Chillerton Down ( Isle of Wight )
103.5 BBC Wiltshire Salisbury ( Newton Barrow )
104.1 BBC Berkshire ( Hannington )
104.8 BBC SCR West Sussex ( Burton Down )
105.2 Wave 105 Chillerton Down (Isle of Wight)
106.0 Sam FM Chillerton Down (Isle of Wight)
107.0 Isle of Wight Radio Chillerton Down
107.2 The Breeze Crabwood Farm (Winchester)
107.8 The Breeze Chillerton Down (Isle of Wight)

My preferred listen from the commercial stations is Wave 105 which plays a good broad mix of genres, although in the last few months, for me personally their playlists are now narrower
I do hope it doesen't just become another "Magic" station clone. I see It's Bauer owned now also, so do fear the worst in the future.


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Re: What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Postby spotify95 » July 10th, 2015, 6:26 pm

Zak wrote:My preferred listen from the commercial stations is Wave 105 which plays a good broad mix of genres, although in the last few months, for me personally their playlists are now narrower
I do hope it doesn't just become another "Magic" station clone. I see It's Bauer owned now also, so do fear the worst in the future.

I've listened to Wave 105 before, via the Internet, and I quite liked it when I last tuned in! Had a good music variety and was a good station. :)

I'll update my list of stations :)


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Re: What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Postby pinkteddyx64 » July 10th, 2015, 6:28 pm

Well, if you like that station so much, why don't sprinkle confetti all over their studios? :cool:


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Re: What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Postby spotify95 » July 10th, 2015, 8:02 pm

Updated List! :)

This is an update of the list that I made before because I now have a new receiver. My new receiver is an Eton E5, with AM/FM/SW/SSB (Single side band - I assume this is for amateur radio etc). Its sensitivity/selectivity is certainly better than my old radio.

Right now I can pick up: (key: VP = Vertical Polarity, DP = Diagonal Polarity, HP = Horizontal Polarity. If no polarity is listed then it doesn't matter)

88.30 Radio 2 Sutton Coldfield
88.60 Radio 2 Bow Brickhill
88.90 Radio 2 Kingsthorpe
89.30 Radio 2 Holme Moss (hissy)
89.50 Radio 2 Oxford? (according to MB21 it is Oxford but that's a long way away!)
90.10 Radio 2 Peterborough
90.40 Radio 3 Sutton Coldfield
90.70 Radio 3 Bow Brickhill
91.10 Radio 3 Kingsthorpe
91.50 Radio 3 Holme Moss (slightly hissy)
91.70 Radio 3 Oxford
92.30 Radio 3 Peterborough
92.70 Radio 4 Sutton Coldfield
93.00 Radio 4 Bow Brickhill
93.30 Radio 4 Kingsthorpe
93.70 Radio 4 Holme Moss
93.90 Radio 4 Oxford
94.50 Radio 4 Peterborough
95.20 BBC Radio Oxford Oxford
95.70 BBC Cambridgeshire Peterborough
96.30 Corby Radio Corby
96.60 Heart Northants Kingsthorpe
96.90 Heart Bedfordshire Sandy Heath (V.P. only)
97.20 Connect FM Irchester
97.40 Heart Thames Valley Farthinghoe (D.P. only, slightly hissy)
97.60 Heart Dunstable Zouches Farm
97.90 Radio 1 Sutton Coldfield
98.20 Radio 1 Bow Brickhill
98.50 Radio 1 Kingsthorpe
99.10 Radio 1 Oxford
99.70 Radio 1 Peterborough
100.10 Classic FM Sutton Coldfield
100.40 Classic FM Bow Brickhill
100.70 Heart West Midlands Sutton Coldfield (hissy)
101.30 Classic FM Oxford
101.90 Classic FM Peterborough
102.20 Lincs FM Belmont (best HP)
102.60 Heart Thames Valley Oxford (best DP)
102.70 Heart Cambridgeshire Gunthorpe (best VP/HP)
103.00 Heart Cambridgeshire Madingley (best VP)
103.30 Heart Milton Keynes Bow Brickhill
103.60 BBC Northampton Geddington
103.80 BBC Three Counties Zouches Farm (slightly hissy, best DP)
104.20 BBC Northampton Kingsthorpe
104.50 BBC Three Counties Bow Brickhill
104.90 BBC Leicester Copt Oak (best VP)
105.20 Planet Rock Sutton Coldfield (fairly hissy stereo, VP only)
105.40 Capital Leicester Billesdon
106.00 Gem 106 Copt Oak
106.40 Kiss Mendlesham (weak, very hissy, HP only)
106.60 Smooth East Midlands Waltham (best DP)
106.80 Connect FM Gunthorpe (hissy)
107.40 Connect FM Geddington
107.60 Banbury Sound Farthinghoe (hissy, best DP)
107.70 Kiss Gunthorpe (hissy, best HP, ok VP)
107.80 Inspiration FM Northampton (slightly hissy due to CCI from Kiss 107.70, best DP, slight offset to 107.82 helps)

Much better than the previous list, that was just FM! Haven't tested AM or SW yet.


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Re: What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Postby spotify95 » September 14th, 2015, 10:08 pm

pinkteddyx64 wrote:I sometimes get Capital FM from Newcastle on 106.4! :eek:

Quite a long way away then - so I'd never be able to pick it up. It's even quite a way away from your location too, wouldn't 105.8FM be stronger?
You might even be able to pick up a small amount of 105.1 Capital FM from Emley Moor - but that'd be weaker than 105.8 FM.

Are you going to make a list of stations you can pick up soon?


