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My car's radio can't seem to pick up any stations abroad - how can I remedy this?

The DAB radio in my 2010 Ford Mondeo 2010 works perfectly in Britain, but seems to get zero signal when I drive abroad (France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain). It doesn't pick up a single station. I've asked various Ford garages for help, but none have been of any use. Do you know if there's a way to adapt the DAB radio to the frequencies used abroad? In Switzerland, FM is going to be cancelled soon and DAB will be the only way to get the radio and traffic announcement when you drive.

Asked on 14 August 2018 by Joseph

Answered by Georgia Petrie
DAB Digital Radio launched in the UK in the 1990’s and most digital radio stations in the UK currently use this version of the DAB standard. DAB+ is a newer version of DAB and has been used in some European countries for some time. DAB+ is more efficient than DAB, allowing more stations to be broadcast and in higher quality. Your Mondeo's radio, likely a radio which can only receive DAB, will not be able to receive DAB+ stations. However, DAB+ sets are ‘backwards-compatible’ and will receive both DAB and DAB+ stations. As far as I'm aware, you can't adapt your current car radio - but a device like the Pure Highway 600 DAB radio, which offers DAB+, should do the trick (though it's slightly more expensive): kit.honestjohn.co.uk/reviews/review-pure-highway-6...o
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