Navigation / Radio / Bluetooth

Dear Board:

Am moving from US to UK and am planning on bringing the car with me (2007 Infiniti G35x). Am concerned that navigation and hands-free (bluetooth) phone may not work, and also was told that because FM radio frequencies in UK are even (e.g. 94. whereas in US they are odd (e.g. 94.7), radio also may not be working. Has anyone else had to deal with these issues?

Many thanks.

No idea about the bluetooth but I listen to a radio station which is 104.9fm, and I have used my UK radio in the US, so I can't think why your wouldn't work here.

Vicky

The radio ought to work fine - I'd guess that anything that is capable of receiving a radio frequency signal will work (my parents have used the radio in their car in about 5 different countries now). The difference between 94 and 94.7 is so tiny in the grand scheme of radio frequencies that I doubt it'll make a difference - FM frequencies range from 30Hz to 300,000,000Hz!

I've never heard of the UK only using even number frequencies - the main UK national and local radio stations I listen to have frequencies of 99.5, 96.3, 103.2, 102.4 and 101.7.

You can buy navigation systems that cover the entire world, so I doubt you'll have any problems with it physically working - however I'd check if it is programmed for the UK... my parents have a GPS system that only receives/holds information about UK roads, so if they want to use it in France, for example, they will need to buy an add on that will cover France too, and the same for if they wanted to use it in the US.

When it comes to F.M. broadcasting, U.S. transmitters are always on channels spaced 200kHz apart, ending in an odd digit -- 91.5, 91.7, 91.9, 92.1, etc. 

British broadcasts, however use channel allocations which are 100kHz apart, and thus can end in an odd or an even digit -- 91.5, 91.6, 91.7, 91.8 etc. (although there won't be two stations on adjacent 100kHz channels in the same area).    There are even a few transmitters on an unusual 50kHz channel assignment, e.g. 89.75 MHz. 

So if your U.S. radio is the type with digitally synthesized tuning and will only let you tune to the 200kHz-spaced American broadcast channels, then you won't be able to receive all U.K. broadcasts properly.  If it will tune to the even channels as well -- 91.2, 91.4, etc. -- then you'll be fine except for the very rare 50kHz channels. 

A similar problem exists with A.M. broadcasts and synthesized digital tuning.  American stations are on 10kHz spacing -- 900, 910, 920, 930 kHz etc.  British channel allocations are 9kHz apart -- 900, 909, 918, 927, 936 kHz and so on. 

I have used my UK radio in the US, so I can't think why your wouldn't work here.

U.K. F.M. receivers will work in the U.S. since all American channels can be tuned, but as the above illustrates, a receiver designed for the U.S. might not be able to receive all British channels.

The difference between 94 and 94.7 is so tiny in the grand scheme of radio frequencies that I doubt it'll make a difference

It's a tiny difference in the grand scheme of the radio spectrum, but 700kHz is a big difference when we're dealing with an F.M. broadcast signal which is limited to +/-75kHz deviation.   Tuning just 100kHz off frequency (e.g. 92.3 or 92.5 when the station is on 92.4 MHz) is enough to render the signal unlistenable.

Paul, I should have known that your contribution to this question would shame mine!  You are the tekkie geekmaster!


Vicky

I just remembered that I posted some notes about the radio channel allocations in the Technical Issues thread a couple of years ago -- See reply #3:

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=12567.0

There is one other minor difference in F.M. reception which I touched upon briefly there without going into details.  The pre-emphasis curve used in the U.K. is 50uS whereas in the U.S. it is 75uS.   That just affects the overall frequency response of the audio, and while hi-fi purists might want a switchable de-emphasis, a lot of people probably wouldn't even notice the difference, especially in an automotive environment, and would just tweak the tone controls a little to compensate.

Hi,

Bit late on this thread...

The FM radio thing, yep, the US channels on a digital tuning type reciever means many of the UK stations won't be able to be picked up..   its the reason the radio is never on in our F150!!

Bluetooth - this is a worldwide standard, there's no issues here at all. Bluetooth enabled headsets, phones, car systems, laptops etc all work fine (unless there is some weird new region thing going on!)

GPS - GPS signals are again, have worldwide availibility - it doesn't matter which country you are in, you'll get GPS signals. The problem lies with the mapping software and local reciever you have. In this case, on a US spec car, that will have a US map loaded into memory. You'll need to find out if theres a UK map that can be loaded into the factory fit GPS system in that particular car. If you can slot in a DVD and update it, all good, if not or is a lot of hassle, then you may as well forgo that function when the car is here and just use a portable navigation device i.e TomTom or Navman or Garmin etc.

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

The FM radio thing, yep, the US channels on a digital tuning type reciever means many of the UK stations won't be able to be picked up..   its the reason the radio is never on in our F150!!

You could always add this to the list of criteria of where to live in the U.K. -- Must be somewhere where local F.M. broadcast stations I want to listen to are on the "odd" channels!   

The F.M. radio compatibility issue also comes up with those people who have taken to importing Japanese cars (as in vehicles which were sold originally into the Japanese market and used in Japan).    The Japanese F.M. broadcast band is 76 - 90 MHz, so the radios will only tune to the lower portion of the American/British band.