Tuning in your radio

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TUNING IN YOUR RADIO

Can you find the station you want on your dial?

If you haven’t used your vintage radio for a few decades or you’re tuning into stations on long and medium wave for the first time, then you might need some help. For example, your long wave dial won’t have a spot marked BBC Radio 4. In fact, it might read Daventry or light. The dial might only be marked in metres, in which case you will need to tune to 1500 metres to receive BBC Radio 4. On the medium wave band, you might hear Absolute Radio on the spot marked Light. In the early days, the BBC Light Program was on 1500 metres long wave but it could also be found in several places on the medium wave band. Many things have changed since then. I will be adding more to this page but, in the meantime, you might find this list useful.

UK Medium wave stations

558: Spectrum Radio (AM)
585: BBC Radio Scotland (Dumfries)
603: Gold (East Kent)
603: BBC Radio 4 (LW) (Newcastle)
630: BBC Three Counties (Hertfordshire & Buckinghamshire)
630: BBC Radio Cornwall (West Cornwall)
657: BBC Radio Cornwall (East Cornwall)
657: BBC Radio Wales (North East Wales)
666: BBC Radio York (York & Surrounding Areas)
693: BBC Radio 5 live
720: BBC Radio 4 (LW) (London)
720: BBC Radio 4 (LW) (Lisnagarvey)
720: BBC Radio 4 (LW) (Londonderry)
729: BBC Essex (Colchester)
738: BBC Hereford and Worcester (Worcester)
756: Radio Hafren
756: BBC Radio Cumbria (Carlisle)
756: BBC Radio 4 (LW) (West Cornwall)
765: BBC Essex (Chelmsford)
774: Gold (Gloucester)
774: BBC Radio Kent (East)
774: BBC Radio Leeds
774: BBC Radio 4 (LW) (Enniskillen)
774: BBC Radio 4 (LW) (Plymouth)
792: Gold (Bedford)
792: BBC Radio Foyle
801: BBC Radio Devon (Barnstaple & North Devon)
810: BBC Radio Scotland (Central and Southern Scotland)
810: BBC Radio Scotland (Aberdeen)
810: BBC Radio Scotland (Northern Scotland)
828: Gold (Bournemouth, Luton)
828: BBC Asian Network (Wolverhampton)
828: Magic 828
837: BBC Radio Cumbria (Barrow-in-Furness)
837: BBC Asian Network (Leicester, Nottingham & Derby)
846: Seaside Hospital Radio (Southlands Hospital)
855: Sunshine 855
855: BBC Radio Norfolk
855: BBC Radio Lancashire (Central & South)
855: BBC Radio Devon (Plymouth)
873: BBC Radio Norfolk (King’s Lynn)
873: BBC Radio Ulster
882: BBC Radio Wales (North West Wales/Anglesey)
882: BBC Radio Wales (South Wales)
909: BBC Radio 5 live
936: Gold (West Wiltshire)
936: Fresh Radio (Hawes)
945: Gold (Eastbourne, Derby)
945: Radio Nightingale (Rotherham General Hospital)
945: Canterbury Hospital Radio
945: Hospital Radio Reading (Battle Hospital)
945: Hospital Radio Basingstoke
945: Rookwood Hospital (Rookwood Hospital)
945: Portsmouth Hospital (Queen Alexandra Hospital)
945: Radio Northwick Park
963: Asian Sound Radio (Blackburn)
963: Buzz Asia (London)
972: Buzz Asia (West London)
990: Gold (Midlands) (Wolverhampton)
990: Magic AM (South Yorkshire) (Doncaster)
