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Hi All - Has anyone investigated what it takes to get English radio actually on a radio rather than tv.  I have been told that Radio 4 is available on long wave 198 but none of our radios have long wave.  I have tried connecting to the French tv aerial and seem to get everything in France but nothing from UK.  Maybe I should try hacking in to the satelite dish - [I hadn't thought of that  before]- or maybe it isn't possible at all.  BUT, where does the BBC World Service go to?
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Radio 4 on 198 kHz is indeed audible on long wave over most of France - I've even just about heard it on my car radio in the Lyon area and beyond. The BBC World Service is also very loud here on 648kHz.

Nearly all the UKs radios stations are transmitted on satellite at 28.2 east - you don't say what equipment you are using so can't help much more until you give more info.

A French TV will certainly not help to get you UK radio.

I use a system of either the internet or satellite and a small transmitter to send the stations to a portable radio and I think that's about the only way to do it.

A bit more info would help - regards - Tim

Edit - another way I also use is I have a stereo amplifier and speakers in the same room as the TV and satellite box. On the rear of most satellite boxes there are two audio out sockets - normally known as RCA sockets. These should be the stereo left and right out sockets. I run a cable from these to the 'auxilliry in' sockets on the amp. Voila - you can now turn on the sat box - tune to the radio station of choice and listen through your stereo and turn off the TV.

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Hi Tim

Thanks for the info.  We inherited the French TV aerial in the roof space so I thought that I would try it.  I have a Sony tuner amplifier and a Triax satelite dish with Panasonic decoder that allows us to get all Freeview channels.  The satelite dish is on the chimney stack and beyond my reach - or should that be courage?  I cannot recall which satelite it is tuned in to but it was the usual one for western France - someting like Alpha 2.  What sort of transmitter are you referring to? - Many thanks!

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Ok - trying not being too pedantic here but you are not getting Freeview channels - Freeview is the terrestrial system for TV in the UK - what you have is Freesat.

So you have a satellite box to get TV channels from the UK - on the same satellite are most of the UK radio stations - the simplest solution is to connect the audio output from the sat receiver to a spare input on the stereo amplifier.This maybe called 'Aux' or a spare tape input could be used.  This then means that whatever radio station your sat box is tuned to will then be able to be played out through your amplifier.

You won't have to touch your sat dish.

Tim

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[quote user="runningdog"]

Hi Tim

Thanks for the info.  We inherited the French TV aerial in the roof space so I thought that I would try it.  I have a Sony tuner amplifier and a Triax satelite dish with Panasonic decoder that allows us to get all Freeview channels.  The satelite dish is on the chimney stack and beyond my reach - or should that be courage?  I cannot recall which satelite it is tuned in to but it was the usual one for western France - someting like Alpha 2.  What sort of transmitter are you referring to? - Many thanks!

[/quote]

He's referring, I think, to a small FM transmitter into which you plug the audio output of the panasonic decoder (if it is a Sky box, then channel 0104 gives you R4FM ) and it transmits the signal on the FM band to radios around the house : the transmitter has a range of about 50yds, so - with luck - it covers your house but not your neighbours. A fine idea if you live in a village or the country; not so much if you live in a block of appartments in St Jean de Monts.

You should - in theory - be able to get some sort of signal from the 1500 metres Droitwich transmitter (sorry, sorry.. showing my age: 198 kHz ) but frankly these days there is so much AM interference that it can quickly become too awful to listen to. As for World service, ironically you are too near the UK to get a decent signal. You are less than one ionospheric skip from the transmitters.

Do you have a broadband connection? May I suggest an internet radio? It's my current favourite toy.

p

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Yes Paul - I think you're right - I've got one I'm playing with at the moment. Do you have one? If so, which?

The reason I suggested the physical link via the RCA sockets directly to the stereo amp is simply because it's simple!! Especially as it is probably all in the same room.

I also agree with your internet radio comment - I'm sorting out the connections for my little transmitter at the moment so that I can use it for radio from the laptop or satellite receiver.

Tim

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We do this in France,  two FM tx's (both I'm afraid non-homologué,  1 W,  oh dear) each connected to a sat box or occasionally the internet.   Which works fine there but....

here in the UK as soon as I turn on the tx (even into a dummy load) the ADSL drops out completely and it's rare to get it to resynchronise let alone hang on for more than a few seconds, that is until the tx is unplugged.    Given that our ADSL is barely 0.5 MB in France (unaffected by the tx) but rises to a dizzy 0.7 MB in the UK you'd think the French one would be the one to drop out in the presence of RF (although maybe the higher speed in the UK is due to using certain ADSL carriers more affected by RF, which aren't perhaps used in our case in France, I don't know).

So using the FM tx to relay internet radio in the UK is defeating me at the moment.

As said earlier,  it's one thing to use a tx in La France profonde,  but not a good idea en grande ville.

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If you have ADSL you can buy a radio that gets all the radio from the internet, no computer needed.

I use a PDA for UK radio which I can use with headphones round the garden (or built in speaker) or plug into the hifi in the house and then use it for tomtom in the car, good piece of kit.

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Problem for us is that in neither country is our ADSL nearly reliable enough to justify one of these internet radios.  I've lost count of the number of times I've got into the bath only to be left in total silence by the internet dropping out.   

But if you have a good connection then I imagine they're OK, although again I've yet to hear an internet radio station whose quality is sufficient for really serious listening.    Maybe it's like DAB,   and you don't really notice the poor quality because if you only use the cheap built-in speaker it masks most of the defects.

For many people the current rates of mp3 coding are fine,  but for me I'd always prefer a feed via DSat if it's available.

But - not for the first time - I digress!

