Can I get BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and BBC Radio Kent on digital radio in Maidstone? If not, when will these stations be available? Also, what stations can I receive now?
– Geoff
Before buying a digital radio you can check online to see which stations you may be able to receive. According to the Digital Radio UK post code checker, the reception of digital stations varies depending on your location in Maidstone. You can input your own post code and house number for a prediction of coverage in your location.
Checking with post codes in Maidstone indicates good coverage, particularly of local stations which are available when some national stations are not.
You should be able to receive all of the BBC’s national radio stations, including BBC Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4. Local BBC radio stations are transmitted separately to the national services but you should also be able to receive BBC Radio Kent.
Reception of commercial radio stations including Absolute Radio and talkSPORT on the UK’s original national network (Digital One) should be possible. You should also receive eight local stations for Kent.
Digital radio in Kent
The Kent multiplex of DAB digital radio stations includes BBC Radio Kent, Heart Kent, Smooth Kent, Gold, kmfm, Capital, Encore Radio and Hits Radio.
Local stations in Kent are transmitted from Bluebell Hill (for Maidstone), Ashford, Canterbury, Folkestone, Dunkirk, Etchinghill, Tunbridge Wells, Dover, Thanet, Hythe, Wrotham and Ashford.
As is the case in other home counties, you may find that you receive stations from London. This means you could also receive rock station The Arrow, Chris Country, The Wireless and several other stations which are not broadcast in Kent.
There are fourteen DAB digital radio transmitters in total in Kent. Nine of these have been switched on since 2015. If you tried using a digital radio in Kent a few years ago with the original transmitters from 2004-07 and found reception was poor in your area, it may now be improved.
Before purchasing a digital radio it is well worth using the post code checker linked to above. You could also borrow a digital radio and perform a re-scan in your home to see what is available.
When purchasing a digital radio you should check that it has the green digital radio tick mark. This indicates that the radio can receive DAB+ stations, which would be especially useful as two of the London based stations you may be able to receive use the DAB+ format.