Taking Your Radio Abroad

When on holiday or business abroad, you can still keep in touch with world events and happenings in
Britain by listening to the BBC. The BBC radio service for reception overseas is the BBC World Service
and it broadcasts 24 hours a day on short waves in English and many foreign languages. The
programmes, however, are different from those received at home on the BBC, but you may hear some
familiar favourites. Most modern radios cover long, medium and FM wavebands since these are used for
domestic broadcasting, but to hear the BBC World Service abroad you will usually need short waves.

BBC domestic Radios 1, 2 and 3 cannot be received very far outside the UK because FM signals do not
travel well. As a general rule, unless within a few miles of the North Sea or the English Channel it is
impossible. However, it is possible to hear Radio 4 long wave and even Radio 5-Live in some European
countries close to the UK although reception may be variable and liable to interference from other
stations.

What are short waves? What kind of receiver do I need?

Short waves lie between the medium and FM
wavebands and are used for broadcasting and
communication worldwide. There are nine commonly
used short wave broadcasting bands:-
11 metre (26 MHz)
13 metre (21 MHz)
16 metre (17 MHz)
19 metre (15 MHz)
25 metre (11 MHz)
31 metre ( 9 MHz)
41 metre ( 7 MHz)
49 metre ( 6 MHz)
75 metre ( 4 MHz).
You may not need all these bands to hear the World
Service in the countries you travel to, but a receiver
that covers the bands from 19 to 49 metres inclusive
is desirable.
World Service programmes are broadcast on many
short wave frequencies at the same time, but the one
that gives the best reception depends on your
location. The reception of short wave signals varies
greatly between day and night and reception can be
subject to fading and distortion. Generally the lower
frequencies (MHz) tend to be better in the hours of
darkness, while the higher ones give better results in
the main daylight hours.
See overleaf for European frequencies, or the World
Service web site on: (also has programme schedule)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml
If your receiver doesn't cover short waves, you may
be able to hear local programmes for the country you
are in, but not necessarily the BBC World Service.
So ideally your receiver should cover the short wave
bands and also the long, medium and FM wavebands.
The World Service is broadcast chiefly on short
waves but also on the other wavebands in some parts
of the world.
What features are worth having on a radio?
If you are used to a conventional radio with a tuning
dial and pointer, finding the station you want on short
waves can be rather difficult because the stations are
all close together, and tuning has to be done carefully.
Many other broadcasters share the frequencies, and
the bands are often crowded. To make tuning easier,
some radios have multibands, where the short waves
are split into several narrower bands. Similarly,
bandspread and fine tuning are other ways of making
the stations appear to be more spread out across the
dial so you can find them more easily.
The best radios on the market have a digital display
showing the exact frequency, eg 6195 kHz or 6.195
MHz. Not only does this enable you to be sure you
are tuned precisely to the station, but it also makes
tuning in much easier in the first place. This
synthesised or digital tuning also allows you to key in
the exact frequency of the station, and some sets have
pre-sets which will store (memorise) the frequency for
easy recall at a later time. However, you must have
accurate frequency information - see overleaf - to use
this facility properly.
If you use your radio a lot, it is worth considering this Austria, Switzerland, 15575, 12095, 9750,
type. They tend to be more expensive than Italy (North), Germany 9660, 9410, 6195,
conventional dial radios, but if your radio covers long, (South & East) Czech 3955
medium, short and the FM wavebands it can be used Republic, Slovak
Republic, Poland
back home as well as on your travels. Some digital
Albania, Bulgaria, 17640, 15575, 12095,
dial radios are small, battery powered portable types
Greece, Hungary, 9750, 9660, 9410,
which will fit easily into a suitcase. They usually have Macedonia, Romania, 6195, 6180
provision for an external aerial if required and also Bosnia-Hercegovina,
mains powering to save batteries. A good dealer or Croatia, Slovenia
department store should be able to show you the Greek Islands 1323 kHz (medium
latest range available from radio manufacturers. (Aegean) wave)

World Service is on FM in Berlin (90.2 MHz) and

also in the Czechoslovakian cities of Bratislava
What frequencies are used?
(93.8 MHz), Brno (92.6 MHz), Bankska Bystrica
As mentioned earlier, the World Service uses many (105.4 MHz), Cseke Budejovice (89.8 MHz),
frequencies to serve different parts of the world. The Hradec Kralove/Pardubice (99.1 MHz), Kosice
best one to use will depend where you are and the (103.2 MHz) and Prague (101.1 MHz). In Sofia
time of day. Listed below are some of the frequencies City in Bulgaria, use 98.9 MHz FM.
likely to provide the best reception in areas within
2000 miles of the UK. Try each frequency in turn as In areas relatively close to the UK, such as Ireland,
some are not used all the time and can change France (North), Denmark, Holland, Luxembourg,
according to atmospheric conditions or because of Germany (North West) and Belgium, the 198 kHz
interference. long wave frequency can be heard. This carries Radio
4 during the day and BBC World Service during the
All frequencies are in kHz and are in the short wave night.
bands unless indicated. To convert kHz to MHz,
divide by 1000; eg 9410 kHz = 9.410 MHz. There is also a 648 kHz transmitter in the UK, but it is
highly directional and intended for eastern France and
Belgium, British Isles, 15575, 12095, 9760, the low countries. As a result it is of little use in the
Ireland, Germany 9750, 9410, 7325, UK other than in the south east of England, and east
(North West), 6195, 6180, 3955 Anglia.
Denmark, Norway
(South), France,
Within the UK, Radio 4 and a number of BBC local
Luxembourg,
radio stations carry the World Service at times - see
Netherlands
Gibraltar, Spain, 17705, 15575, 15400, the Radio Times for details. The World Service is also
Portugal, Azores, 15070, 12095, 9410, carried on the BBC DAB digital radio service.
Canary Islands, 7325, 6195
Madeira, Balearics World Service programmes are listed in the Radio
Commonwealth of 17640, 15575, 12095, pages of Radio Times.
Independent States, 9540, 9410, 7325,
Latvia, Lithuania, 6195, 6180, 3955
Sweden, Estonia,
Finland, Norway
(North)
Italy (South), Malta, 17640, 15575, 12095,
Corsica, Sardinia 9760, 9680, 9410,
7325, 6195

Published by BBC Reception Advice

http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception