When will DAB digital radio be available in the Western Isles and South Uist?
– Angus
Although digital radio coverage has been improved with recent transmitter launches, some areas are still waiting to receive digital radio.
The BBC’s national digital radio stations which serve the whole of the UK are available on parts of the Western Isles.
Since March 2011, listeners on the Isle of Lewis should be able to receive national stations like BBC Radio 1, and digital only stations like BBC Radio 4 Extra, from the Eitshal transmitter.
These stations are also available in North Uist, from the Clettraval transmitter.
Checking coverage for South Uist does suggest that national BBC stations should be available, possibly from the transmitter in North Uist. If you already have a DAB radio and find that it doesn’t receive any digital stations you can try moving the radio to another location, even within your own home, and scanning again.
If your DAB radio has an input for an external aerial you could also look into using a directional outdoor aerial in your loft or externally on your home. However, it would be worth using a postcode coverage checker first to see if your specific location is likely to receive these stations.
Unfortunately we have not been able to find any information about commercial stations, such as Absolute Radio, Heart and talkSPORT, coming to the Western Isles on digital radio. The nearest national commercial DAB digital radio transmitter is in Inverness – more than 100 miles away. The operators of the these networks of transmitters have not announced any details of new transmitters on their websites.
BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio nan Gaidheal and the BBC’s national services on FM are available on South Uist, as well as a community radio station.
The regulator Ofcom will soon offer licenses to those looking to launch DAB transmitters in local areas, known as ‘Small Scale DAB’. This could pave the way for DAB transmissions in areas like South Uist and the Western Isles.
Radio stations on Freeview
If you cannot currently receive DAB digital radio, you may be able to receive digital radio stations at home through Freeview.
The BBC’s national radio stations, digital-only services and BBC Radio Scotland and Radio nan Gàidheal are available on Freeview.
These are currently available on the BBC’s multiplex known as ‘BBC A’, which is transmitted from Borve, Bruernish, Daliburgh and Kilbride on South Uist.
If your Freeview signal comes from Eitshal you should also receive commercial radio stations, such as Heart and Absolute Radio.