990: BBC Radio Devon (Exeter & East Devon)
990: BBC Radio 5 live (Tywyn)
990: BBC Radio Scotland (Aberdeen)
990: BBC Radio nan Gaidheal
999: Magic 999
999: Gold (Nottingham)
999: BBC Radio Solent
999: B1000
999: Whitechapel AM
999: Radio Brockley
999: Radio Heatherwood
999: Radio King’s
1017: Gold (Midlands) (Shrewsbury & Telford)
1026: Downtown Radio (Greater Belfast)
1026: BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (Cambridge)
1026: BBC Jersey
1035: Northsound 2
1035: West Sound 1035
1035: BBC Radio Sheffield
1035: Kismat Radio
1053: Talk Sport
1071: Talk Sport (Nottingham)
1071: Talk Sport (Newcastle)
1089: Talk Sport
1089: Talk Sport (Dartford Tunnel – Relay)
1107: Talk Sport (Merseyside)
1107: Talk Sport (West Sussex)
1107: Talk Sport (South Kent)
1107: Talk Sport (Torbay)
1107: Talk Sport (The Wash)
1107: Talk Sport (Hampshire)
1107: MFR Two
1116: BBC Radio Derby
1116: BBC Guernsey
1125: BBC Radio Wales (Mid Wales)
1134: IC Radio (Wye campus)
1134: BFBS Gurkha Radio (Sandhurst Barracks)
1134: BFBS Gurkha Radio (Gamecock Barracks)
1134: L&D Hospital Radio
1152: Gold (Norfolk, Plymouth)
1152: Gold (Midlands) (Birmingham)
1152: Clyde 2
1152: LBC News 1152
1152: Magic 1152 (Tyne and Wear)
1152: Magic 1152 (Manchester)
1161: Gold (Swindon)
1161: Tay AM (Dundee)
1161: BBC Three Counties (Bedfordshire)
1161: BBC Sussex (East Sussex)
1161: Magic 1161
1170: Gold (Portsmouth, Ipswich)
1170: Signal 2
1170: Swansea Sound
1170: Magic 1170
1197: Absolute Radio (Torbay)
1197: Absolute Radio (Merseyside)
1197: Absolute Radio (Nottingham & Derby)
1197: Absolute Radio (Brighton)
1197: Absolute Radio (Bournemouth)
1197: Absolute Radio (Oxford)
1197: Absolute Radio (Cambridge)
1197: Absolute Radio (North Kent & Thames Estuary)
1215: Absolute Radio
1215: Absolute Radio (Dartford Tunnel (Relay))
1233: Absolute Radio (Sheffield & Rotherham)
1233: Absolute Radio (Northampton & Corby)
1233: Absolute Radio (Colchester & Ipswich)
1233: Absolute Radio (Swindon)
1233: Absolute Radio (Reading)
1242: Gold (West Kent) 1242: Absolute Radio (Teesside)
1242: Absolute Radio (Stoke-on-Trent & Stafford)
1242: Absolute Radio (Dundee)
1242: Absolute Radio (The Wash)
1251: Gold (Bury St. Edmunds)
1251: RaW 1251AM
1251: The CAT 1251
1260: Gold (Bristol, Bath)
1260: Gold (Wales) (Wrexham and Chester)
1260: Absolute Radio (South Kent)
1260: Absolute Radio (Eastbourne & Hastings)
1260: Absolute Radio (Surrey)
1260: Sabras Radio
1260: BBC Radio York (Scarborough & Surrounding Areas)
1278: Pulse 2 (Bradford)
1278: Trust AM (Bassetlaw Hospital)
1278: Crush Radio 1278am
1278: Palace Radio
1278: BFBS Gurkha Radio (Shorncliffe Barracks)
1278: Radio Royal (Forth Valley) (Falkirk Royal Infirmary)
1287: 107 Garrison FM (Bassingbourn)
1287: 106.8 Garrison FM
1287: Insanity
1287: Surge
1287: Radio Redhill
1287: BFBS Gurkha Radio (Invicta Park Barracks)
1287: BHR 1287
1287: NH Sound
1287: VRN 1287
1287: Hospital Radio Gwendolen
