Will a digital American FM radio work to receive UK radio stations?
Is there a different or better solution for listening to the radio in England.
I have a very small radio I would like to take.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9099 posts
Not with digital tuning. The frequency spacing of the radio stations in Europe is different from the US. The old-style dial tuning will work. But if you are bringing along any type of wifi device you can stream most any radio station via the Tunein app or by going to their website:
tunie.com
Posted by
California USA
3951 posts
I believe your FM radio will work fine in the UK. I have purchased radios in England where the FM bands match up with those in the US. However, I recall that the AM bands are slightly different, but often work anyway.
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5326 posts
USA FM radios will work, but you will need to be able to tune to a 100 kHz spacing to get all stations.
Digital radio is different but I don't think you actually meant that.
Posted by
OP
44 posts
Thanks for the feedback. I was looking for folks with experience.
I've concluded that my American pocket FM radio should work for the few stations I will want to hear. For example, Classical FM in London is at 100.6 and Capital FM is at 95.8
Posted by
115 posts
If you will be in hotels, the TV in your room will at least have BBC radio stations. It is, obviously, an audio feed only and the channels are way above the TV channels, numerically. Quality of the audio would be better than your little radio when you are in the hotel room, which I suspect won't be a lot if you are vacationing. As with US cable or satellite TV providers, find the menu listing on the remote and scroll up until you find the radio stations. Ann.
Posted by
OP
44 posts
Just back from my trip which I enjoyed very much.
My very small Sony AM/FM radio (earphones only) worked great.
Enjoyed the BBC 5 Live program every morning and evening. In London it is on 910 AM. A chatty show covering headlines, sports, weather. It has some longer segments on news events and personal interest stories. Not as serious and complete as NPR Morning Edition/All Things Considered. Very fun to listen to. Things repeat in about 30 minutes, so in those 30 minutes you get a good sports report and weather coverage along with some fun and some serious stories.
Picked up regional versions of 5 Live in Kent and Cotswolds. Could pick up the Wales version which was interesting.
FM also worked.
Didn't get any radio through hotel/B&B television as one person suggested.
Would bring the same radio again.