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Re: What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Postby spotify95 » June 8th, 2016, 10:10 pm

Update time!

Today was quite a nice day to bring out the radio, as we had a nice bit of lift conditions, due to the recent atmospherics!

If you look on DS' Atmospherics thread, you'll see what has been happening today with various transmissions, including Humberside coastguards receiving Dutch signals, due to CCI from the lift conditions.

Because of this, I thought that today was a great day to pull out the Eton E5 radio, to see what I could receive. The results were very interesting, see below: (note: these are all being received from Northamptonshire)

Key:
CCI - Co Channel Interference
HP - aerial in Horizontal Polarization
DP - aerial in Diagonal Polarization
88.30 BBC R2
88.60 BBC R2
88.80 BBC R2
88.90 BBC R2 - CCI (best on 88.92)
89.10 BBC R2
89.30 BBC R2
89.70 BBC R2
90.10 BBC R2 - Local/Main Station for the area (from Peterborough)
90.40 BBC R3 - Slight hiss
90.50 BBC R3
90.90 BBC R3
91.10 BBC R3
91.50 BBC R3
91.70 BBC R3 - Hissy
91.90 BBC R3
92.30 BBC R3 - Local/Main Station for the area (from Peterborough)
92.70 BBC R4
92.90 BBC R4 CCI
93.00 BBC R4 CCI
93.10 BBC R4
93.30 BBC R4
93.50 BBC R4 Hissy
93.70 BBC R4
93.90 BBC R4
94.10 BBC R4 Hissy
94.50 BBC R4 - Local/Main station for the area
94.90 BBC Lincs
95.20 BBC Oxford - DP
95.70 BBC Cambridgeshire, slightly hissy
95.90 BBC, unknown location, hissy
96.30 Corby Radio
96.60 Heart Northants - Local Station For Area
96.90 Heart Bedfordshire CCI with Viking FM also on 96.9FM
97.20 Connect FM Irchester - Local Station For Area
97.40 Heart FM Thames Valley - Hissy, DP
97.60 Heart FM Luton - Hissy, DP
97.90 BBC R1
98.20 BBC R1 CCI
98.30 BBC R1
98.50 BBC R1
98.90 BBC R1
99.10 BBC R1
99.30 BBC R1
99.70 BBC R1 Local/Main Station For Area (Peterborough)
100.10 Classic FM
100.40 Classic FM, Slightly Hissy
100.50 Classic FM
100.70 Unidentified (checked and it wasn't Heart West Mids), Hissy
101.10 Classic FM, Hissy
101.50 Classic FM
101.90 Classic FM, Local/Main Station for area (Peterborough)
102.20 Lincs FM
102.40 Heart, could be Norfolk? Hissy, HP
102.60 Heart Thames Valley
102.70 Heart Peterborough, CCI
103.00 Heart Cambridge
103.30 Heart Milton Keynes
103.60 BBC Northampton Geddington
103.80 BBC 3CR, Hissy, Possible CCI
104.20 BBC Northampton, Kingsthorpe, Local Station For Area
104.50 BBC 3CR
104.90 BBC Leicester
105.20 Absolute (ex. Kerrang/Planet Rock), West Midlands
105.40 Capital Leicestershire
105.80 Capital (Yorkshire?!)
106.00 GEM 106 East Midlands
106.40 Kiss FM Mendlesham
106.60 Smooth FM East Midlands, DP
106.80 Connect FM Peterborough, Slightly Hissy
107.40 Connect FM Geddington
107.60 Banbury Sound, Very Hissy, DP
107.70 Kiss Peterborough, Hissy
107.82 Inspiration FM Northampton, Hissy, DP, CCI (should be 107.80 FM).

Not bad at all - especially since some of these stations are from a very long way away, and some are on relatively low power as well! Currently, I am tuned into Kiss FM on 106.4FM - usually it takes a lot of effort to tune into this (not receivable at all, unless I put the E5 on the top of my wardrobe, and extend the aerial horizontally all the way) - earlier this evening, I could get this downstairs with only half of the aerial up (pointing vertical) and had a perfect signal. Upstairs, I could get this without any sections of the aerial up (i.e. having the aerial in its fold-away pulled down position), and again, perfect reception. :) Unfortunately now, the reception is weakening considerably, since darkness is falling, so I have to have the aerial fully extended and vertical, but Kiss FM UK on 106.40 FM is coming through nice and clear.

Who knows, maybe the reception might improve again tomorrow if atmospherics/lift conditions are still present!

edit: Although lift conditions are fading, I moved my radio a bit, switched to 105.4FM and picked up a bit of Magic FM, from London - so still a bit of lift. This may explain why Capital 105.4 was a bit weaker than I expected.


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Re: What radio stations can you pick up in your area?

Postby spotify95 » May 21st, 2020, 4:33 pm

Update:

Since the last list was published, various radio stations have changed names/branding (e.g. our local station, Connect FM, is now part of Smooth FM), as well as transmitter locations.
From what I've found out, transmitter changes have not been for the better either - e.g. NNBC (was 106.9 FM) is now NLive (106.9 FM) and has moved its transmitter to an inferior location (line of sight wise).
Another example is Banbury Sound: it (as well as a whole host of other stations in the Mid Counties area) has been changed to Capital FM, and 107.6 FM is no longer receivable in my area, due to a transmitter change. I can only assume that they are focusing these stations more towards a certain target area, rather than giving a broader, county wide coverage.

I also suspect that Inspiration FM has had an antenna change: its coverage seems to more closely resemble that of NNBC (before it was moved, and rebranded as NLive).

Stay tuned for more updates...



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