1296: Radio XL 1296 AM
1305: Gold (Wales) (Newport)
1305: Magic AM (South Yorkshire) (Barnsley)
1305: Premier Christian Radio (London) (North London)
1305: Premier Christian Radio (London) (South London)
1323: Smooth Radio (Brighton)
1332: Gold (Peterborough)
1332: Premier Christian Radio (London) (Central London)
1332: BBC Wiltshire
1341: BBC Radio Ulster (Lisnagarvey)
1350: RamAir 1350am
1350: URY 1350AM
1350: URN (University Park Campus)
1350: Air3 Radio
1350: LCR
1350: UKCR 1350AM
1350: Radio Nightingale (Rotherham General Hospital)
1350: GU2 Radio
1350: Livewire 1350AM
1350: Kingstown Radio
1350: Frequency
1350: Hospital Radio Pulse
1350: Hemel Hospital Radio (Hemel General Hospital)
1350: Mid-Downs Hospital Radio (The Princess Royal Hospital)
1350: Radio Cavell
1350: Range Radio 1350am
1350: Hospital Radio Yare
1359: Gold (Chelmsford)
1359: Gold (Midlands) (Coventry and Warwickshire)
1359: Gold (Wales) (Cardiff)
1359: BBC Radio Solent (Dorset)
1368: Manx Radio
1368: BBC Surrey (East Surrey/North Sussex)
1368: BBC Radio Lincolnshire
1368: BBC Wiltshire (Swindon)
1377: Asian Sound Radio (Manchester)
1386: Blast 1386
1386: Anker Radio
1386: Carillon Radio (Loughborough Hospital)
1386: Carillon Radio (Coalville Hospital)
1386: 1386AM HCR
1386: VI Radio
1404: RED Radio
1404: Radio Rovers
1413: Fresh Radio (Skipton)
1413: Premier Christian Radio (London) (West London)
1413: Premier Christian Radio (London) (East London)
1413: BBC Radio Gloucestershire (South)
1413: BBC Radio Gloucestershire (North)
1413: Manchester United Radio
1431: University Radio Falmer
1431: Gold (Southend, Reading)
1431: Fresh Radio (Settle)
1431: Xtreme Radio 1431AM
1431: Chichester Hospital Radio
1431: Apple AM
1431: Radio Sonar
1449: BBC Asian Network (Peterborough & Cambridge)
1449: BBC Radio 4 (LW) (Aberdeen)
1449: 1449AM URB
1449: Hub Radio
1458: Gold (Manchester)
1458: Sunrise Radio (London)
1458: BBC Newcastle
1458: BBC Radio Cumbria (Whitehaven)
1458: BBC Radio Devon (Torbay & South Devon)
1458: BBC Asian Network (Birmingham)
1485: Gold (Newbury)
1485: BBC Sussex (Brighton)
1485: BBC Radio Humberside
1485: BBC Radio Merseyside
1485: BBC Radio 4 (LW) (Carlisle)
1503: BBC Radio Stoke
1503: 1503 AM Radio Diamonds
1503: Betar Bangla
1530: Pulse 2 (Halifax & Huddersfield)
1530: BBC Essex (Southend-on-Sea)
1548: Magic 1548
1548: Gold (London)
1548: 1548 Forth 2
1548: Magic AM (South Yorkshire) (Sheffield & Rotherham)
1548: BBC Radio Bristol
1557: Gold (Northampton, Southampton)
1557: BBC Radio Lancashire (North)
1566: County Sound Radio 1566 MW
1566: BBC Somerset
1575: JamRadio
1575: Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio
1575: Radio Tyneside
1584: London Turkish Radio
1584: Tay AM (Perth)
1584: BBC Hereford and Worcester (Tenbury Wells)
1584: BBC Radio Nottingham
1602: BBC Radio Kent (West)
1602: Desi Radio

Short wave listening can be fascinating and, with a decent aerial, you’ll hear stations from around the world.