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Many thanks for all the advice.  The reason I'm not too keen on using the internet path is that I spend too long on the computer as it is and I'm keen to use one of the other rooms for a change.  Tomorrow I shall try the sat box to tuner and am already expecting positive results.  As you will have guessed I am a complete technophobe when it comes to tv and radio and know sufficient to be dangerous on a computer.  Anyway, much food for thought - thanks again.
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[quote user="Martinwatkins"]We do this in France,  two FM tx's (both I'm afraid non-homologué,  1 W,  oh dear) each connected to a sat box or occasionally the internet.   Which works fine there but....

here in the UK as soon as I turn on the tx (even into a dummy load) the ADSL drops out completely and it's rare to get it to resynchronise let alone hang on for more than a few seconds, that is until the tx is unplugged.    Given that our ADSL is barely 0.5 MB in France (unaffected by the tx) but rises to a dizzy 0.7 MB in the UK you'd think the French one would be the one to drop out in the presence of RF (although maybe the higher speed in the UK is due to using certain ADSL carriers more affected by RF, which aren't perhaps used in our case in France, I don't know).

So using the FM tx to relay internet radio in the UK is defeating me at the moment.

As said earlier,  it's one thing to use a tx in La France profonde,  but not a good idea en grande ville.
[/quote]

Beam me up Scotty!  (No disrespect Martin - I might need your help one day).

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You might also want to check out the Sky Gnome, I'm told available on eBay if you don't have a Sky account. 

I did have a problem with my first one where the sound wasn't too clear, but calls to the support line eventually agreed to replace it and have not looked back since.  Can be used in any room and because of it's rechargeable batteries also out in the garden, the range went to the end of our drive at 200mtrs.  Although testing at this distance I couldn't change channels!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[quote user="Timco"]

Yes Paul - I think you're right - I've got one I'm playing with at the moment. Do you have one? If so, which?

The reason I suggested the physical link via the RCA sockets directly to the stereo amp is simply because it's simple!! Especially as it is probably all in the same room.

I also agree with your internet radio comment - I'm sorting out the connections for my little transmitter at the moment so that I can use it for radio from the laptop or satellite receiver.

Tim

[/quote]

I'm assuming you mean in internet radio rather than a FM TXer, am I right?

A Logik IR-100. Cheap from an Ebay supplier who was charging what seemed like a fortune to post to France. However when it arrived, and I felt the weight of it, I could see why Royal Mail were charging him so much. The quality is generally good; the sorting and menu levels leave a bit to be desired,  it could do with far more pre-sets than the 6 it has, and - for some reason - it generates a slight mains hum when it's finished buffering the signal, but other than that I'm pleased with it. It's very nice to lie in bed and listen to WNYC-New York Public Radio, or ('on demand') last week's 'Brain of Britain' at the touch of a button!

p

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I've also thought of taking the audio output from a Sky box and transmitting it (rather than doing a hardwire connection) to a bog standard radio/hi fi to another location - but am not sure what to use. Can these transmitters, usually used to go from one TV to another, transmit audio in the same way? I presume that all that's needed is for the hi fi to have an audio input of some sort?

 

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[quote user="Bannon"]

I've also thought of taking the audio output from a Sky box and transmitting it (rather than doing a hardwire connection) to a bog standard radio/hi fi to another location - but am not sure what to use. Can these transmitters, usually used to go from one TV to another, transmit audio in the same way? I presume that all that's needed is for the hi fi to have an audio input of some sort?

[/quote]

Will do the trick but you will need to get other leads, phono to phono instead of phono to scart.

Was fiddleing with the car radio yesterday in Perigueux looking for Radio 4 or worldservice, couldn't find it but did get 5 live (909), virgin (1215) and talksport (1053), not so good driving about but perfect when parked up, wierd how good it felt hearing that J21 on the M62 was bumper to bumper, only 5 mins from us!!

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I've been 'playing' with this - I got hold of a small MP3 transmitter (TX) which is battery powered, rather than from the car cigarette lighter. It comes with a 3.5mm jack plug to put into a MP3 player - this also fits the output jack of the laptop so I can 'send' the internet radio to another radio/tuner in the house.

I am, when I get the time, currently making up a lead (couldn't find a ready made one) to go from the RCA audio output from my Humax satellite receiver to the small TX. I was a little uncertain about whether this would work due to output levels/impedances etc. But I did a quick 'lash up' the other day and it seems to work. This should mean that I can use to same kit to send satellite radio to another radio/tuner in the house or garden.

The final piece of the jigsaw is to try to run the TX on a small mains supply rather than using rechargables which only last for 7 or 8 hours.

Work in progress.

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[quote user="runningdog"]I can now play UK radio from my Freesat through my radio tuner / amp.  The wife is highly delighted! To compound my ignorance; what is a TX transmitter?  Many thanks to you all.[/quote]

 

Well done - glad you sorted it out. I certainly think it's the simplest way to get the radio stations without having to have the TV on.

'TX' is the abbreviation for transmitter - used in morse code and circuit diagrams etc. What I was talking about was, there is now legally (in England anyway) available small FM transmitters. These low power TXs are primarily designed for use in a car where you may have, perhaps, an MP3 player/iPod or some such like with all your music on it, but would like to listen to it in the car. Some recent car radios have the facility for you to plug your player in and play the music through the car's sound system. If your car radio cannot do this, then you get hold of one these things - plug your MP3 player into it - the TX then produces a low power FM signal which can then be tuned in on the car radio as you would any other radio station. The only thing is to make sure you are using an unused frequency. It is something like this I have been experimenting with.

Regards - Tim

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Gnomes are no longer available new so E-Bay is probably the only way to get one now. I did think about getting one, I must admit. The reason I didn't was that I wanted to be able to hear the radio station (or TV sound) on any radio in the house. It's all about what suits you best.

Tim

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